Opera nostalgia is well and good, but it's so. . .  retro! Saturday night,
I heard some terrific singing from a whole bunch of thirty-somethings who
will supply the next wave of nostalgia in just a few decades. Performance
hermeneutics has its place, but forward-looking musical experience is more
fun.

Consider one evening in a small town at the end of the land, two events,
and all these young stars:  Elizabeth Futral, Peter Mattei, Janice Watson,
Catherine Keen, Robert Dean Smith, Michael Schade, Rene Pape.  Life is
good.

Futral (whose Blanche was the best news of "Streetcar," whose Semele was
superb) sang Krenek's "Die Nachtigall" with uncanny brilliance in Davies
Hall, at a San Francisco Symphony concert under the direction of Michael
Tilson Thomas.  The 12-tone Krenek followed a glorious performance of
Schoenberg's eminently tonal "Theme and Variations." (Unlike many other
major conductors, especially certain German ones, MTT is determined to drag
audiences into the 20th century, nearly 100 years after the fact, bless his
heart.)

As the self-proclaimed president of the Futral Fan Club, I may get away
with saying this:  after the stunning Krenek, I had my first experience
of a sub-par performance from the Beauteous One.  Her "Ihr habt nun
Traurigkeit" in an otherwise overwhelming Brahms German Requiem was
musically mediocre, unclear in diction - very, very un-Futralisch.  The
mismatch was strange:  the music is "easy," especially in comparison with
the bravura requirements of works she handles so well, and Futral was
clearly "in" the music - and yet it didn't work.

The Brahms, however, presented Mattei with an opportunity to be compared
with the reigning practitioner of German Requiem bass-baritone soloists,
Thomas Quasthoff himself - and the young, tall, intense, powerful singer
passed the test.  "Herr, lehre doch mich" was a mighty appeal, lacking
only in Quasthoff's ultimate warmth and humanity, but Mattei's "Siehe,
ich sage euch ein Geheimnis" shook the great hall, stormed high heaven as
no other performance in my memory.  (In the same category of astonishing
performance:  Vance George's Symphony Chorus, alternating between passages
of lyrical beauty and overwhelming power.)

Conveniently across the street, in the War Memorial, the San Francisco
Opera arranged to conclude the first act of "Meistersinger" four minutes
before the SFS concert began, and start the third act shortly after the
Brahms concluded.  Donald Runnicles' SFO orchestra and Ian Robertson's
Opera Chorus were again right up there with the glorious work at the
Wednesday opening of this fine new production by Hans-Peter Lehmann.

Before reporting on the young ones, let me acknowledge again the senior
division:  three days after singing his first Hans Sachs, James Morris
was even better in this impossible marathon role that should have taxed
his considerable powers 10-15 years ago.  There were almost no rough spots
last night, his voice filled the cavernous hall as few others do, and
quiet, warm passages brought back memories of the Morris Wotan at this
best.  Thomas Allen's Beckmesser, once again, was a theatrical and vocal
delight.

Janice Watson, just three months after she gave birth, is also bringing
forth a thrilling Eva.  During the same 1997 Santa Fe season where Futral
sang Semele, Watson appeared in the title role of "Arabella" and it was an
impressive but not yet great performance.  She may need more time (of which
she has plenty) to own the Strauss role, but after the San Francisco run,
she may well be coveted as Eva anywhere.

Pape, at 37, is a baby for the roles he's been singing - Pogner and the
"Samson" Old Hebrew here - and as Dresden and Berlin well know, great
potential is even more important in his case than solid, impressive
performances. . .  of which there was yet another last night, his voice
and acting both standing out and merging marvelously with the other
principals.  There is a musical/personal ensemble feeling in the War
Memorial these days, the huge "Meistersinger" cast working together in
an obviously good atmosphere.  I don't know just how much hugging was in
fashion in 16th century Nuremberg, but Lehmann is allowing what seems to be
a genuine flow of affection on stage here (going a bit far, I think, in the
final Sachs-Beckmesser embrace.J)

I already wrote, with admiration, of the Keen-Schade Magdalene-David
couple, an experience that just deepened on second hearing.  Even in this
fabulously conversational performance, Schade's diction is remarkable,
first among equals in the Pape-Morris-Allen constellation.

Smith - a Kansan making his US debut here - is puzzlement.  There is
no question that he has a great deal more to offer than a pretty, small
voice and a fine stage presence in this long, awkward, difficult role,
but I don't know where he is heading.  At his age and with his voice,
his specialization in Wagner may be a good business decision (given the
supply-and-demand situation), but if Smith had Gosta Winbergh's patience
and wisdom, I'd be more confident of his future.  It is a fine performance,
although obviously lacking in power, and it may well indicate a premature
shift from Pinkerton to Walther.

As if the emphasis on youth were not sufficient in the War Memorial, the
late-October second cast will present Elisabeth-Maria Wachutka as Eva, Jay
Hunter Morris as Walther and Robert Orth as Beckmesser.

The San Francisco "Meistersinger" represents a blend of great casting
decisions from both the outgoing Lotfi Mansouri and the incoming Pamela
Rosenberg administrations, ameliorating some of the bad feelings about the
past, giving us hope for the future.

Janos Gereben/SF
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