Stevland Hardaway Morris

I went with my family to see this Motown great (better known as Stevie Wonder) play to a packed Shoreline on Saturday night. My sister, Sydney, and I were asked to be in a promo pic for some radio station, most likely because we were the only women under 35 they could find.  But, lest I give you the wrong impression: that 40+ crowd still knows how to rock an amphitheatre and so does Stevie.  And even if you find fault with the 58 year old artist’s aging pipes, you have got to love an icon who will break off a song mid-verse with, “that’s enough of that one.”  No apology needed, Stevie.  You’re way past that.

Lucia di Lammermoor

The staging of the first two acts of San Francisco Opera’s production of Donizetti’s Lucia go something like this:

Act 1. Forbidden Love. Male posturing in the form of strutting and gesticulating from Enrico (Gabriele Viviani), Raimondo (Oren Gradus) and Edgardo (Giuseppe Filianoti).  Lucia (Natalie Dessay) does some rolling around in wispy ground-cover. Next, the lovers duet–an embrace here, an embrace there, kilt play (not as racy as it sounds)–end scene. 

Act 2. Deception, Betrayal and a Wedding.  More male posturing. Lucia and brother, Enrico, exhibiting unintentional sexual tension (by far the most interesting dynamic of the second act).  Dessay is nailed to her marks: chair, table, floor, repeat.  Big wedding and a humorous sword fight. 

Luckily, the infamous Act 3 effectively curbed audience boredom.  Directors Vick and Gandini must have been saving all the gusto for the finale.  While still stiff, the staging was conceptual and Dessay came alive in all of Lucia’s sublime madness to a backdrop of a huge, omnipresent moon. 

Aside from production, there were many standout vocal moments.  While I remained unimpressed by Edgardo and undecided about Enrico, Adler Fellow, Andrew Bidlack, energized the stage with his young but standout voice and Dessay’s cadenza with the glass harmonica was eerily supreme. (You can watch a clip of the cadenza here.)

I have heard so much about Dessay’s energetic and near acrobatic performances that I was eager to see what she would do for her debut role with the San Francisco Opera.  While her coloratura doesn’t disappoint, she seemed to be fighting her suffocating direction.  

Yes, it’s opera and not Cirque du Soleil, but the world has been watching the same standing and arm waving for years, and I guarantee you, “Pavarotti did it better.”  Hopefully the 08-09 season with The Bonesetter’s Daughter and Porgy and Bess will bring more modern interpretation to SFWMPAC. 

The last show of Summer Madness is on Saturday, July 5th and if you are trying to do “standing room” (a true bargain at $10), be sure to arrive early to get a spot on the rail.  And please, ladies, don’t make the mistake I made and forget a change of shoes.  I know it’s the opera, but there is nothing glamorous about standing for 3 hours in stilettos.

Realistic Orchestra at Bruno’s

I’ve never had much of a reason to go to Bruno’s.  On weekends, it’s more crowded than worth it, and on weeknights, the emptiness of the large space can be downright depressing and not in that good ol’ divey “who cares if there are only three of us in here drinking well-whiskey on a Sunday night, ‘let’s shoot some pool’” kind of way. 

But, as it turns out, Bruno’s does offer some pretty sweet mid-week cut-loose. Tuesday nights at Bruno’s belong to Jazz Mafia, a collection of bay area jazz bands with a “Rat-Pack” like mission. 

Realistic Orchestra kicks off the Jazz Mafia rotation the first Tuesday of each month.  This month they pulled an impressive turnout, even more so considering the $10 cover (pretty big-ticket for the mission on an off-night). But with 20+ musicians in their big-band jazz ensemble, their performance is probably more public service than profit.  The inflated horn section is lively and the rotation of talented vocalists (there seemed to be an endless supply of them) kept the energy high. 

Realistic Orchestra’s website is outdated, but information about the band and upcoming gigs can be found on Jazz Mafia’s website or on their MySpace page. 

On a related note, don’t miss the Fillmore Jazz Festival this weekend, July 5th and 6th.