Review: SAN DIEGO OPERA'S MADAMA BUTTERFLY at San Diego Civic CenterMay 3, 2024Puccini’s Madama Butterfly is one of the most popular operas ever written. It has a wonderfully lyrical score, familiar arias and a story that remains compelling even after often heard. San Diego Opera’s most recent production played to a full house on opening night, and under the direction of Jose Maria Condemi the well-chosen cast delivered a performance with impressive emotional depth. Corinne Winters’s convincing portrayal of the naïve 15-year-old Cio-Cio-San brought bravas and enthusiastic applause at curtain call. But her portrayal of innocence exploited meant both bravos and boos over extended applause for tenor Adam Smith’s convincing version of her heartless seducer, Lieutenant Pinkerton.
Review: BACH'S WINTER REVERIE & SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY VIRTUOSITY at The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts CenterFebruary 14, 2024Edo de Waart opened a conservative program of J. S. Bach, Samuel Barber and Josef Haydn with Bach’s B-minor Orchestral Suite. The suite is often performed with a full-sized modern string section of 40 or more. De Waart chose a size much closer to one listeners would have been likely to hear in the 18th century, 14 strings, the flute of the original score and a harpsichord continuo. The San Diego Symphony’s Principal Flute Rose Lombardo was at the front of the stage. The flute is prominent in every movement, though often playing as part of the orchestra rather than offering a second melodic line as in a true concerto.
Review: San Diego Opera's Production of Mozart's DON GIOVANNI at San Diego Civic Center TheaterFebruary 6, 2024San Diego Opera’s most recent production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni is an example of how opera companies hope to attract younger audiences while coping with rising costs and smaller budgets. The pandemic hasn’t been kind to the arts. The National Endowment for the Arts has reported that stage performances joined oil drilling/exploration and air transportation “as the steepest-declining areas of the U.S. economy in 2020.” And opera, which had already been experiencing shrinking audiences, was the hardest hit of all the arts. Smaller companies are struggling to stay in business. Even New York’s Metropolitan Opera had to dip into its reserves this season for $40 Million.
Review: THE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY PERFORMS MOZART at The Conrad In La JollaJanuary 30, 2024The San Diego Symphony was at a little more than half its usual size, but with a near full complement of strings, and Raphael Payare conducted with great feeling and passion. (A friend commented at intermission, “I thought he was on a trampoline.”)
The result was unusually satisfying versions of three Mozart symphonies. The orchestra responded to Payare with as near perfect execution as you are likely to hear in a live performance, and the Conrad has spectacularly good acoustics for the near chamber-orchestra size group Payare led.
Review: THE GIPSY KINGS at The San Diego Symphony's Rady ShellAugust 17, 2023What did our critic think of THE GIPSY KINGS at The San Diego Syphony's Rady Shell? The only empty seats at the Rady Shell's high-energy Gipsy Kings concert were the hundreds unoccupied while their associated booties were swaying in the aisles below waving arms. Nicolas Reyes sang 'Quiero Saber' to begin the bass-heavy, multi-guitar rhythmic onslaught. His hoarse and passionate voice has made him one of the world’s most popular flamenco singers.
Review: The San Diego Symphony Opens Summer Season at San Diego's Rady ShellJuly 3, 2023Pacho Flores is a winner of the top prize in the world’s most prestigious trumpet competition, the Maurice André International, and the list of contemporary composers writing for him is impressive and growing. The San Diego Symphony has now performed two of the results. Last season it was Paquito D'Rivera's Concerto Venezolano for Trumpet and Orchestra. This year Flores returned for Roberto Sierra’s Salseando for trumpet and orchestra as part of a program with dance as a unifying theme. I’ll be disappointed if we don’t hear Marquez’s recent “Autumn” trumpet concerto on a future San Diego program.
Review: San Diego Opera's Production of GHOSTS at Balboa TheatreApril 21, 2023Nicolas Reveles was diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer shortly after completing Ghosts, and it is tragic that he died just weeks before its world premiere in a San Diego Opera production. A sincerely religious man, his spirit lives on in the minds of the many grieving friends and admirers who attended the premiere and knew how important he was to San Diego opera lovers as a pre-performance lecturer, pianist and composer.
Review: SAN DIEGO OPERA'S TOSCA at San Diego Civic Center TheatreMarch 29, 2023WhaThe San Diego Opera has outdone itself with its most recent production of Puccini’s Tosca. The three major roles are sung by appealing voices with exceptional power; the company’s chorus and the city’s children’s choir combined for thrilling moments, especially in the riveting Act I finale; San Diego Symphony musicians excelled under Italian conductor Valerio Galli, caressing the opera’s most romantic melodies and offering glowing resonance in its heroic themes. The evening ended with curtain calls that brought an understandably pleased audience to its feet in enthusiastic appreciation of an outstanding entertainment.t did our critic think of SAN DIEGO OPERA'S TOSCA at San Diego Civic Center Theatre?
Interview: SAN DIEGO OPERA'S TOSCA at San Diego Civic Center TheatreMarch 20, 2023Puccini is one of Michelle Bradley’s favorite composers, and she’s in San Diego to sing his Tosca for the San Diego Opera company. We were originally scheduled to talk in person, but a rehearsal change meant Zoom was going to work better for an hour discussion.
“I'm happy to be back, and I know that everyone's happy to have me back because I've been treated warmly as always. They check up on me making sure I'm okay, and Southern California feels like a working vacation. After rehearsal I can have a nice walk any time of day. The ocean’s close, the mountains, beautiful views. I've made some great friends, and it’s a wonderful relationship to have. They seem to think I’m a star.”