Saturday, September 20, 2008

Philharmonia Baroque Publicity Shot



The little park between the San Francisco Opera House and the Veterans Building probably has an official name, but I call it The Tuilleries.



It's a great favorite for photos by tourists, ad agencies and in this case a publicity shot for the chorus of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, which was playing Arne's Milton masque, "Comus" and Rameau's "Pygmalion" at Herbst Theatre Friday evening.



It sounded like an interesting program but I was musically burnt out after a dress rehearsal all afternoon of Korngold's "Die Tote Stadt" where I joined about 40 men for a short cameo in a religious procession atop expressionist black houses.



The music is sounding beautiful but it sure is a weird opera.

3 comments:

Axel Feldheim said...

I think you have it exactly right about Die Tote Stadt: It's gotta be one of the most twisted opera stories, but set to very gorgeous music! I've never seen it before & am looking forward to Friday's performance.

Sibyl said...

I am so excited to see Tote Stadt in a couple of weeks! Thank you so much for recommending the last row, last baclony. We saw Bonesetter from there, and I was delighted by how relatively well we could see. I am really pleased to hear that Stadt is sounding good; I have only heard this on cd, and I am looking forward to hearing live singers and orchestra.

Civic Center said...

Dear sibyl: Glad you have joined "les enfants du paradis." See you up there. Also, for future reference, if you're having "personal space issues," go for an aisle seat. It helps immeasurably.