The Opera Tattler

* Notes *

A spare production Manon from Jules Massenet was revived at San Francisco Opera last night. The orchestra sounded lush and vivid under Maestra Eun Sun Kim and the singing was simply beautiful.

Never bombastic, the orchestra was perfectly clear and contained, yet shimmered. The woodwinds and strings were particularly strong. The singers were never overwhelmed.

The production, last seen here in 2017, is plain, with a shiny floor and reflections on a slanted background. It took so much time to switch scenes, as always, a pet peeve of mine as the energy of the audience shifts and becomes restless.

There are many balloons (pictured, photograph by Cory Weaver) featured, and this was perhaps the only bit of excitement in a rather featureless staging. The cast did act very well, and one was never confused about what was happening, so in that sense the direction was clear and told the story.

Every singer on stage was clearly also an actor, and it did make for a believable drama. It was quite fun to hear soprano Sofia Gotch (Poussette), mezzo-soprano Laura Krumm (Javotte), and mezzo-soprano Taylor Raven (Rosette) sing together, they almost sounded like Rheinmaidens, especially as they tittered and giggled. Tenor Steven Cole was evilly charming as Guillot de Morfontaine, he moves well, pretty much dancing across the stage.

Bass James Creswell is impressive as Comte des Grieux, his voice is so full and rich, while baritone Vitor Bispo made for a contrast as Lescaut, a lighter voice, with a pleasant graininess to it.

The lovers in the opera are real-life partners, and sang beautifully together. Tenor Pene Pati (Chevalier des Grieux) is dashing, and his voice is sweet and warm. His Act II aria “En fermant les yeux” was especially heartrending. Soprano Amina Edris likewise fit the title role of Manon. Her voice sparkles and her legato is impressive. She did well with “Je suis encore tout étourdie” in Act I and “Adieu, notre petite table” in Act II.

* Tattling *

There was so much going on in the lobbies, many opportunities to create social media content with the lighting, little sets, and even models in corsets.

The opera house was sadly not full, and because the opera is rather long at 3 hours and 25 minutes, many people left at one of the two intermissions.

* Notes *

Thea Musgrave’s Mary, Queen of Scots opened at San Francisco Opera yesterday evening. The music and production both had a starkness and intensity that made for good theater.

Conductor Clelia Cafiero did a fine job with the orchestra, her intentions were clear. The music has a certain stridency, with a lot of staccato. The woodwinds and harp were particularly lovely.

Director Stewart Laing had the work set in contemporary times, no period gowns or tartan to be seen. It did make the events depicted seem quite immediate, and the complete lack of scene changes did keep us in the moment as well. The austere set (pictured, photograph by Matthew Washburn) is essentially a white marquee tent, as in The Great British Bake Off, that is put together before the opera starts and is completed by Act II.

The cast is strong from top to bottom. Bass-baritone Philip Skinner always impresses, and his Lord Gordon has much authority. His diction is so clear, and we could hear every word. Baritone Hadleigh Adams is charming as the hapless Italian courtier David Riccio, singing prettily of Orpheus.

Tenor Christopher Sokolowski also has a very pretty voice as Lord Darnley, channeling the charisma necessary to be believable. Tenor Thomas Kinch makes for a good contrast as The Earl of Bothwell, both characters are despicable, but they are distinct in sound. Kinch has more brute force, while Sokolowski is more refined.

Baritone Thomas Mole gave a nuanced performance of James Stewart, Earl of Moray. He is ingratiating and tender with his sister Mary, Queen of Scots to start, but then shows his duplicity and power-hungry nature as the plot unfolds.

Most impressive was soprano Heidi Stober in the title role. She has incredible high notes that never sound strained or shrill. She very much embodied Mary, and it was easy to identify with her. Her singing about being not believed and alone in Act III was heartbreaking.

* Tattling *

The opening performance of this opera was canceled due to the San Francisco Opera Orchestra strike, but had been part of my subscription. It was easy enough to call the box office and get tickets for this second performance, but we were in Box B instead of our normal Box Z but still had a good view of the orchestra pit and conductor.

The opera was not sold out, and so there was no bad behavior to have to tolerate.

* Notes *

The 2026-2027 season of San Francisco Opera opened last night with what should have been the fourth performance of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra Maestra Eun Sun Kim and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra sounded absolutely gorgeous, proving the point of the latter’s recent strike. There is no opera without music, no matter how much the art form is considered to be theater.

The Eurotrash production is from Hamburg State Opera. The concept is that the story is told in flashback in the moments of Boccanegra’s death. So there is much unnatural, awkward movement of walking backward or being flung slowly apart in spirals. There is a false mirror that the singers or Boccanegra’s body doubles can appear upstage in. One can only imagine how confusing this all was to those new to opera, as the direction was an obstruction to the narrative rather than elucidating the text.

There is a meteor in the ceiling (pictured, photograph by Cory Weaver) that is moved in the successive scenes further down into the one room where this opera seems to take place. To be honest, I enjoyed the production very much as it is absurd and unintentionally funny. However, the lull between set changes made the drama much less propulsive.

The orchestra sounded great under Music Director Kim, and it was lovely to hear Verdi’s music. This piece is not often done, and I did wonder if I could get myself to one of the remaining two performances to read the score. The brass was particularly clear and brilliant.

The singing was all splendid. Baritone Aleksey Bogdanov was quite villainous as Paolo Albiani. Tenor Joshua Guerrero was bright and sweet as Gabriele Adorno and he sang well with soprano Eleonora Buratto as Amelia/Maria. Buratto has a silvery-toned incisiveness, with lovely hight notes but her low register is less secure.

Bass-baritone Christian Van Horn is authoritative und unyielding as Jacopo Fiesco, his voice is strong, with some gravel in the texture in his deepest depths. Amartuvshin Enkhbat continues to impress as a Verdi baritone, his Boccanegra has a lot of different shades and colors. His voice is also robust and plush, never sounding strained in the least.

* Tattling *

The General Director did address the audience, but the remarks were much briefer than for most opening night performances. There were no flower garlands or singing of the National Anthem.

There was an elderly man in Row J Seat 4 that spoke at full volume before and during the opera, regardless if the orchestra was playing or if soloists were in the middle of an aria. He would read the supertitles aloud very loudly, despite being hushed by his companion. Thankfully they did not return after intermission.

It seemed nearly everyone I know that covers opera was in the press room, so it was a joy to catch up a little with various people.

* Notes *

Rinaldo (ovation pictured, photograph by author) opened at West Edge Opera on August 2 in a pop-art superhero staging that was so much fun. The orchestra was a bit rough, but the beauty of Händel’s music came through, especially because the singing was lovely.

Keturah Stickann directed this very silly production that involved lots of bright colors and reimagines Rinaldo as a caped crusader or some such. There were many funny details, including supertitles that were clearly much sassier than what was in the original libretto, and a tandem bicycle provided by a magician.

This version cuts the role of Eustazio (brother to Goffredo, leader of the First Crusade) entirely, and comes to a spare 2 hours and 10 minutes. Maestra Emily Senturia led a lively but imprecise orchestra, I was occasionally quite startled by phrases that sounded very much out of tune.

The music is very beautiful and all the singing is quite strong. Baritone Efraín Solís (Argante) is always a solid presence, he has much charisma and his voice is distinctive. The depths of contralto Sara Couden’s sound as Goffredo are impressive.

Soprano Nikki Einfeld is incisive as Armida, she certainly has the creepiness to channel a witch, and sang quite appropriately. Soprano Shawnette Sulker is sweet and bird-like as Almirena, though there were times when she sounded less than sparkling, just slightly raveled. She has a very youthful stage presence and her “Lascia ch’io pianga” in Act II was pretty.

Best of all is countertenor Kyle Tingzon in the title role of Rinaldo. His full range is very even and clear, I never felt like he slipped into his non-falsetto voice. His sound is so full and resonant. I especially liked his “Cara sposa, amante cara” and “Venti, turbini, prestate” in Act I.

* Tattling *

I completely missed the lasciviousness with which the magician treats the tandem bicycle at the end of Act I, which was noticed by one of my companions at the performance. Another companion managed to drop a water bottle and mobile phone in Act III.

It was rather warm in Oakland the day of this performance, and Scottish Rite Center was not particularly well-ventilated. It was hard to ignore a large, malodorous man in front of us who was sweating profusely.