Opera

SFCV’s perceptive writers report on topics relevant to opera.

Michael Zwiebach - May 16, 2023

It’s the latest accolade for an opera that continues to wow audiences and critics alike.

Victoria Looseleaf - May 15, 2023

Unfolding over six hours, Stranger Love is composer Dylan Mattingly’s attempt at a transformative work that marries philosophical ideas and everyday experience.

Jason Victor Serinus - May 15, 2023

The composer talks about For a Look or a Touch and Another Sunrise, presented by Music of Remembrance this month.

Lisa Hirsch - May 9, 2023

Toshi and Bernice Johnson Reagon’s operatic rendering of Octavia Butler’s novel is scarily on point but also musically winning.

Nicholas Jones - May 9, 2023

The group’s season-ending concert was devoted to Handel’s Apollo and Daphne and Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Pygmalion.

Emery Kerekes - May 8, 2023

From New York: The Metropolitan Opera star makes a recital debut that is alternately gripping and hilarious.

Victoria Looseleaf - May 8, 2023

The star bass talks about his career, fighting for the underdog, and being a family man.

Jeff Kaliss - May 2, 2023

Benjamin Britten’s opera is pleasant if mostly uninteresting, like its titular hero.

Jim Farber - May 2, 2023

Emma O’Halloran’s techno-tinged music clothes the drama perfectly in tales of Dublin’s downtrodden.

Lisa Hirsch - May 2, 2023

Michel van der Aa’s elusive and subtle work is brilliantly realized at Cal Performances.