Seattle Opera’s 2009/2010 season began with the spectacle of Wagner’s Ring and will end with the uncertainty of a new opera – Daron Hagen’s Amelia – the first commission for the company in decades. In between, a series of three Verdi operas have provided reliable entertainment and an overview of Verdi’s output. The Verdi festival comes to an end this month with a production of Verdi’s last opera – Falstaff.
Continue reading Falstaff closes out Seattle Opera’s Verdi survey
By Harlan Glotzer
Entering the Chapel at the Good Shepherd Center this evening, I was struck with the calm and focus of a dedicated artistic space. This was largely due to the beautiful ambiance of the stage and sonic arena created by the Fisher Ensemble for the world premiere of the piece At the Hawk’s Well even before it officially began. I was greeted by a stage, though stark, not lacking in visual interest. Two paper masks created by Louise McCagg sat atop three blocks arranged in a stair pattern, which was in turn flanked by two white screens lit from behind. Simple blacks and whites, but I couldn’t help but follow my eyes around the set three or four times before I felt satisfied that I had truly seen the initial image. The strong but soothing angles were accompanied by prerecorded recitation. I could not quite make out what I was hearing, but the male voice on the PA was smooth and low. I could pick out a word or two here and there, but it seemed less important what was being said and more the flavor of how the sounds filled the architecture of the stage. All this before the music even started! I knew I was in for a treat.
By R.M. Campbell
Verdi’s “Il trovatore” has been regarded as a joke, with great tunes; a unsurpassed example of Romantic melodrama; one of the last breaths, in 1855, of an earlier era of Italian opera, a work nearly impossible to stage with any credibility today. Enrico Caruso once quipped that all one required for a good performance were the four greatest singers in the world.
As the second opera in its Verdi cycle this season, Seattle Opera this weekend at McCaw Hall took the leap for its first ‘Trovatore” in 13 years.
In Verdi’s three most popular operas – La Traviata, Rigoletto, and Il Trovatore – the heroine suffers a tragic fate. In Traviata, Violetta loses love, gets sick, and dies just after one final encounter with her beau. Gilda, the heroine in Rigoletto, decides to sacrifice her own life to spare that of the Duke’s – her father’s tormentor and the man she has fallen in love with. And then there is Leonora, who poisons herself to stay true to her love Manrico. Simply focusing on the tragic end of these three women doesn’t do justice to the depth of Verdi’s characters. They are complex, constantly changing, and determined to leave their own mark on the world.
Continue reading Lisa Daltirus gets to the heart of Verdi’s Leonora
Gathering Note 
