Opera San Jose — Die Fledermaus

by Sarah Morris
September 17, 2019

Vienna in the 19thcentury was having a love affair with the waltz, and Johann Strauss II’s 1874 operetta (a pre-cursor to today’s musical) satisfied this desire in an excellent way. Having learned from his conductor/composer father, Strauss II knew exactly how to employ his techniques as a serious composer and how to incorporate the dance tunes of the day into his works. 

Act I opens with a fun scrim of a newspaper clipping intended to be read by the audience to give them background on the wide number of characters they’re about to meet, created by set designer, Charlie Smith. The scrim gives way to the Klimt-style home of Mr. and Mrs. Eisenstein, and the action begins. The number of characters and the farcical nature of their relationships is quite dizzying at times, but by the end of the first act, Elena Galván as Adele, Maria Natale as Rosalinde and Eugene Brancoveanu as von Eisenstein are the clear main characters all hoping for a secret bit of fun at the expense of each other. The trio ‘Oh dear, oh dear, how sorry I am’ is acted brilliantly by all three. Robyn Tribuzi’s choreography in this song is gleeful and witty, a sneak-peek of much more to come in the dazzling second act. The short trumpet solo was particularly of note, played with a lovely, dark tone. 

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Archived in these categories: Opera

Carmel Bach Festival: Saints and Sinners, A Night at the Opera

by Melanie Cervi
July 18, 2019

How Groucho Saw It

            Is opera your guilty pleasure? Do you revel in drama, romance and full orchestral sound? There is nothing like meeting friends, hearing the whisper of fine clothing, and settling in your favorite seat for a few hours of enjoyment. Each year, Carmel Bach Festival presents opera excerpts that stretch our imagination and challenge the musicians. This year we heard selections from four different operas from four different musical eras.

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Archived in these categories: Baroque, Carmel Bach Festival, Opera

Opera San Jose: Pagliacci

by Sarah Morris
November 27, 2018

Image result for Pagliacci - images

Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci was written just over 125 years ago, and with a duration of only about 65 minutes, is considered a very short opera. While usually double-billed, the choice to perform it on its own was a nice surprise and perhaps the reason more children were in the audience. 

The resident company and orchestra were on point and did justice to this truncated opera. Baritone Anthony Clark Evans, as Tonio (the fool in the acting troupe) opened the performance stating, ‘I am the prologue’. There were some members of the audience who gave him a standing ovation for his opening dialogue. He was exquisite and completely captivating and it is surely a sad fact that we won’t be seeing him again this season. Setting the scene, the character of Tonio explains the roles of the three men vying for the attention of Nedda, sung by Maria Natale: her husband, Canio(Cooper Nolan), part of the company, Tonio(Evans) and Silvio(Emmett O’Hanlon), her secret lover. Setting the scene, the curtain rises and we watch the scene play out, ‘on the stage’ and ‘off it’. The line between the ‘real life’ lives and the parts they play on the stage are blurred throughout the opera, eventually leading to a blow up in front of the whole town during a performance.  Read full story →

Archived in these categories: Opera, Romantic Era

Mozart — The Abduction from the Seraglio

by Sarah Morris
September 18, 2018

From September, 15-30, Opera San Jose is presenting Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio. First performed in 1782 this opera is still amusing audiences today. When the curtain opened, set designer, Steven C. Kemp’s attention to detail was immediately apparent: a large Turkish palace painted over every inch in intricate paintings, landscaped greenery and fig trees. Decked out in a pith helmet, the lead tenor, Matthew Grills, made his company debut in quite a lively, comical way. Running around hiding from the guards outside sultan Pasha Selim’s palace, he runs into Osim, played by Ashraf Sewailam. Both singers are perfectly suited for these comedic roles and their rapport was wonderful. One slight drawback to the quick banter was that the singers tended to get slightly ahead of the orchestra in the fast recitative sections. Read full story →

Archived in these categories: Opera

Carmel Bach Festival 2018 – “A Night at the Opera”

by Lyn Bronson
July 18, 2018

Tenor Thomas Cooley, Baritone John Brancy & Maestro Paul Goodwin

We had a lot of fun last night at the Tuesday Main Concert — “A Night at the Opera.” In the spirit of the Marx Brothers, there was some slapstick silliness, such as in scenes from Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte  and Leonard Bernsten’s Trouble in Tahiti, but it was balanced by moments of more serious drama in arias from Beethoven’s Fidelio and Wagner’s Tannhaüser. Our affable host for the evening was David Gordon, whose perspective on all things vocal, choral and operatic is, as always, astonishing in its ability to enlighten and entertain us (and he had edited the super titles which made our opera experience all that more comprehensible and enjoyable). We also had an opportunity to hear the Festival Orchestra, directed by Maestro Paul Goodwin, the Festival Chorale and Chorus, and, most importantly, the vocal stars of the evening, sopranos Mhairi Lawson and Linda Lee Jones, mezzos Meg Bragle and Virginia Warnken Kelsey, baritones John Brancy, Jonathon Woody and Tim Krol. Read full story →

Archived in these categories: Carmel Bach Festival, Opera, Orchestral