Opera Warhorses

I was fortunate to be able to attend both the first and second performances of San Francisco Opera’s mounting of Wagner’s “”Die Walkuere” in a co-production with the Washington National Opera, conceived by the American stage director Francesca Zambello (See my review at An American “Walkuere”: Runnicles, Wagner and Zambello At San Francisco Opera – June [...]

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The second installment of Francesca Zambello’s conceptualization of Wagner’s four opera “Ring of the Nibelungs” has debuted at the San Francisco Opera. A co-production with the Washington National Opera, three entire “Ring cyles” will comprise the San Francisco Opera’s Summer Season of 2011. Although the “Walkuere” production is almost the same as the one I [...]

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The San Francisco Opera, a company with deep roots in the traditions of Italian opera, serving a city that was created by the California Gold Rush, launched a spiffy new production of “Girl of the Golden West (La Fanciulla del West)” – Puccini’s masterpiece about a love affair in a community of ’49er miners. Vocal [...]

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