Der fliegende Holländer

Tuesday evening I attended the Bayreuth Festival performance of Die fliegende Holländer. The production recasts the characters as employees of Daland's electric fan company. The act 1 set is dark, with high walls covered with Tron-like flashing lights. Daland & his steersman, dressed as traveling salesmen, sleep in a tiny row boat, though this turns out to be the staging's only nod to the original setting. In a nice transition, the walls move aside, & the chorus of sailors, dressed identically as more businessmen, come from the back & progress the full depth of the stage to the lip. Behind them comes a huge curtain, which they later pull down to reveal the female chorus, packaging fans in Daland's factory. Mary is a corporate manager & Erik a lowly maintenance man whom the women make fun of as he goes about his duties.

Bass Franz-Josef Selig was a comical Daland, his gestures communicating a self-assured corporate personality. Tenor Benjamin Bruns was a similarly good actor, playing the Steersman as Daland's yes-man & leading the male chorus in a jolly company sing-along in act 3. Bass-baritone Samuel Youn has an engaging stage presence & flexible voice & was a young & genial Dutchman. Soprano Ricarda Merbeth was an outgoing, happy Senta. Her singing was forceful & her high notes loud but perhaps pitchless. This Dutchman & Senta looked & behaved like a young romantic couple & were mutually joyful when they discovered they would die together. Tenor Tomislav Muzek was a sympathetic Erik. His voice was high, clear & clean.

All the choral numbers had lively choreography, & the chorus was terrific, sounding unified & spirited & moving together like dancers. They were perhaps the real stars of the show. There was a spectacular use of fire when the Dutchman's sailors appear in act 3. The curtain seems to come down prematurely at the end but then rises to reveal a cynical epilogue in which the lovers' final gesture is turned into a kitschy commodity.

Conductor Christian Theilemann made his presence known from the 1st sharp attack of the overture. He led a taut, powerfully controlled performance. Even though in a covered pit, the orchestra's sound was dominant. It was unreal hearing the harp coming from a space in the air on the left of the stage. The woodwinds & cellos also sounded amazingly vivid. The audience responded enthusiastically & stamped their feet especially for the chorus, Mr. Youn & Maestro Theilemann, though a single detractor booed both Mr. Youn & Ms. Merbeth. The ovation ran about 10 minutes.

Die Oper Tatlerin's Dutch-themed attire for the performance included a dress adorned with a tulip design, though she forgot her seat cushion.

§ Der fliegende Holländer
Bayreuther Festspiele 2013

Conductor, Christian Thielemann
Director, Jan Philipp Gloger
Stage design, Christof Hetzer
Costumes, Karin Jud
Lighting, Urs Schönebaum
Video, Martin Eidenberger
Dramaturgy, Sophie Becker
Choral Conducting, Eberhard Friedrich

Daland, Franz-Josef Selig
Senta, Ricarda Merbeth
Erik, Tomislav Muzek
Mary, Christa Mayer
Der Steuermann, Benjamin Bruns
Der Holländer, Samuel Youn

Tuesday 13. August, 06:00 PM

Tannhäuser

Monday night I attended Sebastian Baumgarten's annoying staging of Tannhäuser at the Bayreuth Festival. The opera is set in a busy factory with 3 levels, & the curtain is already up when the audience enters.  There is constant activity on stage, but none of it seems related to the opera itself. For me it was all just a distracting muddle. The Venusburg is a circular cage that rises from the floor. Its denizens include ape-like creatures & dancers in giant tadpole costumes. Wolfram & the other troubadours are factory workers. In act 2 the chorus sat on benches for the Entry of the Guests instead of entering while singing. Wofram peels a potato while jealously eying Tannhäuser & Elsa's meeting in act 2, & in act 3 Wolfram kills Elisabeth by sealing her in a tank labelled "Biogas." He then waltzes with Venus while singing "O du, mein holder Abendstern."

There are 3 screens for projections that include a lot of non-Wagnerian texts, though the main screen is behind an aerial walkway on the set, so it was not possible to see it clearly from our seat. Additional members of the audience were seated on the stage, watching the action from the sides. People in the row in front of us seemed to be among those taking turns being on stage.

The cast was consistent, & I was especially grateful for baritone Michael Nagy, who was a committed actor as Wolfram, no matter what silliness he had to do. He sang a velvety & dreamy "O du, mein holder Abendstern." Tenor Torsten Kerl did a fine job in the title role, pacing himself well & expressing gritty passion & anger in the Rome Narrative. Bass Günther Groissböck was a hunky Landgraf & sang characterfully & with power. Mezzo Michelle Breedt was a weirdly unsexy Venus, & I found soprano Camilla Nylund a bit strident as Elisabeth. Soprano Katja Stuber sang the shepherd boy with a stunningly beautiful, ethereal voice that was almost non-human, & she managed to do it while lurching around like a stumbling drunk. The conducting of Axel Kober was bland & lacked momentum.

Someone applauded after the overture, which was clearly an offense to the rest of the audience. Before the 3rd act, the chorus performs a kind of mass, complete with call & response & much stage business. As they exited, some of the audience applauded, then another contingent responded by booing. At the end of the opera, there were both boos & applause, though the audience gave positive ovations for all the individual performers. The curtain calls lasted about 5 minutes.

Die Oper Tatlerin attended wearing an outfit with hearts, in honor of the opera's Venus. She also had the unsettling experience of having an audience member faint on her.

§ Tannhäuser
Bayreuther Festspiele 2013

Conductor, Axel Kober
Director, Sebastian Baumgarten
Stage design, Joep van Lieshout
Costumes, Nina von Mechow
Lighting, Franck Evin
Video, Christopher Kondek
Dramaturgy, Carl Hegemann
Choral Conducting, Eberhard Friedrich

Landgraf Hermann, Günther Groissböck
Tannhäuser, Torsten Kerl
Wolfram von Eschenbach, Michael Nagy
Walther von der Vogelweide, Lothar Odinius
Biterolf, Thomas Jesatko
Heinrich der Schreiber, Stefan Heibach
Reinmar von Zweter, Martin Snell
Elisabeth,  Camilla Nylund
Venus, Michelle Breedt
Ein junger Hirt, Katja Stuber

Monday 12. August, 06:00 PM

Lohengrin

On Sunday afternoon I saw Lohengrin at the Bayreuth Festival in a production by Hans Neuenfels. The chorus are dressed as lab rats, in costumes with rat heads & over-sized floppy hands & feet. It is both funny & a bit creepy. Mr. Neuenfels had inventive ideas for every scene. During the overture Lohengrin pushes a huge wall from the front of the stage to the back & creates an open space for the action. Elsa enters in act 1 with a bunch of arrows sticking out of her back. Lohengrin enters walking in front of a taxidermy swan carried in a bathtub-like appliance. During the duel a screen is lowered so we watch a cartoon that schematically represents the human characters as fighting rats. Men in blue hazmat suits occasionally came out to harass various characters.

Act 2 opens with the rats looting a horse-drawn carriage & squabbling comically, & then Ortrud & Telramund are revealed to be in disguise in their midst. In the 2nd scene, I liked the female rats wearing brightly colored hats & dresses. Their tails stick out behind them & are caressed lovingly by their male partners. Combined with Wagner's romantic music, the scene actually made me teary-eyed. Elsa wears a huge gown of white swan feathers & is confronted by Ortrud in a matching gown of black feathers.

In act 3, the bridal bed is surrounded by a velvet rope, & in the final scene a giant egg is revealed, inside of which is a horrific fetus, who stands up & rips off his umbilical chord. Then everybody dies. The staging does not seem to be related to the opera itself, but it all fit with the music & was somehow very enjoyable.

The cast was consistent. Tenor Klaus Florian Vogt has a distinctive, bright sound that was appropriately other-worldly, though his singing lacked variety. Bass-baritone Samuel Youn had great hair as the Harald, & both he & bass Wilhelm Schwinghammer as King Henry sounded authoritative. Mezzo Petra Lang sang Ortrud with intensity. Soprano Annette Dasch was a strong-voiced yet vulnerable Elsa. I liked that baritone Thomas J. Mayer portrayed a manly & independent Telramund.

The chorus was terrific, singing & moving together smoothly. The orchestra, led by Andris Nelsons, played beautifully, & it was stunning to hear the individual sections of the orchestra so transparently & their sound emerging from the air over the singers' heads. The overtures & choruses were especially effective in the theater's amazing acoustic. The audience enthusiastically applauded each act & gave all the performers a big ovation. They could make even more noise by stamping their feet on the auditorium's uncarpeted wooden floor. The curtain calls lasted a good 15 minutes.

§ Lohengrin
Bayreuther Festspiele 2013
Conductor, Andris Nelsons
Director, Hans Neuenfels
Stage design, Reinhard von der Thannen
Costumes, Reinhard von der Thannen
Lighting, Franck Evin
Video, Björn Verloh
Dramaturgy, Henry Arnold
Choral Conducting, Eberhard Friedrich

Heinrich der Vogler, Wilhelm Schwinghammer
Lohengrin, Klaus Florian Vogt
Elsa von Brabant, Annette Dasch
Friedrich von Telramund, Thomas J. Mayer
Ortrud, Petra Lang
Der Heerrufer des Königs, Samuel Youn
1. Edler, Stefan Heibach
2. Edler, Willem Van der Heyden
3. Edler, Rainer Zaun
4. Edler, Christian Tschelebiew

Sunday     11. August, 04:00 PM

Ankunft

Using a foolhardy travel schedule that left no room for error, I arrived at Bayreuth on Sunday at noon & found myself climbing the Grüner Hügel for the afternoon performance of Lohengrin barely 24 hours after leaving San Francisco.

I'm staying at a hotel conveniently located 2 blocks from the train station, just a 17 minute walk to the Festspielhaus.

The path is also helpfully marked with Wagner Walk stencils.

Midget Wagner statues are scattered around the grounds of the Festspielhaus. Though an abomination, they are irresistible photo ops for visitors.

The theater has no lobby, so attendees mill around outside before the performance & during the breaks. I'm really grateful that so far the weather has not been too hot. The exterior is being renovated & is actually covered by huge photographs. From a distance it's not obvious that this is not the real facade.

2013 is Wagner's 200th birthday, so one feels especially lucky to be at the festival this year. Even Die Oper Tatlerin has graced the festival with her presence. Here she is posing in front of one of the giant photographs hiding the exterior renovations. You can tell she's ready to hear Lohengrin because she's wearing a brooch with a picture of a swan.

Brass fanfares call the audience into the theater at 15, 10 & 5 minutes to curtain.

Maruyama Ōkyo at AAM

Dragon and tiger (detail), Edo period (1615 –1868), c. 1781–1788,
by Maruyama Ōkyo (1733–1795). Japan. One of a pair of six-panel folding screens;
ink on paper. Courtesy of the Larry Ellison Collection.

I took advantage of the free first Sunday of the month at the Asian Art Museum to admire the outrageous fineness of Larry Ellison's gorgeous Japanese art collection. Afterwards I wandered upstairs to find a docent (but not SFMike's Divine Docent) standing in front of a Japanese screen depicting a vibrant winter scene by Maruyama Ōkyo. The docent noted that Ōkyo is Ellison's favorite artist. There are 4 works by Ōkyo in the downstairs galleries, such as the magnificent tiger above, & he's perhaps the show's break-out artist.

Young cat sleeping under saxifrage (yukinoshita) (detail), Edo period (1615 –1868),
by Maruyama Ōkyo (1733–1795). Japan. Hanging scroll; ink and colors on paper.
Courtesy of the Larry Ellison Collection.

Apparently Ōkyo drew obsessively from a young age, & absorbed Chinese, Japanese & Western techniques. His exquisitely drawn sleeping cat is one of my favorites in the show. Its carefully observed fur & naturalistic plant life totally remind me of Dürer.

§ In the Moment: Japanese Art from the Larry Ellison Collection
Asian Art Museum
Jun 28 - Sept 22, 2013

Japantown Happenings

This past weekend Japantown hosted yet another street fair, the nearly rote Nihonmachi Street Fair.  It was positively low-key compared to last weekend's J-Pop Summi

Even Hello Kitty was having a problem drawing a crowd.

Still, I noticed several people walking around Japantown in costumes & discovered they were attendees at GaymerX, which was touted as being the first gaming convention specifically for the LGBT community. I think of gaming as being a male-dominated activity, but there seemed to be many women conventioneers.

I'm annoyed to miss this coming weekend's Origami-Palooza, but Bayreuth calls.

§ 40th Annual Nihonmachi Street Fair
San Francisco Japantown
August 3 & 4, 2013, 11am - 6pm

§ GaymerX
The first LGBT gaming conve ntion focused on the queer geek culture.
August 3 - 4, 2013
San Francisco

§ Origami-Palooza
August 10, 2013, 1:00-5:00pm
Japan Center Malls
San Francisco Japantown

Le nozze di Figaro

The cast of Le nozze di Figaro
Photo by Kristen Loken

Last Thursday evening I saw Merola Opera's The Marriage of Figaro. The cast wore handsome 18th century costumes, & the staging was traditional, with no odd surprises. 5 large wardrobes, which the cast rearranged between acts, formed the set & represented closets & doors. The cast's singing & acting were uniformly clean, strong & enthused. Bass-baritone John Arnold portrayed an angry Figaro. Soprano Maria Valdes was a solid, slightly aloof, Susanna. Baritone Joseph Lattanzi is an exuberant actor. His Count was appropriately arrogant, sneering & a bit suave. Mezzo Rihab Chaieb flirted playfully with the audience & was a beguiling, if not particularly masculine, Cherubino. Since the set had no windows, she ran off the stage into the auditorium to get out of the Countess's room. Soprano Jacqueline Piccolino as the Countess has a richly-colored voice & sang with a nicely connected line. Her 2 arias held me rapt. She was a committed actor, & I liked how the staging played up the attraction between her & Cherubino.

L to R: Daryl Freedman (Marcellina), Thomas Richards (Dr. Bartolo),
John Arnold (Figaro), Matthew Newlin (Don Curzio)
and Joseph Lattanzi (Count Almaviva)
Photo by Kristen Loken

Tenor Casey Finnigan was hilarious as a lightly mincing Don Basilio. His voice was clear & penetrating. It would have been fun to hear him do Basilio's traditionally cut aria. As Marcellina, mezzo Daryl Freedman's voice sounded fittingly broad & matronly. Bass-baritone Thomas Richards made a stout, weighty sound as Bartolo, & his "La Vendetta" aria was nicely musical. The audience laughed at his goofy dancing during the wedding scene.

Conductor Xian Zhang led an orchestra of about 30, placed in the auditorium in front of the stage. Tempos were generally quick, & the orchestra & singers were occasionally not in sync. The orchestra sounded prominent. I liked the flute & clarinet solos. The harpsichord accompaniment was emphatic in the 1st half. During act 3, the lights went off on the music stands in the right of the orchestra, & a technician had to wade in among the musicians to fix it.

There were only 2 doors into the Everett Middle School auditorium, & only 1 ticket-taker at each door, so it took a while for everyone to get in. The show was well-attended, & the audience was supportive & applauded warmly for each number. They even broke into applause twice during the act 2 finale.

§ Le nozze di Figaro 
Merola Opera Program
Xian Zhang, conductor
Robin Guarino, director

Figaro: John Arnold
Susanna: Maria Valdes
Dr. Bartolo: Thomas Richards
Marcellina: Daryl Freedman
Cherubino: Rihab Chaieb
Count Almaviva: Joseph Lattanzi
Don Basilio: Casey Finnigan
Countess Almaviva: Jacqueline Piccolino
Antonio: Rhys Lloyd Talbot
Don Curzio: Matthew Newlin
Barbarina: Alisa Jordheim

Thursday, August 1 at 7:30 PM
Everett Auditorium at Everett Middle School

Renegade Craft Fair

Over the weekend I visited the Renegade Craft Fair at Fort Mason. It seemed even bigger than last year, with 3 aisles of booths running the entire length of the pavilion. Even though I was there late in the day, it was crowded. Attendees are mostly female.


The craft fair circuit now includes 5 US cities plus London, England, & I met many vendors from out of town. The products generally feel upscale & are not cheap.


I was delighted by these gentlemanly tattooed dolls by Mimi Kirchner. Their details repay close examination.


I liked the richly-drawn concert posters by Landland. The artist still had surprise in his voice as he told me how the Dave Matthews Band contacted them through their Web site with a commission.


Kinetic Creatures did a fantastic job with this cardboard walking rhino. It's assembled with folds, tabs & slots & requires no glue. It walks on its own with the addition of a motor.


Toyota had it's own corner of the pavilion. The Toyota reps were handsome, though the company's presence is hardly "indie."


There was food & a mezzanine level bar overlooking the floorplan. It would be easy to spend hours at the fair.

§ San Francisco Renegade Craft Fair
July 27 + 28, 2013 11am – 7pm
Fort Mason Center Festival Pavilion

Sketchbook Project Summer Tour

Something called the Sketchbook Project is in town this weekend. Their bookmoblie, traveling cross country filled with thousands of 5" x 7" sketchbooks, is currently parked at the San Francisco Center for the Book.


To view a sketchbook, you register for a free library card, then line up to search the catalog for something to check out or simply check out 2 sketchbooks at random. The Sketchbook Project scrupulously tracks checkouts for each book, so the process is cumbersome.


Saturday afternoon there were quite a few people in line, & the staff was busy retrieving & re-shelving books.


Anyone may submit their work to the library by buying a barcoded blank sketchbook for $25 or $60, filling it with their artwork, then sending it to the library for inclusion in the next tour. They claim to have over 27,000 sketchbooks, so the library may be worth close to a million dollars.


This particular afternoon I was too impatient to wait in any lines, so all I did was get a library card & look over the shoulders of a few other people. Many sketchbook are also viewable online.

§ Sketchbook Project Summer Tour 2013
SF Center for the Book
Friday, July 26, 2013, 4:00 - 8:00pm
Saturday, July 27, 2013, 2:00 - 7:00pm
Sunday, July 28, 2013, 12:00 - 6:00pm

J-Pop Summit Festival 2013

On Saturday I walked through the street fair part of the J-Pop Summit Festival in Japantown. It was crowded.


Post Street was a gauntlet of food trucks ...


... and neatly regulated vendors.


There was also a tempting $5 sake tasting area.


Fortunately there were just enough cosplay attendees to make the crowd distinctive.


This costume was seamless. I like his tail.


The young lady on the right may be dressed as a dessert.


This trio was particularly impeccable. Photographers trailed them through the fair.

§ J-Pop Summit Festival 2013
Saturday/Sunday, July 27th & 28th, 2013
San Francisco’s Japantown

Safety Last!

The Harold Lloyd classic Safety Last! was the final show of the SF Silent Film Festival on Sunday night, & it was great to see it with the joyful festival audience. Once again I saw no empty seats. I asked the lady next to me how she got interested in silent movies, & she replied, "I like to time travel." Operations Director Lucia Pier introduced the event, & there was a drawing for the raffle prize from McRoskey Mattress. Artistic Director Anita Monga then interviewed visual effects expert Craig Barron & Susanne Lloyd, Harold Lloyd's granddaughter. Mr. Barron referred to a video demonstrating how the clock scene was shot & admitted that the movie would be digitally projected at 24 FPS, which is just a tiny bit faster than it should be. We saw a beautifully crisp version from Critereon.

The atmosphere was terrifically fun. The audience laughed long & loud during the climbing sequence & applauded the moment when Harold Lloyd dangles from the clock. 2 ladies in the row behind me were actually screaming with laughter. The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra sounded consistently buoyant & elegant. Their original score of pleasant salon music was fitting & unobtrusive. They were sometimes drowned out by the audience's roaring laughter.

A book store & book signings were on the mezzanine throughout the festival, but every time I went up there it was too crowded to get a good look at anything. The festival hands out a substantial program book with excellent essays, also available online, about all the films. Next year's festival has been moved up to late May.

§ Safety Last!
USA, 1923, 70 mins. • Directors Sam Taylor, Fred Newmeyer
Musical Accompaniment by Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra

2013 San Francisco Silent Film Festival
Sunday, July 21 at 8:30 pm
Castro Theatre