Opera

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Review

La Traviata Reborn

Jason Victor Serinus - June 30, 2009

What a difference a change of principals can make. Instead of the overhyped Anna Netrebko, who, as Violetta in the first five performances of San Francisco Opera’s production of Verdi’s La traviata, simplified her coloratura, shunned the much-anticipated E-flat at the end of a hardly free “Sempre libera” (Forever free), and mostly scratched the surface of her role, we now have the alive-in-the-moment soprano of Elizabeth Futral.

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Preview

Torn by Love at the Berkeley Opera

Chelsea Nicole Spangler - June 23, 2009
Baby Doe Tabor
Since 1979, the Berkeley Opera has presented accessible, affordable productions in the East Bay.
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Preview

Festival Opera: Turandot

Georgia Rowe - June 18, 2009
When an opera company’s mission is to give young singers, conductors and directors opportunities to explore the repertoire, Puccini is always a good place to start. Throughout its 18 seasons, Festival Opera has scored numerous hits with productions of the composer’s La Bohéme, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Suor Angelica.
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Preview

Festival Opera's Turandot

Catherine Getches - June 16, 2009
“It is somewhat unexpected when a small company like Festival Opera takes on a very grand opera like Turandot. The size of the piece and the enormous role of the chorus make it a challenge,” says Artistic Director Michael Morgan.
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Review

Embracing Abandon at the S.F. Opera

Olivia Stapp - June 15, 2009

The San Francisco Opera’s new Traviata is a dazzling affair.

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Review

On the Way to Heaven

Janos Gereben - June 10, 2009

It's a long way from Catfish Row to Walhalla, but my money is on Eric Owens traversing the distance.

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Review

A Tepid Tosca

James Keolker - June 3, 2009
Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca has a fabled past at San Francisco Opera, with some 34 highly successful productions in the company’s 86-year history, and starring such imperious Toscas as Renata Tebaldi, Dorothy Kirsten, Leontyne Price, and Montserrat Caballé.
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Preview

Tosca With Fries

Michael Zwiebach - June 2, 2009
Opera in the Park

When Tosca throws herself from the parapet of the Castel Sant' Angelo, at the end of Puccini's brilliant opera, the assembled crowd watc

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Preview

Leaving the Past Behind

Olivia Stapp - June 1, 2009
La traviata, which opens June 13 in San Francisco Opera’s summer-season run, is a daunting opera for the soprano performing the role of Violetta Valery.
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Review

Fare Thee Well, Maestro

Heuwell Tircuit - June 1, 2009

After 17 years as music director of the San Francisco Opera, Conductor Donald Runnicles was given a rousing farewell tribute Friday evening in the Opera House.