The Merola Opera Program's exile from Herbst Theatre this summer has been a godsend. The annual operatic training program moved their concerts temporarily to the auditorium at Everett Middle School at 16th and Church Streets. It's a beautiful building and the auditorium has unusually good acoustics, along with a slightly larger stage than Herbst or Fort Mason's Cowell theaters. There is no orchestra pit, but you can't have everything, and for orchestral fans sitting in the front row it is almost like being in the middle of the band.
The happiest result of the new hall involved two performances last week of Mozart's opera, The Marriage of Figaro. The San Francisco Opera House is a great venue for grand opera, but Handel and Mozart operas were not meant for huge halls, and productions of their operas often get lost on that big stage. A handsome, expansive production of The Marriage of Figaro by Sonja Frisell with sets and costumes by Zack Brown premiered at the Opera House in 1982, and it's been revived at least eight times over the decades. It's been looking a bit shabby lately, and may need to be replaced, but I have fond memories of some of its starry casts that included Hermann Prey, Lucia Popp, Samuel Ramey, Kiri Te Kanawa, Frederica von Stade, Wolfgang Brendel, Renee Fleming, Bryn Terfel, and so on. However, I don't think I have ever enjoyed that production as much as Merola's last week, partly because a small house is so perfect for this opera.
The individual singers all had their strengths and weaknesses, as students usually do, but the outstanding ensemble work made the whole production much more than the sum of its parts. The performers not only sang together in Mozart's endless array of duets, trios, quartets, and more-tets, but they also acted off each other's cues and body language. Robin Guarino's direction drew a viewer into the complicated plot with all its mistaken identities and hiding behind farcical doors, and made it funny and sad. (In the above production photos by Kristen Loken, the ensemble in no particular order is John Arnold, Maria Valdes, Thomas Richards, Daryl Freedman, Rihab Chaieb, Joseph Lattanzi, Casey Finnigan, Jacqueline Piccolino, Rhys Lloyd Talbot, Matthew Newlin, and Alisa Jordheim.)
The real star of the production was the 40-year-old conductor Xian Zhang above. She took the overture at breakneck speed, and didn't let things go slack for the next three and a half hours. The act two and act four ensembles are some of the most extraordinarily beautiful music Mozart ever wrote, and the singers, orchestra and conductor did themselves proud. I spent most of the fourth act in tears, something that has never happened with this opera in the big house with the big stars. Congratulations, everyone.
A small group in front of San Francisco City Hall today at noon was protesting recent "gay propaganda" legislation in Russia outlawing any advocacy of gay rights in that country. It's not a particularly good sign when there are more media than actual protestors, as was the case today, but at least word is getting out, in between the ritual dumping of clear liquids from Russian vodka bottles around the world.
The king of all social media, George Takei, aka Star Trek's original Sulu (or maybe one of his ghostwriters), has just published a blog post urging the 2014 Winter Olympics be moved from Sochi, Russia to Vancouver, Canada which was the host in 2010. He writes, in part:
"There have been urgent calls for boycotts of the Olympics and of Russian exports like vodka. These are understandable: It just doesn’t seem right to see any of our dollars flowing to that nation. But a boycott of the games would punish athletes who have trained for years to participate, and a boycott of Russian vodka isn’t going to effect the kind of change needed. Besides, with Russia’s confirmation that it will enforce its law, our LGBT athletes are in real danger, and their safety must be paramount.
Many believe that such a call to move the Olympics out of Russia goes too far. Would this be their opinion if the law instead called for the arrest of any Jews, Roman Catholics or Muslims should they display any sign of their religion, such as a wearing a yamaka or praying while facing Mecca? Discrimination in any form is a blight upon the Winter Games, and it must not be tolerated.
NBC and the corporate sponsors of the Olympics should be paying close attention, too, and should get behind the “Move the Olympics” movement now, while there is still time to do so. If the Winter Olympics proceed in Sochi, Russia, all of the goodwill they have spent millions to build will evaporate in noisy protests, boycotts, and terrible publicity. I personally will be beating this particular drum loudly, as will many other LGBT actors, activists and allies. Trust me, if you are a corporate brand, you do not want to be associated with the Sochi Olympics."
