The pit orchestra, under the direction of Anthony Quartuccio and Bryan J. Nies, as always handles the difficult scores in tight unity with the action on the stage.

The review is favorable. (It’s also a very brief review, but I’ll take the positive words, to be sure!)

(It’s interesting that the reviewer included both conductor’s names; we’ve yet to do a performance with Nies, although I’m sure he’ll be great. The review also includes the singers from the other cast, though, so I guess the writer was just trying to include as many names as he could.)

I’m not sure I’ve really commented on the opera itself. Opera San Jose’s The Crucible is, in my little opinion, quite a wonderful and powerful work. It’s not difficult in any technical way for me, but it is emotionally exhausting. It’s a short opera compared to many; we are out in less than 2 1/2 hours, yet, for some reason, it feels longer than some operas. I think it’s just that we have very little resting time (no tacets in this work!) and maybe that we have to work carefully on not covering singers and balancing with all the instruments. But I love the work! I hope we bring it back … I think it might be a bit of a stretch for some audience members, but some are on their feet at the end. It’s great to see that! In addition I believe it has so much relevance in our time; it needs to be performed and heard.
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