* Notes *
San Francisco Opera's second Ring cycle continued with Siegfried (Act II, Scene 3 pictured left, photo by Cory Weaver) on Friday. The orchestra played clearly. The sound of the off-stage horn in Act II, Scene 2 was clean and pleasant. The music for Siegfried passing through the magic fire at the end of Act III, Scene 2 was also played well. Jay Hunter Morris (Siegfried) sounded richer than in previous performances, though he does not have the baritonal darkness of a Heldentenor in his voice, he is pleasant to hear. He also made it all the way to the end of the performance without being in danger of losing his voice. Mark Delavan sang with a pretty warmth, though not a great deal of volume. He made an endearing substitution of "Schwarz" for "Licht" for his last answer in Act I, Scene 2. David Cangelosi was strong as Mime. Nina Stemme was again incredible as Brünnhilde.
* Tattling *
The audience was exceptionally ill-behaved. A cellular phone rang many times when Mime was singing about Sieglinde in Act I, Scene 1. There was another mobile that rang during Act I, Scene 2. I was reading the score in the back on an iPad, and a late-comer asked me how much longer Act I would go, and scared me out of my skin. I responded that we had another scene to go, and asked her not to speak to me, as I was trying to listen to the music.
Some other late-comers to Act II dropped their personal effects on the bench I was sitting on, and the female half of the couple chose rest the upper half of her body on them, making a horrible crunching sound on some sort of plastic water bottle. Later in the act they talked extensively, right in front of where I was seated. In Act III the person next to me sang along for a bit of the prologue, but noticed the look I gave him, and was silent for the rest of the performance.
