Overhead view of the new concert shell in front of which the SFO Orchestra performed (photograph by Ryan O’Steen, from the Backstage with Matthew blog, courtesy of SFO)
Last night at the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco Opera (SFO) presented the final program in its 2021–22 season, a one-night-only performance entitled Eun Sun Kim Conducts Verdi. This marked the conclusion of Kim’s first season as Caroline H. Hume Music Director and her only performance during the SFO Summer Season. The program also provided another opportunity for the SFO Orchestra to take the stage, enjoying the benefit of a concert shell that was first deployed this past September when Kim conducted Live and In Concert: The Homecoming. More recently, readers had an opportunity to observe Kim’s conducting style when she led the National Brass Ensemble in Davies Symphony Hall a little over a week prior to last night’s return to the War Memorial Opera House.
Ironically, opera figured significantly in her National Brass program. The second half was devoted entirely to what amounted to an extended synopsis of the four operas in Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen (the ring of the Nibelung), arranged for the occasion by Timothy Higgins (Principal Trombone with the San Francisco Symphony). Kim was clearly in her element for this occasion, even if it did not involve any vocalists and was a far cry from the full content of Wagner’s Ring cycle.
Last night she was just as much in her element conducting the music of Giuseppe Verdi. The program featured four vocalists, sopranos Nicole Car and Mikayla Sager, baritone Etienne Dupuis, and bass Soloman Howard. The SFO Chorus, directed by John Keene, was also included in the performance. The selections were drawn from the composer’s early, middle, and late periods, presented in chronological order.
The evening began, appropriately enough, with an overture. The opera was Luisa Miller, first performed in 1849; and the overture was followed by an excerpt from the first scene of the second act, the intensely dark confrontation by the title character (Car) with a scheming official, Wurm (Howard), determined to have her as his bride. The middle period was represented by four selections from Il Trovatore (the troubadour), first performed in 1853. This portion of the program began with the SFO Chorus performing the familiar “Anvil” chorus at the beginning of the second act. This provided an opportunity to see the “anvil,” rather than just hear it. It turned out that Patricia Niemi struck a relatively small piece of metal (probably with a metal mallet); but the reverberations were all-powerful!
Following the intermission, the remainder of the program was devoted entirely to Don Carlo, performed for the first time in French at the Paris Opera in 1867 and subsequently revised three times. The Chorus began with the auto-da-fé scene that concludes the third act. The Orchestra then performed the ballet music from the 1867 score, probably performed for the first time in the War Memorial Opera House. The set concluded with solo arias, sung in Italian by Dupuis and Car.
As was probably expected by most of the audience, there was also an encore. This was an “all hands” performance of one of Verdi’s most familiar operatic episodes, the brindisi “Libiamo ne' lieti calici” (let’s drink from the joyful cups), with the singing enhanced by a bit of impromptu dancing. This provided just the right breath of fresh air after that two dark solo arias from Don Carlo.
General Director Matthew Shilvock served as host for the occasion, providing just the right amount of informative introduction for each portion of the program. With Kim “front and center,” one could appreciate many of the subtle devices by which the music teased out the semantics and the vocalists fulfilled their “semantic obligations.” While it may be preferable to experience an opera narrative in its entirety, last night’s program provided abundant insights to account for “what makes the music work.” Perhaps such “informative background” performances should be experienced more often.
No comments:
Post a Comment