NCCO's Donizetti's Rita

By Jeffery S. McMillan, 17 February 2014

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Reviewed at First United Methodist Church, Palo Alto on 14 February 2014

Strauss II, Die Fledermaus, Op.56: Overture (arr. Lindstrom)

Mascagni, Cavalleria rusticana: Intermezzo (arr. Assad)

Verdi, String Quartet in E minor (Prestissimo)

Massenet, Thaïs: Méditation (arr. Assad)

Donizetti, Rita, ou Le mari battu (Deux hommes et une femme)

New Century Chamber Orchestra

Maria Valdes, Soprano

Thomas Glenn, Tenor

Efraín Solís, Baritone

Eugene Brancoveanu, Director

Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Conductor, Violin

Transforming George Eliot's Middlemarch into opera

Jaime Robles, 19th March

Shearer’s music is lush, elegant and witty. There is a playful irony that asserts itself.

***11

Excellent Peter Grimes in San Francisco

Jeffery S. McMillan, 26th June

Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas deserves credit for this excellent semi-staged version of Britten's Peter Grimes performed with the San Francisco Symphony at Davies Symphony Hall.

****1

A colorful but static Magic Flute in San Francisco

Ilana Walder-Biesanz, 20th October

Jun Kaneko's production of The Magic Flute at San Francisco Opera is a feast for the eyes, but both the stage direction and the translation need work.

***11

A delightful and enduring Cinderella

Jaime Robles, 9th November

Using Rossini’s music as the guidelines for his actor’s movements, Director Gregory Fortner has fashione a highly choreographed interpretation of the opera based on the classic production by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle.

****1

Singing The Heart of Darkness: Tarik O’Regan’s opera premieres in America

Jaime Robles, 2nd May

The effect was like raindrops falling on the surface of the world, transforming it from the dull white of fog and industry into saturated colors of fecund leaf and flower.

****1

Kurt Weill meets Francis Poulenc in Opera Parallèle's innovative production

Jaime Robles, 25th April

Opera Parallèle combines Kurt Weill's Mahagonny Songspiel and Francis Poulenc's Les Mamelles de Tirésias in a riotous opera-within-an-opera production.

*****

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Jeffery S. McMillan

Jeffery holds an MA in Jazz History and Research from Rutgers University and spent ten years as an archivist for the Metropolitan Opera, where he helped develop the MetOpera Database. He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and writes about opera and jazz for publications including Opera News and Musical America.

New Century Chamber Orchestra presents Donizetti's Rita