deft musical charms dish up a frothy Fledermaus
Don't Miss:Apartmenthunting tipsMike Tyson's ex ate his birdDanica single againBig Sur securityBauer: Fave dishesSuDam Korean Cuisine49ersRaidersGiantsA'sWarriorsSharksQuakesNFLMLBNBANHLCollegePrepsGolfOutdoorsOtherOn TVTicketsShopVideoMoviesMusic NightlifePerformanceArtEventsBooksTV RadioHoroscopeComicsGamesThings To DoHome GardenStyleOutdoorsSki SnowHealthGreenLGBTHouzzDatingMomsPetsSponsored ContentThe officially opened its season Friday night, but it wasn't until 24 hours later that the real celebrations began. That's when a rollicking, musically firstrate production of "Die Fledermaus" took the stage, to everyone's manifest delight.
At first glance, 's decision to add this piece to the season schedule he inherited from seemed like something of a headscratcher.
Jr http://www.alma-tools.com - chan luu bracelet .'s operetta about the mildly salacious infidelities of the Viennese upper crust is an entertaining but sometimes creaky affair, steeped in bygone traditions. And with a notquitestarry cast in place, the whole thing had the whiff of filler about it.
Well, ha ha ha. Saturday's opening performance at the proved to be its own ample justification, a giddy roundelay of bright comic turns and ebullient musical charms.
It also made a nice companion piece to the season's opening offering of Verdi's "Un Ballo in Maschera http://www.hdcompetitions.org - casque beats ," exemplifying 's famous dictum by demonstrating that masquerade balls, like history, tend to occur twice first as tragedy and again as farce http://www.afrikaekibi.com - lululemon .
Certainly there's nothing but froth and fun to be had in "Die Fledermaus," the tale of a practical joke avenged at elaborate length and expense. As the passing decades dull the piece's oncepointed social satire, audiences are left to revel in Strauss' endless musical inventiveness and to laugh where possible.
Both pleasures were available in profusion Saturday, thanks to nimble staging, a mostly superb cast and the alert and flexible leadership of Music Director http://www.plumbermokena.com - chan luu .
Jokes may come and go, but the essence and effervescence of this piece is in the rhythmic fluidity of the score, which dips and sways with all the grace of a ballroom waltzer. Runnicles caught that aspect perfectly, leading a performance that moved effortlessly from brisk to languorous and back again through tiny, deftly shaded increments.
's production has been revived under the direction of http://www.lululemondiscountonline.com - lululemon , sung once again in the familiar English translation of Ruth and but without some of the added references to San Francisco luminaries. No matter there are more than enough laughs to go around, not to mention a cameo appearance by a handsome pair of live borzois.
The production is a visual treat as well http://www.alexshand.com - lululemon , with Wolfram Skalicki's elaborate sets ranging from the Eisensteins' twostory penthouse suite in Act 1 to an Act 3 setting that is an oddball cross between a prison and a solarium.
Heading a fine cast was soprano , making a powerhouse debut as Rosalinde http://www.vpj.co.jp/company/info.html - ティファニー . This was a riveting performance http://www.angelinakennel.com - tiffany blue nikes , marked by brilliant silvery tone, billowing melodic phrases and flawless comic timing; that the singer is in an advanced stage of pregnancy only added to the audience's admiration.
As her husband, the butt of the evening's prank, baritone offered somewhat woolly singing but compensated with plenty of theatrical vigor, and soprano Jennifer WelchBabidge gave an alluringly crystalline performance as the chambermaid Adele.
Even more impressive, though, were the contributions by some of the younger singers. Baritone Brian Leerhuber has been a reliably excellent presence on Bay Area stages http://www.savethephotographs.com - vanessa bruno , including those in San Jose and Walnut Creek http://www.campaniaregioneaperta.com - lululemon sale , for the past several years, and his overdue company debut as Dr. Falke displayed all the vocal robustness and theatrical aplomb of his finest performances.
Then there was Adler Fellow Eugene Brancoveanu, who followed up his brief but smashing appearance in Friday's "Ballo" with an extended and even more tremendous turn as the prison warden Frank. Brancoveanu's singing was bold and mellifluous, and as if that weren't enough, he evinced a gift for sprightly physical comedy in Act 3 that most nonsinging actors could only envy http://www.hr-controlling.com - chan luu .
Otherwise, undiluted comedy was the province of Jason Graae, a lightfooted impersonator who turned Frosch's Act 3 solo stint too often a morass of groaners and shtick into a nicely judged diversion.
There were fine contributions, too, from countertenor as the terminally bored Prince Orlofsky, soprano as Ida and as Dr. Blind http://www.helpfightpancreaticcancer.org/facts_risk.html - lululemon . Vale Rideout made a vague company debut as Alfred, but the sounded crisp and precise, and dancers and contributed an elegant pas de deux to the Act 2 party scene.
Gockley has made the welcome decision this season to relocate the supertitle screens to their rightful place above the center of the stage http://www.bigflowro.com - vivienne westwood , thus allowing easy visibility from nearly everywhere in the house.
Unfortunately, "Fledermaus" employs supertitles not only for the musical segments, where they are welcome http://www.lululemonoutletnewyork.com - lululemon , but for the spoken dialogue, where they're both superfluous and distracting (the decision to omit them for Frosch's scene is an implicit admission that they don't belong). The cast's diction is uniformly excellent, and the dialogue is amplified to boot; the supertitles http://www.helpfightpancreaticcancer.org/facts_risk.html - lululemon outlet , by contrast, are approximate and include the occasional bumble, like confusing a purse with a French Impressionist painter. San Francisco Opera: Johann Strauss' "Die Fledermaus." Six more performances through Oct. 13. War Memorial Opera House, 301 Ave., San Francisco. Tickets: $25$245.Related：
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