* Notes *
This week James Conlon conducts San Francisco Symphony in Verdi's Requiem. Fabio Luisi was originally scheduled to take the podium, but took over most of James Levine's fall engagements at the Met. Perhaps it is just as well, Maestro Conlon did a fine job with the work, the phrasing was lucid and taut. The pianissimi were especially beautiful. The chorus sounded robust.
As for soloists, tenor Frank Lopardo sounded a bit strange. He has a plaintive voice, but at times he seemed to hum rather than sing. In contrast, the bass, Ain Anger, sang with much less effort and much more confidence. Mezzo Dolora Zajick also gave a powerful performance, her full voice is never lacking in brilliance. Sondra Radvanovsky (pictured above, photograph by Pavel Antonov) however, was still the star of the evening. She never strained for the notes, her voice has a metallic brightness that does not get lost in the orchestration, but is never harsh.
* Tattling *
There was a magnitude 3.8 earthquake at 8:16 pm, about 10 minutes into the performance on Thursday. A slight murmur was heard from the audience, but the singing and playing simply continued.
