Reviews



"Donald Runnicles' orchestra plays at its usual superb levels, especially (for obvious Wagnerian reasons) in the low strings and the extraordinary passages of brass."
- The Opera Critic, June 2008 [Michael J. Vaughn]

"To sit in War Memorial Opera House, where 'Rheingold' opened Tuesday, as the three Rhinemaidens, guardians of gold, romp amid swirling mists and mushrooming video-graphic images of surging waterfalls, while the opera orchestra, conducted by Donald Runnicles, intones Wagner's long, primordial E-flat and then slowly builds a blooming wall of sound - this was a sensational and sensuous experience."
- Inside Bay Area, 6.13.08 [Richard Scheinin]

"The music is, was and always will be the thing with the Ring, and conductor Donald Runnicles secured an often thrilling symphonic breadth from the orchestra, while still achieving some remarkably clear and delightful detail. Never one for fast tempi, he is obviously in his element with Wagner."
- Bay Area Reporter, 6.12.08 [Philip Campbell]

"The cast and orchestra overwhelmingly sounded exceptionally well. Maestro Runnicles imparted a steady sense of pace on the music (again, it's two-and-a-half hours of continuous music, no break for the orchestra, which plays interludes during scene changes). The overture starts with a low muddle of bass strings (Runnicles did not take his customary bow and just jumped in), a deep, smoky, drone-y rumble which oh-so-slowly opens up, and the screen was covered with out of focus movies of space travel, or was it some lava lamp screen saver? What's more American than an acid trip? Of course Runnicles wove deep currents in the stream of the orchestra: it's the music of the Rhine, he's due for some flowing metaphors! But he did it deftly, so that the music really breathed. Wagner's actually returns to the overture's theme a few times, in particular in Scene 2 to the lyrics "wherever life ebbs and flows." So the music better ebb and flow,there's no way around it, and Runnicles got it down pat. He would pump the volume up a bit during the interludes to hide the noisy hammering of the decor change, but otherwise gave his singers room to shine."
- Sfist.com, 6.12.08

"Since 1990, the Ring in San Francisco has been under the musical direction of Donald Runnicles, and - except for a disappointing tenor here, a too-large soprano there - all has been well with Wagner's world. … Runnicles' orchestra played majestically, providing a grand balance, favoring singers well, and offering musical interludes of unostentatious power, the like of which haven't been heard in the War Memorial since Runnicles' fabulous sea interludes in Peter Grimes."
- San Francisco Examiner, 6.3.08 [Janos Gereben]

"Wagner expert Donald Runnicles leads the orchestra in all performances, which continue Saturday through June 28 at the War Memorial Opera House. … As expected, he brought out the best of the score, beginning with the opera's wondrous opening, the sustained (136 bars), rumbling low E-flat major chords that sound like the cosmos is being born (think Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey') … Runnicles was deft interpreting the music for Erda, the earth goddess, who emerges from the underworld to warn Wotan about the wrong of stealing the ring."
- The Reporter, Vacaville CA, 6.11.08 [Richard Bammer]

"Through all of this the San Francisco Opera Orchestra delivered Wagner's score from the eloquent pit, Donald Runnicles at the helm. It is an excellent orchestra, expanded for Wagnerian requirements, amply fulfilling all musical requirements in a hall sympathetic to large orchestral sound. Runnicles is famed for Wagner."
- musicwebuk.com, 6.11.08 [Michael Milenski]

"The outgoing music director Donald Runnicles has presided over San Francisco's Ring for the past 18 years. His contribution here generally knits line, continuity and a unquenchable zest for the telling detail into a seamless statement of the score; it augurs well for the remainder of the cycle."
- Financial Times, 6.9.08 [Allan Ulrich]

"To sit in War Memorial Opera House, where "Rheingold" opened Tuesday, as the three Rhinemaidens, guardians of gold, romp amid swirling mists and mushrooming video-graphic images of surging waterfalls - this was a sensational and sensuous experience. Adding to it was the opera orchestra, conducted by Donald Runnicles, intoning Wagner's long, primordial E-flat and then slowly building a blooming wall of sound ... . [Francesca Zambello] and Runnicles - who over the next several seasons will preside over the entire 'Ring' cycle at War Memorial ('Die Walküre' plays in 2010; all four operas in 2011) - imbue "Rheingold" with as much steady tension and forward thrust as they can. "Tuesday, the orchestra's vivid performance gave sure underscoring to the mythic themes of power, love and sex (and its renunciation), which course through this tale of gods and demigods fighting for ownership of the Ring, forged from the "'Pure Gold" of the Rhine River and carrying a terrible magic, boundless power and, of course, a curse."
- Mercury News, 6.5.08 [Richard Scheinin]

Glenn Petry
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