Of the acclaim, warmth, applause and other gifts showered on Donald
Runnicles tonight at the San Francisco Opera, the most memorable and
lasting was a voice, that of Christine Brewer.

It's been a very long time that such a voice resounded in the War
Memorial Opera House, a rich, full, achingly beautiful soprano, with
sustained power and a brilliant top. In an over-long and under-rehearsed,
but heartfelt event, Brewer's "Liebestod" towered over everything.  If
only she did less Singing and more natural, simple lower-case "s" singing,
she could be among the very best Wagnerian sopranos in our time.

Runnicles turned 50, he's been knighted by the Queen, and the SF Opera
has just extended his contract as music director through 2009, so it was
a party, and - as General Manager Pamela Rosenberg explained - Runnicles
wanted to celebrate by conducting Wagner.  Wagner it was, for two and a
half hours, blissfully without a word spoken, followed by a half an hour
of fun and games.

Part 2 started with Carol Vaness, singing an aria from "Idomeneo,"
complete with a bright green feather boa representing the serpent piercing
the character's breast, continued by Frederica von Stade with the "La
Perichole" aria about the hapless but beloved hero, Flicka switching to
English and addressing the song to "dear Donald." The evening culminated
with the British Consul reading the award of the "ordinary" grade (the
word repeated 3-4 times) of the Order of British Empire, the appearance
of a giant cake, complete with a Marilyn-lookalike emerging from it, the
whole house singing you-know-what, etc.

But what of the music?  There is no question about Runnicles' qualification
and record as an excellent Wagnerian conductor, and the SF Opera Orchestra
usually is a fine instrument under his baton.  That didn't quite happen
this evening.  With the orchestra on the stage, and quite clearly un-
or under-rehearsed, even Brewer's brilliant "Liebestod" turned into a
stodgy, dragging runthrough.  The Overture to "Die Meistersinger" was
sloppy, "Siegfried's Rhine Journey and Funeral March" worse.

The orchestra did some impressive sightreading in the final scenes
of Acts I and II of "Die Walkure," together almost an hour's worth of
the opera.  Nina Stemme and Christopher Ventris serenaded themselves,
respectively, in the alleged love scene, Ventris exhibiting a fine voice,
but virtually no singing - he turned a great musical duet into a prosaic
narrative.  Stemme clearly has the potential to be a great Sieglinde,
but the circumstances were not right.

Brewer and Juha Uusitalo fared better in the "Magic Fire" scene, although
this time Brewer's brilliance in the high notes was not consistent, and
Uusitalo, the SFO Dutchman and future Wotan in Europe, "undersang" the
role considerably.  Just as in "Dutchman," and his US debut last week,
Uusitalo impressed with a kind of inner beauty in his voice and exceptional
clarity of diction, but the projection, the power seem lacking...  or
not yet fully developed.  The Finnish baritone was more impressive in
Wolfram's aria from "Tannhauser," building on the warmth of his voice,
and establishing a fine rapport with the audience.

Rather helpfully, Runnicles said he should not be called "sir," adding
"yet," and explaining that he is "working on it." For his 60th birthday
(which Michael Tilson Thomas, across Grove Street, will soon celebrate),
Runnicles could also come up with a tighter, better concert.  "Birthday
boys" can indulge themselves, music directors shouldn't.

Janos Gereben
www.sfcv.org
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