Matthew Ozawa’s adaptation and direction present singers returning to the opera house, still masked and keeping their distance, eager to work again after more than a year’s hiatus. Set and projection design is by Alexander V. Looming at 40 feet high and stretching to 120 feet wide, the stage is surrounded by panels on which a dizzying series of projections appear, with close-ups of the singers, views of the 18-piece masked and distanced orchestra in a tent behind the stage, graphics, and – on the top – the text of the lyrics, which are sung in Marcie Stapp’s English translation. The first and persisting impression of this “return to opera” is the gigantic physical production between Frank Lloyd Wright’s buildings of the Marin County Civic Center. The production is of the making of Barber, with (rather generous) excerpts from the opera. Yes, Philip Skinner sings quite well in the role, but in recitals that stand apart from the story. Bartolo, who keeps Rosina captive but doesn’t appear here until late in the opera.
What prevents the lovers’ happiness? Nasty old Dr. While creating a framework of rehearsals and demolishing the fourth wall with personal references to the pandemic – following the example of Finnish Opera’s Covid fan tutte from last August – SF Opera makes short shrift of Rossini’s story. Performances run through May 15.Ībbreviating the show to an intermissionless 100 minutes makes good sense in these circumstances, but instead of compressing the opera, this production runs off in all directions, biting off more than what’s chewable. In picturesque Lagoon Park, simulcast of the performance on a movie screen, it’s $50 per car. At the fairgrounds, with view of the set and live performers, it’s $250 per car. San Francisco Opera is proud of its enormous production of the Rossini-inspired Barber of Seville, one gigantic set looming over two large parking spaces next to the iconic Marin County Civic Center. It might have worked better for drive-in movie theaters, but for the time being, and after 14 months of pandemic silence, that’s what opera is, and my confident prediction is that the genre will return to opera houses where it belongs, however limited the audience must be.
Yes, through the car windshield and sound on the car radio. – Opera 2021 in San Francisco has a curious resemblance to the popular “outdoor movies” of the 1950s. (Photo by Stefan Cohen/San Francisco Opera)
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