Die Fledermaus

The 06/07 opera season at SFO got off to a good start last night with "Die Fledermaus". The women excelled in this cast with Adele sung
by Jennifer Welch-Babidge and Rosalinde sung by Christine Goerke in her SFO debut. Both women must return ASAP. Christine Goerke has a big powerful but fluid voice which ably handled the florid passages in the Strauss score but she also sings heavier roles such as Chrysothemis, Elizabeth (Tannhauser), the title role in "Ariadne auf Naxos" and Senta in "The Flying Dutchman". She seemed to be the
audience favorite if my applause meter was correct. Jennifer Welch-Babidge was bright and perky as Adele. One of her roles is Olympia in "Tales of Hoffman" and she even borrowed from that last night as she "ran out of energy" in one aria and started slumping over but revived moments later although no one wound her up as Olympia would have been. Her other roles include Marzelline (Fidelio), Norina (Don Pasquale), and Violetta (La Traviata).

On the male side I believe that counter-tenor Gerald Thompson (a Merola graduate and now an Adler Fellow) was outstanding as Prince Orlofsky. This was the first time I had ever heard a counter-tenor in that role. Baritone Wolfgang Brendel, not heard here in a number of years, still has beauty to his voice that has not been marred by the years in opera. Unfortunately the role of Eisenstein does not permit long sustained lines so one cannot hear him at his best. He sure was athletic in the jail scene as his jumped on or over chairs and shimmied up pole and did other acrobatic stuff. Speaking of the jail scene, we have the speaking role of Frosch which was deftly handled by Jason Graae making his SFO debut. He waltzed his way into the act with a broom, sweeping the floor at times and carressing it at other times finally ending that bit with a reference to Broomhilda. Other jokes included a reference to the fact that the jail looked better when Martha Stewart was there but this jail was complete with is own orchestra but they were in the pit. He then walked over to
the edge of stage, made a few remarks about that which elicted groans and mumbles from the members of the orchestra. He did reveal however, why they were in the pit. It was due to so much "sax and violins" (ugh, more groans). He also remarked opera being in so many languages and even in English it was difficult to understand, at which point he walked to the edge of the stage to look up at the Super Title screen to see what he was saying.

The one gag that got the most laughs was Prince Orlofsky's entrance. As the Russian prince entered his first lines were sung in Russian with Super Titles projected in the Cyrillic alphabet. By the way, Prince Orlofky's entrance also involved two Borzois dogs which he had on a double leash but quickly handed off to someone else.
A couple of negative notes on this performance. The tenor Vale Rideout, making his SFO debut, was less than desirable. I did not like his voice at all. His is a graduate of Merola and appears to have run into vocal problems since then. He was unacceptable as Alfred and unless he improves will be unacceptable to my ears in any other role. Also early in the first act there were a few moments when it seemed
like Donald Runnicles could not keep the orchestra and singers together.

It was a fun filled evening and a nice way to begin the new season. It is a sad commentary on contemporary life however when pre-curtain announcements must be made before every act regarding pagers and cell phones. The first one however was a funny one. That one was made by General Director David Gockley who referred to the revenge of the Bat which would be nothing compared to the revenge that your seat mate would deal out should your cell phone ring during the performance.