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LISTENERS' BOX
November 29, 2005
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Great review of the past five years! I started going to San Francisco Opera in 1949, standing room only as I was poor, and have loved S.F. Opera up until the past five years which were so dreadful I gave up my season tickets and prefer Santa Fe Opera, Opera San Jose, and Festival Opera. Compare the Alcina that Rosenberg did with Santa Fe's Agrippina and see to what depths S.F. Opera descended.
________Eloise Bouye
I just wanted to say how much I valued Stephanie Friedman's review of
Matthias Goerne's recent recital. As a fellow critic (I write for
Musicweb's Seen & Heard [www.musicweb-international.com/SandH]; and for Fanfare magazine), it's a joy to read another reviewer who is prepared to put in the same amount of care & detail as I am when it
comes to recital reviews, putting print write-ups to shame — at least
the ones we get over here, anyway, which are mostly written by protégés
of the editors who know as much about Lieder as I do about lacrosse.
We're looking forward to hearing Goerne do the Wesendonck-Lieder here
in London soon, intriguingly paired with Frauenliebe- und Leben!
________Melanie Eskenazi
Robert Commanday has eloquently put into words all the frustration and
despair I've felt about the Rosenberg era.
I really haven't heard that many people complain, and my younger friends say
I should get with the times, be open-minded about new ideas, and not be so
rigid and old-fashioned.
I have wondered if maybe I am living in the past. The balcony crowd around
me is applauding wildly and I'm sitting there in disbelief. Why don't I
"get it" and why am I so upset?
I still haven't recovered from the Queen of Spades production and am sick at
heart every time I think about how they completely destroyed it. I cried
all through the first act (and for weeks afterward), I was so shocked, hurt
and disappointed. HOW COULD THEY DO THAT to one of my favorite operas? How
dare they adulterate any opera in that manner?
When we moved to California in 1960, I was extremely excited to be in the
War Memorial Opera House and attend the famous San Francisco Opera. We were
seeing some of the greatest singers in the world performing in marvelous
productions. We were definitely emotionally MOVED and would breathlessly
chatter on and on afterwards about the performances. The program covers
were tasteful and artistic and we were experiencing opera in the way it
should be presented — with authenticity, taste, and respect for the
composer.
Lately I feel as if I'm attending a university-level performance or
witnessing someone's drug-induced hallucination. I'm embarrassed and
uncomfortable for the singers and what they have to go through in order to
carry out the director's wishes.
I love opera so much, I'll never give up my season tickets, but I truly hope
the San Francisco Opera will return to what it used to be so I can hopefully
enjoy it more in the years to come.
________Bethany Gill
What an amusing piece of bombardment! People of my generation loved Pamela
Rosenberg. She understands the moving of time. She understands the
evolution of pop culture and is able to bring it into high art. In fact (and
I know this from an inside source), the average age has actually decreased
under her tenure and I have no doubt it is due to her approach to opera.
The truth is, my friends and I have enjoyed S.F. Opera a lot more under
Rosenberg than under the previous administration. Lotfi's productions are
like a rich, giant piece of chocolate cake, dripping in frosting. They were
decadent, ghastly, and smelled of ages long gone. Rosenberg's productions
are streamline[d], evocative, and often extremely intellectually challenging.
She never gives you something at face value. That would have been boring.
Do you really want to see Norma set in a beautiful forest? The fact is the
druids sing about the desecration of their beloved natural habitat and the
stage actually reflects everything they hate. It is actually an extremely
thoughtful and smart way to approach the design.
I remember one of my friends who came with me to an opera remarked, "Wow,
this is a bit like watching MTV!" And you know what, he was right. Face
it, the next generation of opera goers are us: raised on TV, Hollywood, MTV,
all those good things your generation are afraid of and never will
understand.
________Alex Heavenc
To Mr. Commanday,
Hurrah! Brilliant! As a composer, opera-lover, and husband of one of
the Opera Orchestra's musicians, I salute you, and will drink you a
toast the very next time I am near a glass of wine.
Over the last years, I have been struck by Pamela's naïveté regarding her pursuit of the sensational and what I take to be her attempts at
appearing avant-garde. I subscribe to Wuorinen's quote (probably
paraphrased, given my memory) — "How can we talk about an avant-garde
when the revolution before last everything was possible?"
Perhaps the new director will try to steer the Opera towards meaningful
expression as the goal of innovation. So far he seems to be saying the
right things.
Thank you for your good work — I always look forward to reading your reviews.
________Duane Heller
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