The San Francisco Ring: Episode IV – A New Hope

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz, 25 June 2018

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“a peerless cast, the finest Wagner conducting and playing, and a dynamic staging”

Reviewed at War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco on 24 June 2018

Wagner, Götterdämmerung

San Francisco Opera

Sir Donald Runnicles, Conductor

Francesca Zambello, Director

Michael Yeargan, Set Designer

Catherine Zuber, Costume Designer

Iréne Theorin, Brünnhilde

Daniel Brenna, Siegfried

Brian Mulligan, Gunther

Melissa Citro, Gutrune

Andrea Silvestrelli, Hagen

Falk Struckmann, Alberich

Jamie Barton, Waltraute, Second Norn

Stacey Tappan, Woglinde

Lauren McNeese, Wellgunde

Renée Tatum, Flosshilde

Ronnita Miller, First Norn

Sarah Cambidge, Third Norn

San Francisco Opera Orchestra

San Francisco Opera Chorus

Unmasking illusions: SF Opera’s Ballo mirrors life’s motley

Thomas May, 24th September

An excellent cast and smart, engaged direction make for an auspicious season launch in San Francisco Opera’s production of one of Verdi’s most sophisticated creations.

****1

San Francisco Opera's The Handmaid's Tale offers hope

Lois Silverstein, 14th September

John Fulljames directs a new production of Poul Ruders' uncompromising operatic take on Margaret Atwood’s celebrated novel.

****1

Antony and Cleopatra: Adams offers a Shakespeare speed-read

Mark Pullinger, 18th September

Great vocal performances from Amina Edris and Gerald Finley grace John Adams' new opera, which opens San Francisco Opera’s centennial season.

***11

San Francisco Opera offers a dark, powerful Rusalka

Edward Sava-Segal, 22nd June

Both vocally and instrumentally the performance was a high-class one

****1

Exquisite Handelian singing in San Francisco Opera's Orlando

Edward Sava-Segal, 21st June

The evening’s most revelatory performance came from the young countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen as Medoro.

****1

Heggie creates a new holiday tradition for the opera world

Donna Stoering, 20th November

A wonderfully realized production at San Francisco Opera of Jake Heggie's operatic version of a holiday classic.

*****

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Ilana Walder-Biesanz

Ilana Walder-Biesanz is a product manager for Yahoo, a theatre and opera critic, and a classically trained mezzo-soprano. She explored theater and opera stagings as a Gates Scholar at Cambridge and as a Fulbright Scholar in Germany. She currently writes for Bachtrack, San Francisco Classical Voice, and Stark Insider. Twitter: @ilana_wb.