San francisco opera walkure review

What could be more exhilarating than a full-scale operatic triumph, joining musical splendor with sleek dramatic insight and an imaginative visual component? Well, how about one that points the way, at least in part, toward more of the same?

An astonishingly strong cast of singers, operating under the muscular and alert leadership of former Music Director Donald Runnicles , brought vocal allure to Wagner's score. Director Francesca Zambello 's production, set in the early decades of the 20th century, uses the prism of American history to illuminate the interplay of power, fate and love in the drama, and the witty, evocative stage design offers a fine visual backdrop for the action.

And more persuasively than the suggestive but sometimes uncertain "Rheingold" production that began the project in , it promises a coherent and dramatically effective interpretation of this open-ended fable. In the first act, Hunding's hut is a modest clapboard A-frame in the woods, and Sieglinde is a Midwestern housewife in gingham, just waiting a few more years for hardship and despair to bring Dorothea Lange to her doorstep.

Valhalla in Act 2 is a corporate boardroom, looking down on a comic-book view of Metropolis as Wotan - now a middle-aged tycoon with a telling forelock of white hair - preens in his three-piece suit. She was outstanding in the lyrical passages that frame the Todesverkundigung , telling Siegmund he will die in battle the next morning.

Montana tenor Brandon Jovanovich brought heroic bearing and a bright spinto tenor to the role of Siegmund. Sieglinde keeps a tidy house and over the years seems to have accommodated to a man who is both a steady provider and controlling. Michael Milenski. San Francisco Opera Orchestra. Skip to content Performances Reviews. Das Rheingold in San Francisco. Related Posts. Performances Reviews Staged Operas. The recognition here showed Jovanovich filled with love at that very moment not merely transmitting the information.

He conveyed the exquisite music, distinct from the dramatic monologues and dialogues so far, with lyrical warmth. The harp, clarinet, and bassoon amplified its gentle and happy prospects as their love brings forth Spring. Jovanovich captured so much of the beauty and the warmth of the poetry, as the set changed from dark and wintry to a pastel loveliness, with birds in song, although at some moments, words and notes lacked fullness.

He remained a convincing and moving hero, however, replete with love and devotion as well as power and heroic conviction.

Sieglinde was sung by Finnish soprano Karita Mattila. She was outstanding in her dramatic and realistic portrayal, showing a terrific range of emotions. She poured herself into the part. She danced before him in an ecstatic display, she moved with girlish ease and became the bride with openness and ardor. She sang with rapture. Her shame after their union — probably not because of the fact Siegmund is her twin brother, that recognition has not come about yet — but because she betrayed her marital vow — she carried off with authentic resonance.

This was a truly suffering woman. So too, in her terror of Hunding as they run away, and in her grief when Siegmund dies. The twin lovers were well-matched, vibrant, passionate, ardent, their voices soaring. She managed swift changes of emotions with ease, or should we say, scorched into the situation. Furthermore, she dug out depths behind each emotion — devotional love for Siegmund, pity for his sorrow, compassion and sincere care for Sieglinde, passionate defiance of her father.

She also evinced consolation for Sieglinde, caught in the wrath and the anguish of her father. With her eight sister Valkyries, she showed friendship and leadership.