La belle Hélène at Pocket Opera
March 05, 2009
* Notes *
Pocket Opera opened the 2009 season with Offenbach's La belle Hélène last month in Berkeley, with subsequent performances in San Francisco. The production was almost cloyingly sweet. Everyone was perfectly adorable, especially the charming pianist and narrator Donald Pippin. The musical values were appropriate for the small venue. Megan Stetson certainly made for a beautiful Hélène, though her voice perhaps lacked richness.
* Tattling *
The audience whispered a good deal. I had my fill of Offenbach for the week and decided not to hear Berkeley Opera's Tales of Hoffman.