Opera

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Review

Poet Tells the Tale

Anna Carol Dudley - March 3, 2009

Berkeley Opera’s performance of The Tales of Hoffmann, which opened Saturday at the Julia Morgan Center, is a resounding success.

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Review

Aiming for the Stars

Georgia Rowe - February 24, 2009

Even in these tough economic times, the Bay Area’s regional opera companies continue to spread their wings. Midway through its 53rd season, West Bay Opera presented its first Orfeo ed Euridice last weekend in a well-conceived production that caught much of the radiant splendor of Gluck’s 1762 masterpiece.

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Review

Operatic Mood Swings

Georgia Rowe - February 10, 2009

Così fan tutte is often described as an effervescent comedy, but beneath the froth is a deliciously dark and poignant vision of the human heart. There’s a happy ending in the 1790 Mozart–da Ponte dramma giocoso about a pair of besotted naval officers who enter into a wager to test the fidelity of their girlfriends.

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Review

Here Comes the Dawn

Thomas Busse - February 10, 2009

For the second time in a year, I have been fortunate enough to attend a chamber opera production superior to any work I have seen from the Bay Area’s smaller companies. The culprit was Composers Inc., a contemporary chamber music collective that expanded its forces last Wednesday to mount a staged chamber opera in San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre. On a diminutive budget, Composers Inc.

Cecilia Bartoli, Mezzo-Soprano

Janos Gereben - January 30, 2009
Now in her absolute prime, Cecilia Bartoli has established herself as one of the greatest singers of this or any age. It’s not just her phenomenal technique and unique, rapid-fire coloratura, both of which will be amply demonstrated in her presentation of María Malibrán’s Salon Romantique. Nor is it simply a matter of vocal beauty, which she supplies in abundance.

The Dawn Makers

Janos Gereben - January 29, 2009
Allan Shearer’s new opera The Dawn Makers is based on the ancient Greek myth of Eos, goddess of the dawn and her human lover, Tithonys, who is made immortal but not eternally youthful. In this comic updating, the couple are joined by a pool man who knows enough to decline the offer of immortality, and two Valley girls who double as the horses of the Goddess’ chariot.