Tosca Giacomo Puccini Libretto by Luigi Illica & Giuseppe Giacosa Opera San José Immensely impressive, profoundly passionate, and musically masterful from first notes to closing plunge off the parapet describe Opera San José’s triumphant production of Giacomo Puccini’s timelessly popular Tosca. Within the setting of San José’s beautifully majestic California … [Read more...] about Tosca
opera
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Music); Lorenzo Da Ponte (Libretto) West Bay Opera How can an opera about an arrogant, despicable rake who travels throughout Europe seducing women for pure sport and then leaving them often after having promised marriage continue to be one of the most popular, most produced operas of all times? Why in this particular era of “Me … [Read more...] about Don Giovanni
La Traviata
La Traviata Giuseppe Verdi, Composer; Original Libretto by Francisco Maria Piave English Version by Donald Pippin Pocket Opera, in Co-Production with Cinnabar Theatre With cheeks flushed against a snow-white, pale face, Violetta Valéry slowly enters pressed against the strong arm of her devoted servant, Annina, who serves as a needed crutch. Gingerly, painfully, … [Read more...] about La Traviata
Pique Dame
Pique Dame (The Queen of Spades) Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky West Bay Opera Woodwinds and strings sing in gentle, back-and-forth conversation before other instruments begin to join, building into rolling climaxes of commanding brass and timpani and all leading to a sense of foreboding as projected on the walls before us are splashed, red blotches mingled in a flurried mix … [Read more...] about Pique Dame
Macbeth
Woodwinds creep together in soft, low measures before intertwining in higher registers and giving way to announcing brass that awaken spirits from the underworld. Those dark figures manipulate wood puppets to tell the agonized history of a royal, childless marriage. From foggy mists, faceless sisters of the night emerge in every sort of torn and draped rag, roving about while … [Read more...] about Macbeth
“Falstaff”
FalstaffGiuseppe Verdi, with Libretto by Arigo BoitoWest Bay OperaMichael Orlinsky, Kiril Havezov & Richard Zeller“In this great abdomen are a thousand tongues that proclaim my name ... This is my kingdom.” With a measure of self-worth and a confidence in his own attraction to the fairer sex that are almost as mammoth as his rotund belly, Falstaff sings with from his … [Read more...] about “Falstaff”
Announcing the 2014 Theatre Eddys
Eddie on stage.ED’S & EDDIE’S 2014 TOP-RATEDPLAYS, MUSICALS, & OPERASIn 2014 and in spite of Ed's six months of intense chemotherapy, we saw 112 plays, musicals, and operas (not to mention a full season of ballet and several nights at the symphony). Once again, this was an outstanding year for plays in the Bay Area.. Narrowing our top-rated plays to … [Read more...] about Announcing the 2014 Theatre Eddys
