The “other” Bohème delights at West Edge Opera

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz, 21 March 2016

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Reviewed at Mills College: Lisser Theater, Oakland on 20 March 2016

Leoncavallo, La bohème

West Edge Opera

Carrie Hennessey, Mimì

Buffy Baggott, Musetta

Alexander Boyer, Marcello

Anders Froehlich, Rodolfo

Michael Orlinksky, Schaunard

Ryan Bradford, Colline

Jonathan Khuner, Piano

West Edge Opera’s Snapshots of the future

Jaime Robles, 25th February

The program presented excerpts from five new works in a riotously diverse selection, from an adaptation of the unfinished Fitzgerald novel, The Last Tycoon, to Death of a Playboy, an imaginary reenactment of Hugh Hefner’s funeral.

****1

Sex with a side of brilliant opera

Ilana Walder-Biesanz, 13th August

Thomas Adès’ Powder Her Face has plenty of sex written in, and West Edge Opera's production adds even more. But it's the music and drama that sell.

*****

A dreamlike forest in an abandoned train station: The Cunning Little Vixen at West Edge Opera

Ilana Walder-Biesanz, 7th August

The sets, costumes, and venue contribute to the atmosphere, but it's the singing and playing of Janáček's enchanting music that make West Edge Opera's The Cunning Little Vixen magical.

****1

Opera Medium Rare presents Rossini’s Zelmira

Jaime Robles, 17th February

West Edge Opera has come up with a means to engage and develop opera audiences in that home of West Coast radicalism, the San Francisco Bay Area.

***11

Asmik Grigorian strengthens the Met’s revival of Eugene Onegin

Susan Stempleski, 20th April

The Lithuanian soprano’s riveting performance as the central character in Tchaikovsky’s operatic masterpiece lights up Deborah Warner’s mostly bland production.

****1

At half mast: Simon Boccanegra revived in Vienna

Orsolya Gyárfás, 19th April

Marco Armiliato's conducting thrills and Federica Lombardi's radiant Amelia stands out in the Wiener Staatsoper's latest revival of Simon Boccanegra.

***11

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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.