The remains of a small march protesting Trump fascism ended in Civic Center this Saturday afternoon, drawing me towards them siren-like when I heard a beautiful soprano voice wafting across the plaza.
There was also a band setup with what looked like teenagers on various instruments.
Most of the anti-Trump marches this year have skewed older so it was a joy to see what looked to be 90% young people in the group.
The musicians were surprisingly skillful while playing a jazzy instrumental.
Popular movements blossom when the Cool Kids are participating, and this had a whiff of young influencers joining and leading the resistance, a welcome development.
Saturday, July 19, 2025
Monday, July 14, 2025
The Schwabacher Summer Concert
The Schwabacher Summer Concert is an annual event that has aspiring opera professionals perform operatic scenes accompanied by a full orchestra. Created by the Merola Opera Program, which is a summer bootcamp for a couple of dozen young artists, the Schwabacher is usually a slapdash affair that features a few promising singers surrounded by others that are not quite ready for prime time. This year's outing from director Omer Ben Seadia at the SF Conservatory of Music, however, featured the strongest vocal roster and best staging that I have ever encountered at these concerts. The evening started with bass-baritone Justice Yates and baritone Gabriel Natal Báez in a silly scene from an early Donizetti comic opera, Il camponello, that was a delight. In particular, the young Puerto Rican baritone, Natal Báez, sang with a strong, richly warm voice that was a major highlight in all three of his appearances. (All production photos are by Kristen Loken.)
The first half of the program was a Donizetti-thon, with Il camponello followed by two scenes from the composer's Roberto Devereux. Donizetti's dramatic operas tend to be virtuoso vocal showcases, usually revived for operatic superstars, and there was a fear that the young singers would be overmatched. However, they all came through triumphantly, including mezzo-soprano Ruby Dibble as Sara, Roberto's beloved who has married the Duke of Nottingham on the orders of Queen Elizabeth.
Tristan Tournaud as the jealous Roberto has a pretty tenor voice that blended nicely with Dibble's fluent performance.
This was followed by a couple of scenes from Anna Bolena with a magnificent performance by Charlotte Siegel as the doomed queen who has to deal with former lover Percy, sung by tenor Jin Yu, and her lovesick page Smeton, beautifully sung by Anna Maria Vacca (not pictured).
The scene culminated in the arrival of Enrico (Henry VIII) who has everyone arrested before their eventual execution.
After intermission, the program veered away from Donizetti into Puccini's Suor Angelica with mezzo-soprano Sadie Cheslak as The Princess being horrible to her niece, the pathetic Suor Angelica sung by soprano Alexa Frankian. This was an audience favorite (not pictured), but I preferred what followed: soprano Ariana Cossette as Leonora and mezzo-soprano Anna Maria Vacca singing the difficult aria/duet from Act I of Verdi's Il Trovatore (pictured).
The concert ended with Act II of Donizetti's comedy Don Pasquale, with the title role sung in a gorgeously resounding bass by John Mburu, accompanied by a nice performance from baritone Joeavian Rivera.
The antic direction by Elio Bucky helped to ameliorate the sadistic, unfunny story of a group of conspirators out to torture a rich, pompous old fool, and though soprano Chea Kang was never quite convincing as a phony innocent from the convent, she was thoroughly in her element as a hellraising whirlwind, and she sang the role as if it was written for her.
The orchestra, seated onstage behind the singers, was led by conductor William Long and they sounded lively and lovely in the all-Italian music. Special mention should also go to Galen Till, credited as the "Formalwear Coordinator." The Schwabacher concerts over the years usually had a mishmash of formal dresses and tuxedos that often clashed with the characters they were playing, but this year everyone was garbed in complementary but differentiated black clothing that looked good on everyone. Congratulations to everyone involved.
The first half of the program was a Donizetti-thon, with Il camponello followed by two scenes from the composer's Roberto Devereux. Donizetti's dramatic operas tend to be virtuoso vocal showcases, usually revived for operatic superstars, and there was a fear that the young singers would be overmatched. However, they all came through triumphantly, including mezzo-soprano Ruby Dibble as Sara, Roberto's beloved who has married the Duke of Nottingham on the orders of Queen Elizabeth.
Tristan Tournaud as the jealous Roberto has a pretty tenor voice that blended nicely with Dibble's fluent performance.
This was followed by a couple of scenes from Anna Bolena with a magnificent performance by Charlotte Siegel as the doomed queen who has to deal with former lover Percy, sung by tenor Jin Yu, and her lovesick page Smeton, beautifully sung by Anna Maria Vacca (not pictured).
The scene culminated in the arrival of Enrico (Henry VIII) who has everyone arrested before their eventual execution.
After intermission, the program veered away from Donizetti into Puccini's Suor Angelica with mezzo-soprano Sadie Cheslak as The Princess being horrible to her niece, the pathetic Suor Angelica sung by soprano Alexa Frankian. This was an audience favorite (not pictured), but I preferred what followed: soprano Ariana Cossette as Leonora and mezzo-soprano Anna Maria Vacca singing the difficult aria/duet from Act I of Verdi's Il Trovatore (pictured).
The concert ended with Act II of Donizetti's comedy Don Pasquale, with the title role sung in a gorgeously resounding bass by John Mburu, accompanied by a nice performance from baritone Joeavian Rivera.
The antic direction by Elio Bucky helped to ameliorate the sadistic, unfunny story of a group of conspirators out to torture a rich, pompous old fool, and though soprano Chea Kang was never quite convincing as a phony innocent from the convent, she was thoroughly in her element as a hellraising whirlwind, and she sang the role as if it was written for her.
The orchestra, seated onstage behind the singers, was led by conductor William Long and they sounded lively and lovely in the all-Italian music. Special mention should also go to Galen Till, credited as the "Formalwear Coordinator." The Schwabacher concerts over the years usually had a mishmash of formal dresses and tuxedos that often clashed with the characters they were playing, but this year everyone was garbed in complementary but differentiated black clothing that looked good on everyone. Congratulations to everyone involved.
Tuesday, July 01, 2025
Alebrijes & Nahuales at Yerba Buena Gardens
Huge, colorful, and fantastic sculptures appeared suddenly in Yerba Buena Gardens in early May and just as suddenly exited in late June. (Pictured is The Coyote by Efrain Fuentes.)
We had gone to see the free Circus Bella show when we stumbled across them. (Click here for Yerba Buena's roster of free summer performances.)
According to the Yerba Buena website, there was a huge cultural festival in Lille, France in 2019 called El Dorado that focused on Mexico. One of the major highlights of the festival were 10 large sculptures lining Lille's main street that were 22-foot enlargements of alebrijes, which are small wooden sculptures of imaginary animals that have long been created in Oaxaca, Mexico. (Pictured is The Dog by Adrián Xuana.)
The statues traveled to Paris for six months but went into storage when the COVID pandemic arrived. This U.S. tour of eight sculptures is a new version and they are extraordinary. (Pictured is The Happy Alien by Constantino Blas.)
A few of them are nahuales, spirit animals for human beings. (Pictured is The Cat Nahual by Angélico Jiménez.)
Check out this website to see where the sculptures are traveling next. The U.S. tour began in San Francisco and continues in Reno for the month of July, San Jose in August and September, Fresno in October and November, and the rest of the United States in 2026. (Pictured is Catbird by the famous Mexico City artist Leonardo Linares.)
We had gone to see the free Circus Bella show when we stumbled across them. (Click here for Yerba Buena's roster of free summer performances.)
According to the Yerba Buena website, there was a huge cultural festival in Lille, France in 2019 called El Dorado that focused on Mexico. One of the major highlights of the festival were 10 large sculptures lining Lille's main street that were 22-foot enlargements of alebrijes, which are small wooden sculptures of imaginary animals that have long been created in Oaxaca, Mexico. (Pictured is The Dog by Adrián Xuana.)
The statues traveled to Paris for six months but went into storage when the COVID pandemic arrived. This U.S. tour of eight sculptures is a new version and they are extraordinary. (Pictured is The Happy Alien by Constantino Blas.)
A few of them are nahuales, spirit animals for human beings. (Pictured is The Cat Nahual by Angélico Jiménez.)
Check out this website to see where the sculptures are traveling next. The U.S. tour began in San Francisco and continues in Reno for the month of July, San Jose in August and September, Fresno in October and November, and the rest of the United States in 2026. (Pictured is Catbird by the famous Mexico City artist Leonardo Linares.)
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