Seattle Opera's Ring cycle begins well with a stunning, locally inspired Rheingold

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz, 07 August 2013

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Reviewed at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, Seattle on 4 August 2013

Wagner, Das Rheingold

Seattle Opera

Stephen Wadsworth, Director

Asher Fisch, Conductor

Jennifer Zetlan, Woglinde

Cecelia Hall, Wellgunde

Renée Tatum, Flosshilde

Stephanie Blythe, Fricka

Greer Grimsley, Wotan

Wendy Bryn Harmer, Freia

Andrea Silvestrelli, Fasolt

Daniel Sumegi, Fafner

Ric Furman, Froh

Markus Brück, Donner

Mark Schowalter, Loge

Dennis Petersen, Mime

Lucille Beer, Erda

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Presented without staging, Seattle Opera’s concert Daphne places Strauss’ extreme vocal demands and saturated orchestral writing in sharp relief, offering a high-risk encounter with a rarely heard late opera.

****1

Mozart meets Vaudeville in Seattle's silent movie Magic Flute

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Eye-popping, hand-drawn animation melds with Mozart's fantastical world and the silent film era to create a colorful and energetic new-to-Seattle production.

***11

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A world premiere opera about the Fisk Jubilee Singers, the intrepid troupe of African American singers who changed music history.

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Frederick Ballentine’s Loge shines in Das Rheingold

Rosie Rogers, 12th August

Despite some confused visual elements, an excellent musical performance makes Seattle Opera's production well worth watching.

****1

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Erica Miner, 10th June

Bound tells of a second generation of Asian immigrants, born and raised in the US, their problematic association with their cultural heritage, and the difficulties and challenges they face, bound to their culture but trying to be wholly accepted as American.

*****

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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.