SF Opera's Barbiere (Shrader, Muraro, Iversen, Mack)

* Notes * 
San Francisco Opera gave a second performance of Il barbiere di Siviglia (Finale of Act II pictured left, photograph by Cory Weaver) this season with four different principal singers yesterday night. Emilio Sagi's direction is funny but has som much going on at all times. There is an incredible amount of choreography and the corps de ballet is kept quite occupied.

While much of the staging for the different singers remained the same, the difference between the singing was significant. Maurizio Muraro (Doctor Bartolo) has a lot of volume. Audun Iversen is a brash, amusing Figaro. Daniela Mack is a sassy Rosina. Her "Una voce poco fa" had much verve, but there were times when she was slightly harsh. Alek Shrader is elegant as Almaviva. His voice does sound pinched at the top, but his coloratura is deft. They all sang very nicely together and the trio "Ah! qual colpo inaspettato!" was especially charming.

* Tattling * 
Standing room attendance was even more sparse than the first night, I purchased my ticket at 6:30pm and had Standing Room Ticket 9. The attendance in the Balcony Level, as far as seating, included quite a few people, many were apparently opera novices. The four people in Row L 108-114 talked a great deal.

There were many late-comers. An elderly couple had a loud discussion on such important topics such as finding their glasses and using the lavatory during much of Act I.