Iréne Theorin as Brünnhilde with members of the San Francisco Opera Chorus in Wagner’s “Götterdämmerung.” Photo: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera
Here’s the final installment of my coverage for Musical America of San Francisco Opera’s extraordinary Ring cycle.
SAN FRANCISCO—If Siegfried highlights Zambello’s ability to tease out vital, three-dimensional characters from a deceptively simple surface, Götterdämmerung shows her clarifying the most complex component of the entire cycle–an installment which introduces an entire generation of characters new to the Ring–with a gripping theatrical momentum. The night/day dichotomy of the Prologue aptly summed up the diametrical viewpoints of this staging…
The conductor Donald Runnicles concluded his tenure with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra on the last day of the 2016 Edinburgh International Festival with a performance of Schoenberg’s epic Gurre-Lieder at Usher Hall.
The gargantuan forces needed bring to mind the festival atmosphere Mahler’s Eighth Symphony also evokes. Here’s a sampling of the reviews:
And so this concert summed up the kind of playing that he and this orchestra have developed together – a rich glow at the heart of the strings and a capacity to turn on a dime and power up almighty sounds.
Runnicles is particularly well known for his interpretations of the core Austro-German Romantic repertoire, so Gurrelieder plays to his strengths. Under his baton Schoenberg’s ripe score yields up its influences. There is Wagner in the love music, of course, but also Bruckner in the solemnity of the Wood-Dove, Beethoven in the nature-painting and, of course, Mahler in the scale and structure. That scale could be pretty overpowering at times, and not just in the final, overwhelming greeting to the sun that ends the work. The sweep and surge of the love music was intoxicating, as was the wall of brass and percussion that accompanied the chorus’ romping as the hellish riders. What was most striking, however, was the way Runnicles repeatedly brought out the delicacy of the orchestration.
[Schoenberg’s] mega-cantata Gurrelieder, was the vehicle chosen to whisk us off on such a glorious journey, driven by the massively-inflated forces of the BBC Scottish Synphony Orchestra, a male-dominated Edinburgh Festival Chorus, five soloists and speaker, all under the towering leadership of maestro Donald Runnicles, and formulated by a musical language gathering up the scraps of Wagner, colouring them with whole-tone harmonic treats from Debussy, sweeping up Mahler in its tracks before opening the gates to teasers of the world-changing Schoenberg-to-come.
NPR's Frank Langfitt wanted to get to know the real China, so he started a free taxi service in an effort to have conversations with a variety of people. His new book is the result of this reporting.
A group of women calling themselves the Catskilled Crafters took apart hundreds of donated neckties to make fabric art exploring their relationships with their fathers and the men in their lives.
Marcelo D'Salete's powerful graphic novel chronicles the mocambos, communities of runaway slaves that flourished in the jungles of 17th century Brazil, and all the lives they touched, slave and free.
Thompson plays a successful TV host who pulled the ladder up behind her in the movie Late Night. Kaling says a female late night host is "science fiction," but this was the role she wanted to write.
The Italian director staged sumptuously visualized operas, which often resembled Renaissance paintings brought to life. On film, he brought Shakespearean and biblical tales to the big screen.
A new Netflix series resurrects the house at Barbary Lane, with characters reprised by Laura Linney and Olympia Dukakis. Showrunner Lauren Morelli says she aimed to expand the range of queer stories.
Nancy Bass Wyden, the Strand's owner, is protesting New York City's decision to preserve the bookstore as a historic city landmark. She thinks the move will hurt, not help her business.
One day, Toby Fleishman's ex-wife drops off the kids and disappears. Author Taffy Brodesser-Akner says too many people are "locked into" marriage; her new novel explores wedlock, and what comes after.
Aminah Mae Safi's new young adult novel is rooted in a famous plot arc from the television show Gilmore Girls — but you don't have to be a fan to enjoy this dense, fulfilling love story.
A recording of what is thought to be the voice of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo has was made public this week. Archivists who are digitizing and preserving a collection discovered it.
