Frederick Ballentine’s Loge shines in Das Rheingold

Sarah Larsen (Flosshilde), Jacqueline Piccolino (Woglinde), Shelly Traverse (Wellgunde)

Frederick Ballantine (Loge), Michael Mayes (Alberich), Greer Grimsley (Wotan)

Melody Wilson (Fricka), Greer Grimsley (Wotan)

Peixin Chen (Fasolt), Kenneth Kellogg (Fafner)

Viktor Antipenko, Katie van Kooten, Michael Chioldi, Greer Grimsley, Melody Wilson

By Rosie Rogers, 14 August 2023

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Reviewed at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, Seattle on 12 August 2023

Wagner, Das Rheingold

Seattle Opera

Ludovic Morlot, Conductor

Brian Staufenbiel, Director

Matthew LeFebvre, Costume Designer

Seattle Symphony

Seattle Opera Chorus

Greer Grimsley, Wotan

Frederick Ballentine, Loge, Donner

Michael Mayes, Alberich, Froh

Martin Bakari, Mime

Peixin Chen, Fasolt

Kenneth Kellogg, Fafner

Melody Wilson, Fricka

Denyce Graves, Erda

Sarah Larsen, Flosshilde

Katie van Kooten, Freia

Shelly Traverse, Wellgunde

Jacqueline Piccolino, Woglinde

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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

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Erica Miner, 12th October

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

*****

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Rosie Rogers, 25th October

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

*****

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.

*****

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Erica Miner, 20th January

Ludovic Morlot conducts a strong cast, led by local mezzo J’Nai Bridges, in a concert performance of Saint-Saëns' biblical opera.

****1

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Rosie Rogers

Born and raised in Oregon, Rosie is based in the Pacific Northwest. She has music degrees from the University and Puget Sound and Lynn Conservatory, and during the course of her study she discovered an interest in opera and its potential as a multimedia art form. Rosie began writing about opera while in graduate school, and she hopes to make it accessible to a broader audience. Her writing can also be found on palmbeachartspaper.com

Frederick Ballentine’s Loge shines in Das Rheingold to open Seattle Opera’s season