Articles by Philip Hodge

The Barber of Seville Review – Always delightful

How can anyone not like Rossini’s "The Barber of Seville"? I even enjoyed it twice at Opera San Jose

Yeoman of the Guard Review - Gilbert and Sullivan as Grand Opera

My fear that "Yeoman of the Guard" by W. S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan would not live up to my anticipation did not materialize. I loved it

Carmen from Barcelona Review - No Harmony

When opera is good, the music and the actions on stage each complement the other. But here while the ear is hearing a tale of great emotion, grand passion, and eventual doom, the eye is viewing the pitiable comic on stage. There is no harmony

Girl of the Golden West Review – Deborah Voight is pure gold

Inevitably, Puccini’s opera has been called an “oater”. I would sum up the Met production as pure grade A oats

Don Carlo Review - A Great Production on the Whole

The music and singing were excellent throughout and despite minor flaws, the overall effect of Don Carlo was so powerful that defects were overshadowed

Cosi Fan Tutte from London Review – Mozart Reduced to Essentials

Dad explained to me that one shouldn’t take operatic characters too seriously; just enjoy the music and the comic situations they get themselves into

Das Rheingold HD La Scala Review - See It If You Can

Staging makes all the difference between this Emerging Pictures HD production of Das Rheingold from La Scala and the two previous performances I saw

Don Pasquale Review - Another MetHD Must See

Have I convinced you to NOT go to the Encore performance on Wednesday, December 1 2010 at 6:30 local time? I hope not, because it is a wonderful performance and I am definitely planning to see it again. “Huh?” you ask. “How can you want to see it again when the story is so distasteful?”

The Makropulos Case Review – Karita Mattila stars in the role of a 337-year old woman

The story of Elina Makropulos is a strange one. She was born in 1537 in Greece . . . . [she would] live for three hundred years without ageing

Tosca at Opera San Jose Review – The Ultimate Opera

Tosca at its best is THE essential tragic opera. And yet, Tosca is not like any other opera.

The Marriage of Figaro – An intimate production

I enjoyed it tremendously. The music was the same. The performers were different but the characters were the same. The language was the different but this one was simply a translation of that one. But it was a totally different experience.

Cyrano de Bergerac Review - Plácido Domingo sticks his nose into San Francisco

I was excited about the San Francisco Opera performance of Cyrano de Bergerac because I was going to hear Plácido Domingo live

Madama Butterfly Review - Svetla Vassileva Superstars in a Superstar Production

I have just seen my best-ever performance of "Madama Butterfly" at San Francisco Opera

La Forza del Destino Review - A Gripping Story of Honor, Love, Revenge, and Redemption

The plot of La Forza del Destino is really very simple. Leonora and Don Alvaro are in love. Alvaro kills Leonora’s father and brother. He sends Leonora to her dying brother who kills her. Of course, there are some extenuating circumstances . . . .

Rheingold Review - MetHD

The theater lights dim, the audience becomes quiet. There is an air of expectancy in the CinéArts @ Palo Alto Square Theatre where at 10 AM Saturday morning the giant screen is ready to show the 1 pm performance at the Metropolitan Opera House in Lincoln Center New York City.

Figaro Review – You Walk out Humming and Chuckling

If the characters all live happily ever after
and the audience leaves the theater humming and chuckling,
who can ask for more? All that is true of the San Francisco Opera production of Figaro

Aida Review - A New Definition of Spectacular

"Aida" was spectacular at the War Memorial Stadium and at AT&T park

Werther Review – Beautiful Franco-German Gloom

I just saw "Werther" and was surprised at the similarities to "Anna Karenina"

Anna Karenina Review-19th Century Russian Soul with 21st Century American Music

For this incredible opera, I need a new vocabulary

Wagner's Ring (Valencia) Review – Exciting Technology

If all goes well for me during the coming 2010-11 operatic season, it will be the Year of the Ring.

La Traviata (Fremont Opera) Review – A summer of Camellias

Last night I attended my sixth performance of La Traviata this summer, this one by the Fremont Opera. And every time there were tears in my eyes as the orchestra played the final notes of Act III.

Norma Review – Hanky-Panky in ancient Gaul

When the opera opens, she has been High Priestess for ten or so years and apparently no one except her personal slave Clotilde knows that she has...

Pirates of Penzance Review - Lamplighters Music Theater Comes to the Peninsula

The Lamplighters Music Theatre has been producing Gilbert & Sullivan operas in San Francisco since 1852. Their production of Pirates of Penzance is a treat

Carmen Opera Review – Elina Garanča Gives New Meaning to “Sexy”

But Carmen. Ah, Carmen. There’s a gal worth composing for

Turandot Review – The Prince of Tartary raises stupidity to a new height - or should I say depth?. But Love (and Puccini) conquers all.

In most Grand Opera the lead male character is fairly stupid - the Prince of Tartary (we don’t know until the last act that his name is Calàf) raises stupidity to a new height (depth?).