Opera 101—Bang a Gong, Get It On

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Fashion, Opera

Calaf contemplates risking it all in Turandot. Photo by Cory Weaver.

Giacomo Puccini, Turandot (1921–1926)
Based on: the plays Turandot by Carlo Gozzi and Turandot, Prinzessin von China by Friedrich Schiller
Notable Cultural Reference: Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation; Paul Potts audition for Britain’s Got Talent
Setting: Peking, Imperial China

Plot in 101 words or less: A used and abused ancestor has turned the beautiful Princess Turandot against all men. [Insert obligatory #notallmen reference here.] Any man seeking her hand must answer three riddles correctly or lose his head. Never a gender to lack confidence, plenty have rung the challenge gong and failed, but Calaf is sure he’ll succeed despite all advice to the contrary. Meanwhile, ministers Ping, Pang, and Pong wish Turandot were more “likeable” because of course. SPOILER ALERT: Calaf guesses the riddles! Unsatisfied, he manages to create a situation whereby slave girl Liù sacrifices herself because he once smiled at her. Because of course.

Sung in: Italian
Memorable Music: “Nessun dorma”

Martina Serafin as Princess Turandot in Turandot. Photo by Cory Weaver.

I was a bit disappointed when I realized that opening night of the 2017–2018 San Francisco Opera season was going to be Turandot—since I had already seen this production back in 2011 and I remember hating the sets and costumes. Well, the good news is that the sets weren’t as bad as I remembered (though, after four uses they are probably ready for retirement), but the bad news is that the costumes were still mostly god-awful. I mean really…

Raymond Aceto as Timur, Toni Marie Palmertree as Liù, and Brian Jagde as Calaf in Turandot. Photo by Cory Weaver.

Musically speaking, I think this was a stronger production than in 2011 and, what’s more, I could better appreciate it this time because I’ve seen so many other operas in between. Brian Jagde, the former Adler Fellow who so impressed me in Tosca, and, more recently, Carmen, delivered an excellent “Nessun dorma” and Martina Serafin was very convincing as Turandot, particularly when she had her change of heart in Act III. While it is hard to beat Leah Crocetto’s excellent Liù, last-minute replacement Adler Fellow Toni Marie Palmertree did a respectable job, especially in her final number. Raymond Aceto made more of an impression as Timor this time around.

Ping, Pang, Pong contemplate Turandot’s bloody reign in Turandot. Photo by Cory Weaver.

That little one sure can sing!

—my neighbor upon Toni Marie Palmertree’s curtain call

As for those other costumes, I have to say, I didn’t love many of the dresses that made the Chronicle‘s opening night society wrap-up, but two beautiful items that I thought were also on point thematically are below.

Left: Yuka Uehara of Tokyo Gamine in her own creation. Right: Sara Griffith’s inspired modification of her grandmother’s jewelry box. Photos by Gabrielle Lurie for the Chronicle.

Luckily, I managed to surreptitiously snap a few pics of my own for posterity.

  

  

  

There are five more performances of Turandot at the War Memorial Opera House this month, on September 12, 15, 21, 24, and 30. Then it comes back again at the end of the season on November 18, 25, and 28 and December 3, 6, and 9. So there’s no excuse for missing this one. Tickets can be purchased here.

Riddle me this: All’s well that ends well? Photo by Cory Weaver.

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Opera 101—Liberté, Égalité, Fashionité

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Fashion, Opera

If it’s not too indiscreet, will you tell me who you are wearing? My friend really wants to know.

—A tuxedoed man to your not-so-humble blogger on opening night

Dance like no revolutionary’s watching. Photo by Cory Weaver.

Umberto Giordano, Andrea Chénier (1896)
Based on: the life of French poet André Chénier
Notable Cultural Reference: Philadelphia
Setting: Paris, 1789–1794

Plot in 101 words or less: A winter’s ball, and the countess’s daughter is the envy of all, including servant Gérard and poet Andrea Chenier. But the Revolution’s coming and, after beggars crash the party, Gérard quits. Liberté! Flash forward to The Terror where the countess has gotten her comeuppance but daughter Maddalena is still able to pass her time writing anonymous love letters using former servant Bersi as go-between. Égalité! (Sort of.) As for fraternité, Gérard is now buddy-buddy with Robespierre and jealous of the new It Couple. A few shifting allegiances and a prison switcheroo later and it’s off with Andrealena’s heads. Vive la Révolution!

Sung in: Italian
Memorable Music: “La Mamma morta”; “Come un bel dì di maggio”

“Même Platon a banni les poètes de sa République”—Robespierre

Andrea Chénier is a perfect opening night selection, with lovely arias to showcase the singers and excellent opportunities for creative and/or beautiful set design and costume work. San Francisco Opera’s production didn’t let me down on any of these scores. Nor did my fellow operagoers, whose outfits (mostly) rose to the occasion as well.

La Maratonista and I are always happy to see David Laudon and Randy Laroche, or, as we call them, Hat Guys. Photo by Doug Duran.

But first, the opera. With three San Francisco debuts as leads, it was anyone’s guess how the singing would fare, but overall this production was strong. Yonghoon Lee was probably the weakest of the three in the titular role—I thought his singing was a bit thin and his acting unconvincing, though he handled “Come un bel dì di maggio” towards the end just fine. Picking up the slack were Anna Pirozzi as Maddalena de Coigny and George Gagnidze as Carlo Gérard, both of whom earned tremendous applause after their arias (“La mamma morta” and “Nemico della patria” respectively). Unfortunately, beyond these few showstoppers, there’s not much melody to this work and I can’t say the opera itself will ever rank up there in my favorites.

George Gagnidze as Carlo Gérard (left) and Anna Pirozzi as Maddalena de Coigny (right) in Andrea Chénier. Photos by Cory Weaver.

I thought the sets by Robert Jones were quite impressive, but maybe that’s because I was so disappointed by most of the sets last fall season. In any case, they successfully took us from a palace ball to the streets, cafés, and tribunals of revolutionary Paris, and then finally to prison. The lighting by Adam Silverman was particularly effective in this final act, with the shadows of the prison bars cast across the stage. Finally, these transitions were aided and abetted by Jenny Tiramani’s terrific costumes, which were extremely varied and detailed throughout each act.

I didn’t love the Easter egg colors used in Act I, but they contrasted nicely with the revolutionary colors to come. Photo by Cory Weaver.

Speaking of costumes…

Models with French poodles were on hand because of course. Photo by Laura Morton for the Chronicle.

Patricia Ward Kelly had the most beautiful dress I saw all night. Dress by Ali Rahimi. Photo by Leah Millis for the Chronicle.

This was perhaps my favorite look not captured by the press.

Belinda Berry certainly caught one’s eye in the foyer. Photo by Leah Millis for the Chronicle.

Clearly Komal Shah needs to stick to red and/or Oscar de la Renta. I hated this Marchesa number. Photo by Doug Duran.

Deepa Pakianathan (aka head-cage lady) had a killer Alexander McQueen clutch this year. Photo by Leah Millis for the Chronicle.

As God is my witness, one day, La Maratonista and I will make it to the official dinner and ball!

There are five more performances of Andrea Chénier at the War Memorial Opera House on September 14, 17, 22, 25, and 30. Better than a trip to the guillotine!

Yonghoon Lee as Andrea Chénier and Anna Pirozzi as Maddalena on their way to the guillotine in Andrea Chénier. Photo by Cory Weaver.

Oscar de la Renta

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Fashion

This afternoon, in anticipation of stepping up my San Francisco Opera opening-night game, I took in the Oscar de la Renta exhibit at the de Young Museum. If you are in San Francisco this month, I highly recommend checking it out.

Here are some of my favorite looks:

Oscar de la Renta: The Retrospective is at the de Young until May 30.

Opera 101—Poison Pen Letter

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Fashion, Opera, Verdi

Enjoy yourself while you can, Luisa. Photo by Cory Weaver.

As La Maratonista and I sat at the final performance of San Francisco Opera‘s Sweeney Todd on Tuesday, I realized I still had not posted about opening night. And I had such good blogging intentions for the fall. Ah, well… the road to hell and all that goes with it I suppose.

I guess it’s hard to get inspired by Luisa Miller. The opera is far from being one of Giuseppi Verdi’s best. The plot is a bit of a yawn and the music is only so-so. What’s more, the production design on this one was rather lackluster. Really, it just didn’t say “opening night” at all. It’s a good thing the singing was incredible and there were lots of pretty dresses to look at.

Giuseppi Verdi, Luisa Miller (1849)
Based on: a play by Friedrich von Schiller
Setting: a seventeenth-century Tyrolean village
Sung in: Italian

Plot in 101 words or less: Go, Luisa, it’s your birthday! And… scene. What was the point of that? Anyway, Luisa loves Carlo, but he’s really Rodolfo, son of Count Walter. The reason for this lie is never explained. Wurm wants Luisa for himself so he schemes with Walter to keep the lovers apart. Easy-peasy, since Rodolfo is engaged to Federica and she’s having none of it. So the stupidest scheme in the history of stupid schemes is just crazy enough to work and the resulting miscommunication leads Rodolfo to poison both Luisa and himself. Idiot. But at least he takes down Wurm with his final breath.

In short, nothing to write home about. Even if you are forced to write something in order to free your imprisoned father. The singing, however, was glorious. Leah Crocetto, a former Adler Fellow, who so impressed us as Liù in Turandot, held her own against a strong Michael Fabiano, who I’ve now seen numerous times (most notably in Lucrezia Borgia in San Francisco and Lucia di Lammermoor in Paris) and has never sounded better. Sadly the two didn’t have much chemistry together and weren’t really convincing as a couple. But neither the opera nor the production gives them much to work with.

Leah Crocetto as Luisa in Luisa Miller. Photo by Cory Weaver.

Michael Fabiano as Rodolfo in Luisa Miller. Photo by Cory Weaver.

Highlights from the rest of the stellar cast include Vitaliy Bilyy as Luisa’s father, Ekaterina Semenchuk as Federica, and Andrea Silvestrelli as Wurm. The latter looks to be gearing up for MVP of the season, as he will be coming back for both Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Don Carlo. The chorus didn’t seem to have much to do beyond adding window dressing in some glorious red velvet riding coats, but there was a kick-ass clarinet solo from the orchestra pit.

The ensemble didn’t get horses to ride but they did get gorgeous riding coats. Photo by Cory Weaver.

But enough of opera, I hear you saying, what about the dresses?!? Here are some of my favorites of the night:

Afsaneh Akhtari in Pavoni (left) and Belinda Berry (right) in a necktie dress of her own design. Photos by Laura Morton.

Komal Shah (left) and Lillian Jacks (right) in Oscar de la Renta. Photos by Laura Morton.

My own photo of Dixie Lee Mahy as she poses during intermission and La Maratonista putting everyone to shame in the Tenderloin post-opera.

All in all, a lovely night at the opera.

Oscar Blitz: Costume Contest

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Fashion, Oscars

It turns out that, due to Netflix availability, the first category I’ve filled out on my Oscar dance card is Best Costume Design.

Snow White prepares to leave the castle in Mirror Mirror

And the nominees are…
Anna Karenina
Lincoln
Mirror Mirror
Les Misérables
Snow White and the Huntsman

I swear, I should get some sort of award myself for sitting through Mirror Mirror. Yet, although excruciatingly bad in plot, dialogue, and acting, it certainly was pretty. The gorgeous costumes were designed by Eiko Ishioka, whose only previous nomination (and win) was for Bram Stoker’s Dracula in the early 90s. The fact that she died a year ago, and there is a dedication to her in the credits, may have an impact on this vote.

Snow White at the ball in Mirror Mirror

The Queen at the ball in Mirror Mirror

Snow White and the Huntsman was also nothing to write home about, but it was still miles ahead of Mirror Mirror in terms of narrative and general interest. And it did have magnificent visual effects, although I assume The Hobbit has a lock on that category.

Ravenna rules the roost in Snow White and the Huntsman

However, I really did like the costume design, first, because there were gorgeous outfits, but, more importantly, because the clothes helped tell the story. This is unsurprising, given that they were designed by Colleen Atwood, a three-time Oscar winner (including just two years ago for Alice in Wonderland). This is her tenth nomination and well deserved.

Ravenna walking down the aisle at her wedding

Snow White and Eric (aka The Huntsman) escaping a troll

Ravenna’s version of chain mail

Anna Karenina was a bit of a disappointment in the costume department. Yes, there were gorgeous dresses, but they seemed sort of random, and even sometimes slapdash. I was expecting more, especially for the character of Anna. There was a great opportunity to tell a story through color and structure here and I didn’t really see it.

One of the few outfits I thought captured the character of Anna in Anna Karenina

Yet this may be a likely winner since the film has a respectable four nominations and the designer, Jacqueline Durran, has previously been nominated twice (Pride and Prejudice, Atonement) without winning. Plus, there were a lot of costumes in this production, probably more than any other film in this category.

I thought Kitty’s costumes were well done. This was my favorite scene in Anna Karenina; it was so utterly romantic. Kitty and Levin made me want to read the book.

Personally, I’d rather see this film win for any of its other nominations (Cinematography, Production Design, Original Score) before Costume Design. In particular, I found Dario Marianelli’s music extremely interesting; it evoked the classic themes of the grand movie epics of the 1960s such as Doctor Zhivago, with more than a touch of Love Story.

On a final note, Jude Law gives a fantastic performance as Karenin, it’s a shame he didn’t get a nomination.

Jude Law’s remarkably restrained performance and costume as Karenin in Anna Karenina

I’ve written about Les Misérables elsewhere, so I won’t repeat myself here, except to say that the costumes were a good blend of pretty and appropriate. The designer, Paco Delgado, is a first-time nominee, but he could take the costume category just based on the spectacle of it all. Plus, there is the important fact that the movie had (I assume) a wider audience than the three films above.

Finally, unless Lincoln sweeps, and I don’t think it will, I can’t imagine it winning for best costumes. The costumes here are very pedestrian compared to the competition and the designer, Joanna Johnston, is a first-time nominee.

Quite frankly, while I liked Lincoln well enough, I just don’t get what all the fuss is about. Yes, Daniel Day-Lewis’s performance is incredible, and I’m happy that the film wasn’t overly sappy and sentimental as biopics tend to be, but for me, Spielberg didn’t deliver. He was clearly going for tension with the emphasis on the vote on the 13th amendment, but, for drama even when you know how it all turns out, I’d look to Argo.