Gathering Note

By R.M. Campbell

Most likely Seattle Opera has hit on its hands with Rossini’s ineffable comedy, “Il barbiere di Siviglia,” aka “The Barber of Seville,” which opened this weekend at McCaw Hall. Laughter, sometimes guffaws, sometimes giggling, was omnipresent, and the applause at the end was loud and enthusiastic. Seven more performances are scheduled, a sign the company believes there will be that kind of demand at the box office.

Is it necessary to say, once again, nearly 200 years after its premiere, that the opera is a masterpiece, one of the greatest comic operas ever written and the oldest opera of an Italian composer never to go out of the repertory. Cesare Sterbini’s libretto — based on a play by 18th-century French playwright Pierre-Augustin Caron Beaumarchais — is a model of coherency, well-developed personalities, comic situations and marvelous humor that has not worn out its welcome. It remains fresh, even the old jokes. In a fit of genius, Rossini composed the opera in an astonishing two-three weeks, borrowing when necessary from previous works. The music ripples with memorable tunes — lyrical, original, ironic — uncommon elegance and rhythmic acuity.
Continue reading Seattle Opera’s “Barber” Opened a Two-week Run at McCaw Hall This Weekend

By Philippa Kiraly

Seattle Opera’s presentation of Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville,” which begins Saturday,
is like old home week for many of the participants. Conductor Dean Williamson, until its untimely suspension last month (temporarily we hope) the Artistic Director of Opera Cleveland, was principal coach and pianist for Seattle Opera for twelve years from the middle 1990s and a major player in Seattle Opera Young Artists Program. He still lives in Bellevue.
Continue reading Dean Williamson shares his thoughts on the Barber of Seville

By R.M. Campbell

There was much celebration on First Hill New Year’s Eve, but no tin horns, merry pranks or silly hats. It was a concert at St. James Cathedral one of many notable traditions of the church. It was filled, as always, to the brim well before curtain time at 11 with people anxious to bring in the nbew year with something more powerful than the usual partying.

Programs vary from to year, always utilizing the impressive musical forces of the cathedral. I am not quite sure how they manage a concert of this complexity, with multiple masses on Christmas Eve and Christmas day, also to full houses. Although those services are religious celebrations, they are filled with music, both instrumental and vocal. The church itself is an inspiration of harmonious beauty, especially at Christmas with its dozens of scarlet poinsettias outlining the central altar, along with white roses and paperwhites, handsome tall and erect, and, of course, greenery, as well as the organ loft at the back of the church. The handsome gold-like sculpture hanging from the dome, scattering light in wonderfully random ways, and slim red banners on various columns are curiously reassuring and interesting.
Continue reading St. James brings in 2011

With 2010 nearly over it is time for my annual list of the ten most memorable concerts of the year. In no particular order here are my favorite concerts from 2010.

Seattle Youth Symphony and Mahler’s Second
The Seattle Youth Symphony’s viscerally powerful performance of Mahler’s Second Symphony would have been in the top ten. Stephen Radcliffe and his orchestra of young musicians played with more conviction than orchestras with more stature and more seasoned veteran musicians. This concert, was hands down one of the best concerts of the year.

Seattle Opera: Daron Hagen’s Amelia
Last spring Seattle Opera marked another milestone by premiering Amelia: a new opera from the pen of Daron Hagen, the first commissioned by the company. New opera’s aren’t exactly commonplace, but in 2010 a bumper crop of new operas found their way to the stage. Hagen’s scoring, a poetic libretto by Gardner McFall, and convincing stage direction from Seattle Opera veteran Stephen Wadsworth combined to create an unforgettable series of performances at McCaw Hall.

Continue reading Seattle’s memorable concerts of 2010