If you can sell green toothpaste in this country, you can sell opera.
-Sarah Caldwell (opera conductor, producer, director)
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Richard Scheinin’s review, in the Mercury News, for The Flying Dutchman was favorable. And my name was mentioned which is a bit of a thrill, to be quite honest!
I was curious as to what he would think because I’d heard, from some who attended the final dress or Sunday’s performance, various reports. My son liked it, but thought the projections were “cheesy”, and felt a few of the voices weren’t all that strong. (It was a rehearsal, of course, so perhaps they were holding back a bit.) His friends seemed less than excited, but I suspect this may have been their first opera. A friend and colleague of mine said her husband and son thought it was pretty darn boring.
And yet the audience gave, as I mentioned earlier, a standing ovation.
Aside from my notorious (to me anyway) note, I was pleased with how I played, and thought that the orchestra played very well.
So it’s great to read this review!
Now it’s six more performances to go and then a ton of work for the next set: I’ll be playing principal on the set, and it’s a whopper. We’re doing Strauss’ Don Juan and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 along with a Strauss Horn Concerto. While the Wagner is taxing, it’s probably good that it is … at least I’ll be getting in shape for a very tough concert set!
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