It just keeps getting better! I wound up with an extra ticket to Anna Karenina, so I exchanged the ticket for the final performance by the opening night cast, making the third time I had heard that cast (Jasmina/Krassen/Kirk/Michael), counting the dress rehearsal. I've heard that the fourth performance has a tendency to be the best. This was the fourth by this cast, and the results add evidence to that assertion. Everyone was in fine form, but I have to particularly note the contribution of Kirk Eichelberger as Karenin, who was simply superb. The only difference in performing forces was the conductor. Our own Bryan Nies took over from Stewart Robertson, the conductor of the Florida premiere and the St. Louis reprise. Bryan led a performance every bit as fine as the ones I had heard previously.
So after a summer of reading the novel, seeing the 1935 Greta Garbo and 1948 Vivien Leigh movies, attended a number of Opera San Jose events, giving two of my own previews to my friends, and seeing four performances, Anna Karenina is a wrap. It's not going to replace Madama Butterfly, but it's the best new opera I've seen since Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking.
On to Tosca, Opera San Jose's next production!
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