It has been a long time since I’ve posted here. It’s so easy to get distracted by the infinite variety of retired life …teaching, singing, playing the viol, walking in the Berkeley hills, gardening…
Speaking of infinite variety, I recently saw a wonderful Cleopatra opera: Handel’s Giulio Cesare, produced by West Edge Opera, here in the Bay Area. On the right is West Edge’s publicity picture of Shawnette Sulker as Cleopatra—in the “victory” costume she puts on at the end of the opera as she and Caesar celebrate their love and their joint conquest of her nasty brother Ptolemy. You may remember all that from George Bernard Shaw or (maybe if you’re my age) Elizabeth Taylor.
It’s great to have so many small opera companies in the Bay Area, like West Edge (get the name? …. on the west edge of the continent… but also opera with a western — California — “edge” to it). In my review (read on), I complain about the acoustics in the hall they used (Oakland’s Scottish Rite Hall) — but really, it’s so much better than the big cranky War Memorial Auditorium that San Francisco Opera uses.
Next month, I wish I could hear SF Opera premier John Adams’ new piece on the same wonderful old story: Antony and Cleopatra. We’ll be out of town, unfortunately.
Despite some gripes, I enjoyed the performance, and maybe even more the chance to study the wonderful score.
I have not figured out how to embed my reviews (for San Francisco Classical Voice) in this blog, but here’s the link. Let me know what you think about it, if you have time.
I can’t find any videos of this performance, but here’s a clip from the Boston Baroque performance of Giulio Cesare, with Susanna Phillips singing “V’adoro, pupille,” Cleopatra’s stagey seduction piece, with Caesar properly in awe. Thanks to Peter Sykes (shown in the video on the harpsichord) for showing me this!
Enjoy!