11/9/2022 0 Comments Sweeney todd houston grand opera![]() SWEENEY TODD HOUSTON GRAND OPERA PLUSOne may think opera is all about plus size women wailing away in their Viking helmets, but it’s so much more. Where: War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave.This is the popular notion of opera, but it’s not always accurate. Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Hugh Wheeler, presented by San Francisco Opera “Sweeney Todd” isn’t an opera, but Sondheim’s intricate assemblage of solos, duets, trios, quartets, and choral numbers - with allusions to waltzes, English dancehall songs, and the Dies Irae, the Catholic mass for the dead - sweeps you along right up to its grisly end. From the initial blast of the organ (played by Simon Barry), the score sounded astonishingly rich and varied. Summers conducted with precision, drawing a precise, enveloping performance from the SFO orchestra. The SFO chorus sounded robust throughout. Balances were adjusted as the performance progressed. The principal singers wear body microphones, but the supporting voices didn’t always come across with clarity. Sound was occasionally a problem, particularly in the first act. Elliot Madore’s Anthony, Elizabeth Futral’s Beggar Woman, Heidi Stober’s Johanna, and Wayne Tigges’ Judge Turpin made essential contributions. Lovett’s ward, his Act II number, “Not While I’m Around,” was delivered with sweet, radiant tone. ![]() In the supporting roles, Matthew Grills’ performance as Tobias Ragg was the standout as the boy who becomes Mrs. “By the Sea,” her sweetly sung fantasy of domestic bliss, is absurdly endearing. She bustles convincingly in “Worst Pies in London,” and she and Mulligan make “A Little Priest,” the Act I showstopper, deliciously funny. Hilariously cheerful, always scheming, she’s a crafty helpmate to Todd, shouldering much of the labor involved with the horrifying business of turning men into meat pies. Her voice is a marvel - large, resonant and beautifully modulated - and she makes Mrs. Nothing was lacking in Blythe’s performance. But he makes the transformation from murderous intent to a deranged hatred of all mankind in gradual, credible strokes. Mulligan has a handsome baritone voice, and he deploys it effectively in Todd’s songs such as “The Barber and His Wife” and “My Friends.” He doesn’t project quite as well in the numbers requiring greater force, and much of his performance - his first in the role - misses a measure of Todd’s explosive fury. Now he’s returned to exact his revenge, even if he has to cut half the throats of London to do it. The barber spent 15 years at hard labor on a trumped-up charge, losing his wife and daughter to the judge who persecuted him. ![]() When the title character emerges from the shadows, his story begins to unfold. As the musical begins, a crowd gathers in the shadows of the set’s lowest level, with Tanya McCallin’s designs, bathed in Rick Fisher’s gloomy lighting, evoking the filth, poverty, and danger of Fleet Street. Lovett, Todd’s enthusiastic partner in crime, brought the work’s murderous characters to life.ĭrawn from the pages of penny dreadfuls, “Sweeney Todd” is set in dark Victorian London. SFO principal guest conductor Patrick Summers led a gripping orchestral performance, and a strong cast starring baritone Brian Mulligan in the title role and mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe as Mrs. ![]() Lee Blakeley’s grandly imagined production, co-owned by San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and Paris Theatre du Chtelet, highlights the musical’s ravishing power, mordant wit, and insinuating psychological depth. Saturday’s opening was impressive on multiple fronts. This is the composer’s complete, one-of-a-kind score in all its outsize glory. At Saturday’s exhilarating opening night performance - the first of seven at the War Memorial Opera House - the work made its company premiere in a dynamic, suitably large-scale staging. San Francisco Opera’s new production takes a thrillingly large-scale approach to Sondheim’s revenge tragedy. But really, when it comes to “Sweeney Todd,” bigger is better. Yet the 1979 Tony Award-winner is often staged in stripped-down, minimalist, chamber or concert settings. “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” has often been called Stephen Sondheim’s most operatic musical, a brilliant and bloody masterpiece of heightened proportions. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |