Jaime Robles – Page 59 – Repeat Performances

June 8, 2008

‘Mordake’ at San Francisco Arts Festival

True Stories “One of the weirdest as well as most melancholy stories of human deformity is that of Edward Mordake, said to have been heir to one of the noblest peerages in England … His figure was remarkable for its grace, and his face—that is to say his natural face—was that of an Antinous. But upon the back of his head was another face, that of a beautiful girl, ‘lovely as a dream, ugly as a devil.’” Composer...

Categories: opera

June 3, 2008

‘Das Rheingold’ at San Francisco Opera

Much has been made of producer Francesca Zambello’s Americanization of Wagner’s Ring cycle. In theory, it makes a lot of sense to place this long quartet of operatic dramas, which examines and equates the lust for gold and power vs. sexual lust and love, within the context of our materialistically driven history. Practically, though, an Americanization of this monumental work seems a sad mix of narcissism and advertising appeal. Not so, though. S.F. Opera’s...

Categories: opera

June 1, 2008

San Francisco Lyric Opera’s ‘Turn of the Screw’

Without a doubt one of the best small opera companies in the Bay Area (and there are so many of them!), San Francisco Lyric Opera, opened its production of Benjamin Britten’s Turn of the Screw on Friday at this season’s new venue, the Cowell Theater in Fort Mason. Turn of the Screw is one of the chamber opera gems of the 20th...

Categories: opera

May 31, 2008

Lines Ballet’s ‘Long River High Sky’

When LINES Ballet describes itself as a “contemporary ballet company with a global artistic vision” it isn’t just rhetoric generating publicity copy, as last weekend’s series of performances clearly demonstrated. On stage at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the acclaimed dance company joined seven monks from the Shaolin USA temple for an extraordinary two-hour concert, Long River High Sky, in which performers at the top of their art and physical prowess...

Categories: dance

May 17, 2008

‘The Ecstasy with the Pomegranate’ Ilkhom Theater

Revolutionary theater This past September, on his way home from a rehearsal of the Oresteia, Ilkhom Theater Director Mark Weil was attacked by two men and stabbed. He died the following day from his wounds, and, although there is a lot of speculation about his death, no conclusions were reached as to the identity of his killers. Whether the murder was intentional is a question posed by many who know Weil’s work, but, for most of us, the idea that an...

Categories: theater

May 10, 2008

Oakland Opera Presents Ellington’s ‘Queenie Pie’

With a creamy smooth trumpet rising over the exotic beat and slightly moody sound, giving over to the close couple dance of flute and bass and followed by an ultra-cool sax solo, the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra swung into the big band sound of Duke Ellington in the Oakland Opera Theater’s ebullient production of Queenie Pie, the jazz master’s only opera. ...

Categories: opera