Too Many SFO “Homecoming” Shortcomings

Last night San Francisco Opera presented its only performance of Live and In Concert: The Homecoming, presented in the War Memorial Opera House with a simulcast relay to Oracle Park. The guest artists were soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen and mezzo Jamie Barton, but this was also an occasion to appreciate the SFO Orchestra under the leadership of its new Caroline H. Hume Music Director Eun Sun Kim. The performance also include the “debut” of a new Concert Shell, completed this past spring, which would provide the proper acoustics for the Orchestra on the stage, rather than in the pit. Those attending the concert also saw a generous array of microphones (along with those worn by the vocalists) to make sure that Oracle Park received the audio signal it deserved.

The high point of the evening came when lightning struck for a second time, so to speak. In the spring of 2019, Willis-Sørensen had sung the title role in Antonín Dvořák’s best known opera, his Opus 114 Rusalka. This opera is probably best known for the “Song of the Moon,” sung by the title character during the first act. Willis-Sørensen delivered a dynamite account of this poignant meditation, particularly impressive since her performance was a role debut.

Most readers know by now that the occasion was also Kim’s debut in leading the Orchestra. Thus, both of them had an opportunity to shine once again in the performance of Dvořák’s music. Willis-Sørensen reprised her account of the “Song of the Moon” (reminding many of us that lightning can strike twice in the same place); and, by way of an “overture,” Kim conducted the second-act Polonaise.

Barton was also in the cast of that 2019 performance, singing the role of the witch Ježibaba; but she did not contribute to the Rusalka excerpts. Instead, the “Song of the Moon” was followed by Barton singing Delilah’s seductive aria “Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix” (my heart opens itself to your voice) from the second act of Camille Saint-Saëns’ Opus 47 opera Samson and Delilah. For many this is the only vocal selection from the opera that is recognizable; but Barton knew how to tap into every twist of seductiveness in the composer’s score, making her delivery far more compelling than a mere rehash of an all-too-familiar theme. Indeed, given how much of the program was dominated by Italian composers, the French ones tended to be more memorable with Willis-Sørensen’s compelling account of “Depuis le jour” (since the day) from the third act of Gustave Charpentier’s Louise.

Sadly, the Italian side of the evening was far less satisfying. As might be expected, the program followed the trajectory from Gaetano Donizetti through Vincenzo Bellini and up to Giuseppe Verdi. The first two of those composers were the leaders of the bel canto movement, which had a strong consistency to prioritize style over narrative substance. Verdi broke with this trend in favor of less trivial narratives; but both trends hold up much better in the context of a full opera, rather than through excerpts. Personally, I would have traded the entire set of nineteenth-century Italian offerings for the opportunity to listen to Willis-Sørensen take on “Ain’t it a pretty night” from Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah opera.

I also feel it necessary to observe that this was one of those occasions when sitting in the Orchestra section turned out to be sub-optimal. While the Concert Shell certainly provided the right acoustic setting for the ensemble on the War Memorial Opera House stage, the full power of that setting was impeded by having almost all of the musicians on the same level. Anyone who has crossed Grove Street to observe the San Francisco Symphony is probably aware of the tiered seating that provides just the right physical layout for balancing (visually, as well as acoustically) the different instrumental resources. The absence of such a tiered approach on the Opera House stage meant that those with seats on “the ground floor” could not see most of the performers themselves. (From my particular vantage point, the entire second violin section was obscured.)

The limited view of those with Orchestra seating (photograph by Cory Weaver, courtesy of SFO)

I have written in the past about the ways in which what one sees contributes to what one hears. Those seated above the Orchestra level probably experienced those contributions. Most likely there were even some that could relish the interactions of all those musicians with their conductor. I suspect it would have been possible to provide a “reasonable facsimile” of the seating used in Davies Symphony Hall; but it appears that this possibility received little, if any, attention.