October 20, 2014
Central Works stages a food fight
Central Works cooks up a conspiracy
Is the U.S.A. a “vast crypto-fascistic corporate autocracy?” I’m guessing few if any residents of...
October 2014
October 18, 2014
Australian Ballet‘s “Swan Lake” at Zellerbach Hall
...
October 17, 2014
Il trovatore at West Bay Opera
Great cast, crazy plot… and that’s opera!
A strong cast lit up the stage last Friday in Palo Alto’s Lucie Stern Theater, where the West Bay Opera launched Verdi’s triumphant Il trovatore. While two or three top talents can carry a show, the presence of five exceptionally strong singers made this a night to savor.
Verdi based his “Troubadour” on a tale of fourteenth century Spain that was so gripping and twisted...
October 10, 2014
Un Ballo in Maschera at SF Opera
Swedish politics, Italian style?
The San Francisco Opera revived their 2006 production of Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball) with lavish costumes, grandly Italianate sets, and moody lighting. The SF Opera Orchestra, conducted by Nicola Luisotti, rendered the quick-shifting moods of Verdi’s steamy potboiler, based on a true assassination, with panache.
And what a potboiler! Setting a serene field, violin plucks and woodwind questions gave way...
Marin Theatre stages “The Whale”
A big new play weighs in at Marin Theatre
The second offering of Marin...
October 2, 2014
Berkeley Symphony begins a new season
Virtuosity and enigmas at Zellerbach
After five successful seasons, Joana Carneiro returned to rehearse and lead the Berkeley Symphony in “Enigma,” their opening concert. Zellerbach Hall on the UC Campus was nearly sold out to hear this popular conductor, and the after-concert dinner, a fund-raiser for education, was booked solid weeks out.
...