Many of the world's leading music critics lauded the three very different productions staged by the San Francisco Opera this summer season.
Donna (Monique Hafen) gives Stine (Jeffrey Brian Adams) some pointers on his script in “City of Angels.” Photo by Jessica Palopoli
By Paul Duclos
Published: August, 2016
Many of the world’s leading music critics lauded the three very different productions staged by the San Francisco Opera this summer season. Some of the highest praise came from those attending the same July 2 performance of Carmen that was seen by this columnist.
The July 2 show was a live free simulcast broadcast to a crowd of more than 30,000 opera lovers at AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. It featured Irene Roberts, who was radiant and genuinely dangerous in the leading role.
For those of us fond of ferries and waterfronts, it was especially gratifying to see that the setting for this production was the Mediterranean port city of Ceuta. This small Spanish territory lies just 18 miles across the water from Gibraltar in north Africa, and still attracts large crowds to its bull fights—a major theme in this tragic opera.
Outgoing SFO General Director David Gockley scored another triumph by securing Karitia Mattila for the role of Kostelnicka in the rarely-staged Czech masterpiece Jenufa. Several former Adler Fellows were cast in cameo roles, too, but it was the debut of soprano Malin Byström in the title role that had many in the audience taking note.
Some opera aficionados will remember the brilliant conducting of Jiri Belohlavek when he led the orchestra through the demanding score of another Czech classic, The Makropulos Case, six years ago. He was equally brilliant this time around, demonstrating a firm hand and deft sensitivity to the folkloric nuances of choral arrangements.
Don Carlo, a Verdi war horse not performed here for more than a decade, was the most star-studded production of the summer. Given that this opera runs to almost five hours, having the right balance of inspired voices was just the thing.
Baritone Mariusz Kwiecien was outstanding as troubled Rodrigo, as was legendary bass René Pape as the misunderstood Philip. The night did not belong completely to these two veterans, however. Tenor Michael Fabiano lived up to his advance billing with a solid debut in the title role. A good actor, too—he was completely convincing as the lovelorn prince embarking on a seemingly impossible mission.
Without being overly dramatic, one can safely say that SFO’s past summer season was a triumphant swan song for Gockley, who has done so much to bring operatic splendor to the Bay.
High passion in popular theater is supremely evident in the San Francisco Playhouse production of City of Angels, not seen in this city for the past 25 years.
Nothing is quite as it seems in this tale of Stine, a struggling screenwriter. An homage to the world of 1940s film noir, Stine tries to write his screenplay despite the pressures of a failing marriage and an overbearing producer.
Concurrently, the characters in his black-and-white crime drama have gained a life of their own, and his world of salacious murder, depressed detectives and femme fatales becomes a reality.
With a book by Larry Gilbert, music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Frank Zippel, City of Angels was a Broadway sensation upon its 1990 debut, winning six Tony Awards. This production is directed by Bill English, who also designed the stunning sets. The revival also features the sound design of Michael Oesh, giving the production just the right amount of sinister tension.
City of Angels plays at San Francisco Playhouse through September 17.
Ed Ruscha and the Great American West is an exhibition that explores the artist’s engagement with our region and its starring role in our national mythology.
This world premiere exhibition has been organized by the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, and includes 99 works by one of the world’s most influential and critically acclaimed artists. The Fine Arts Museums have a long relationship with Ruscha, having acquired the artist’s complete graphic archive in 2000, including all published editions of his prints and a pledge to receive those made in the future.
The museums also commissioned an expanded triptych of the painting “A Particular Kind of Heaven” for the opening of the de Young’s new building in 2005. This exhibition draws heavily from the institution’s permanent collections, while reinforcing a commitment to bringing major exhibitions of postwar American art to audiences in the Bay Area.
“Ruscha is adept at using all media, including prints, drawings, photographs, paintings and artist books, to explore different subjects or themes over time,” said Karin Breuer, curator in charge of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and organizing curator of the exhibition.
Follow Paul Duclos’ Cultural Currents online with his blog at: paulduclosonsanfranciscoculture.blogspot.com
