Baritone Lucas Meachem stars as Don Giovanni in the Mozart opera currently on stage at the SF Opera (three shows left). Every year we see singers go through the ranks of the Merola and Adler programs. Those programs are like the SF Opera Triple-A affiliates of the major league team and we try each year to guess which singers will come back headlining big new productions. Well, Meachem did big time, landing gigs here, at the Met or at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. more ›

Don Giovanni belongs to the category of operas that are insubmersible: as long as the cast is able and has a pulse, neither bad staging nor poor set can sink the show. The new production of Mozart's opera, which opened last night, does not particularly enhance the experience, but the singers delivered. And thus, everyone goes home happy with their heads full of Mozart's wonderful tunes. more ›

We enjoyed two performances at SF Opera, the 2nd cast of Il Trovatore in the last performance of that run, and Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio, which continues for three more performances. more ›

Jennifer Higdon's blue cathedral will make its first appearance tonight on the program of the SF Symphony (at Flint in Cupertino, tomorrow through Saturday at Davies Symphony hall, along with a Mozart piano concerto and Debussy's Iberia); which comes at a surprise to us since we heard about her so much, from chamber music, to concertos. Indeed, our own SF Opera commissioned an opera from her for 2013. So we jumped on this opportunity to phone her up. more ›

After the stage fireworks of the Bonesetter's Daughter (acrobats! videos!), the SF Opera presented Wednesday night a re-run of the 1989 production of Idomeneo. This stale, dated setb was chosen, we guess, most likely to offset the costs of the previous show: one cannot have it all shiny new prods. Thank Neptune the singer's budget was allocated wisely, for it would be a long evening otherwise. Stellar turns from Kurt Streit and Genia Kühmeier, along with the steady hand of maestro Runnicles, made the evening thoroughly enjoyable. The story goes like this: on his return from winning the Trojan war, the king of Crete, Idomeneo gets caught at sea in a storm. Neptune, God of the oceans, lets him go home safely only after Idomeneo vows to sacrifice the first person he meets on land. Of course, the Gods being a facetious bunch, it's his son Idamante who happens to be there. Idomeneo and his legal councel wise advisor Arbace decide to send Idamante away rather than fulfill the pledge. Neptune is not amused, and sends some Godzilla monster to Crete. Idamante goes and kills the monster, an act of courage which earns Neptune's admiration and forgiveness. more ›

The bad news: The Don Giovanni we witnessed last weekend seemed too big a task for the Merola program. Sure, the singing was stellar. And Donna Anna, Leporello, and the Don himself were admirably cast. But the cringe-inducing stage direction, as well as the evening's lackluster orchestra, would not let us enjoy the opera. Bummer. more ›