Talented acting makes Seattle Opera's Die Walküre a heart-breaking experience

By Ilana Walder-Biesanz, 07 August 2013

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

Reviewed at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, Seattle on 5 August 2013

Wagner, Die Walküre

Seattle Opera

Stephen Wadsworth, Director

Asher Fisch, Conductor

Stuart Skelton, Siegmund

Margaret Jane Wray, Sieglinde

Andrea Silvestrelli, Hunding

Greer Grimsley, Wotan

Alwyn Mellor, Brünnhilde

Stephanie Blythe, Fricka

A rite of spring turned inward: Strauss’ Daphne at Seattle Opera

Thomas May, 16th January

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

Erica Miner, 22nd February

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

African American spirituals ring out in world premiere of Jubilee

Erica Miner, 12th October

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

*****

Alcina in Seattle: captivating, flirtatious, sometimes weird

Rosie Rogers, 25th October

Thoughtful cuts, an extremely skillful orchestra and active, inventive staging made this sexy dark comedy engrossing and highly watchable.

*****

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

Huang Ruo’s riveting Bound makes Seattle Opera debut

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.

*****

More reviews...

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.