Donald Runnicles Busy Months Ahead
DONALD RUNNICLES, FRESH FROM TRIUMPHS AT MET OPERA, ATLANTA SYMPHONY AND ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKE'S, PREPARES SEASON FINALE AT SAN FRANCISCO OPERA, HIS HOME COMPANY: TCHAIKOVSKY'S PIQUE DAME
THE SCOTTISH CONDUCTOR RETURNS HOME IN AUGUST FOR RARE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL APPEARANCES WITH BBC SYMPHONY
HIS NEW RECORDING OF MOZART'S REQUIEM, WITH ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS, WILL BE RELEASED BY TELARC IN AUGUST
MAESTRO RUNNICLES TO CONDUCT WORLD PREMIERE OF NEW JOHN ADAMS OPERA DR. ATOMIC IN SAN FRANCISCO, OCTOBER 1
Donald Runnicles, music director and chief conductor for the last dozen years at one of the world's most important opera houses - in San Francisco, succeeds as well in finding time to conduct opera and orchestral concerts all over the world, and still play piano with friends and in chamber music concerts.
In his most recent concerts with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, of which he is chief guest conductor, Mr. Runnicles led performances of Bruckner's mammoth Symphony No. 8, described by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Pierre Ruhe as:
"[A] compelling, often deeply moving interpretation. … [Runnicles] never confused ponderousness with profundity, instead letting the symphony expand at what felt like a comfortable and natural pace, building it up phrase by phrase, movement by movement. He made the ASO sound like an Old World orchestra, plush and weighty. The strings sang with a creamy tone. The horns and brass - including four Wagner tubas - delivered their parts with lightness and strength."
Mr. Runnicles's first performances since 2002 at the Metropolitan Opera - where he made his international breakthrough debut in 1988 conducting Berg's Lulu on very short notice - were leading Strauss's lovable period piece, Der Rosenkavalier, with Susan Graham in the lead role. The reviews praised him unanimously.
The New York Times's enthusiastic comment was:
"Mr. Runnicles showed a secure hand in the pit, at times almost violently stirring up the score as if to remind us that this Strauss, too, has its modern edges. But he also knew when to pull back on the reins in key moments of the second and third acts."
Opera News's evaluation stated:
"The general success of the season premiere (March 11) owed much to Donald Runnicles, who brought his thoroughbred orchestra out of the gate fast but with verve and dazzling accuracy even in the brass section … He was especially considerate in maintaining transparent textures for the Marschallin."
Newsday's critic marveled:
"I have never fully understood how a conductor, equipped only with a small stick, herds flocks of singers and musicians into wistfulness and keeps them there for hour upon hour, with controlled excursions toward bluster, camp, rue and endearing adolescent sentimentality. But Runnicles did. Waltzes glided, brass frothed, and tempos slowed and swiveled so that even a contemporary New Yorker could get lost in memories of imperial Vienna. … Aikin, Graham and Denoke spun a diaphanous silver finale under Runnicles' delicate baton."
And the Associated Press summed it all up simply: "Donald Runnicles conducted the [Metropolitan Opera] orchestra superbly, bringing tremendous energy but also great sensitivity to the intricate textures and harmonies."
Now back in San Francisco, Donald Runnicles will open his opera company's summer festival season on June 12 with a performance of Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades (Pique Dame) that features an international cast (details below).
Before Mr. Runnicles opens the new season in San Francisco, his new recording of Mozart's Requiem for Telarc will be released in August. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus perform, with soloists Christine Brewer, Ruxandra Denoese, John Tessier and Eric Owens. Another new recording expected for future release on Orfeo d'or is from a live performance of Korngold's opera Die tote Stadt last summer at the Salzburg Festival.
When Mr. Runnicles opens the SFO's 2005-06 season on September 10 with Rossini's comic romp L'italiana in Algeri, he will be equally busy behind the scenes preparing the world premiere performances of a new opera by John Adams entitled Dr. Atomic. This much anticipated opera, a collaboration between composer John Adams and director/librettist Peter Sellars, follows such hugely successful productions as Nixon in China (1987) and The Death of Klinghoffer (1991). Again, a historical event shapes the music and text. Dr. Atomic concerns the development of the first atomic bomb and J. Robert Oppenheimer's role in it. The opera has a libretto compiled by Sellars entirely from "a variety of historical sources including declassified government and military documents, personal letters and correspondence," according to the web site dedicated to the work, www.doctor-atomic.com.