It's the most marvelous time of the year, LGBT Pride Month. Rainbow flags are a-flappin', gay tourists are a-fappin', and the Frameline film festival is a-tappin' on our shoulder.
We were lucky to score a ticket to last Friday night's performance of San Francisco Opera's already-legendary production of Berlioz's "Les Troyens." While soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci appears most nights as the unheeded prophetess Cassandra, that night we enjoyed Michaela Martens, equally splendid in the role. The five-hour evening in the Opera House is a vivid experience to be sure. At the first intermission, after Act II, we saw the San Francisco Symphony audience arrive at Davies Hall across Grove Street for their concert. At the second intermission, after Act IV, we saw the SFS audience exiting - and we still had another hour-and-a-half to go! Surely the Trojan War itself was shorter.
On another topic, one of Out There's pet peeves about society's current state of sub-literacy derives from publicists touting "advanced notice" or asking for "advanced coverage" for their clients. It's as clueless as people who use "impact" as a verb. Anyway, here's advance word on the forthcoming book "Gay Directors, Gay Films?: Pedro Almodovar, Terence Davies, Todd Haynes, Gus Van Sant, John Waters" by Emanuel Levy, coming out from Columbia University Press in August. Per the Press: "In the book, Levy, a former Variety critic and film professor, examines the work of five innovative filmmakers, tracing their impact on cinema and culture. Kirkus Reviews has said 'each profile engagingly holds readers' attention, and as a collective, they bespeak the raw power of creative gay voices creating genre-straddling, often taboo material.' "
Three of the featured directors have new films being released in Fall 2015: Terence Davies' "Sunset Song," Todd Haynes' "Carol" starring Cate Blanchett, and Gus Van Sant's "Sea of Trees" starring Matthew McConaughey and Naomi Watts. So an in-depth look at their work seems pretty well-timed.
Now an advance item for opera-lovers as the end of SF Opera's summer season fast approaches. Beginning Wed., July 8, the Metropolitan Opera will present Summer Encores, featuring select performances from the Met's Live in HD series in more than 500 movie theaters across the US. The 2013 Summer Encores series offers screenings of four popular Live in HD offerings. Per Met press relations, they are:
"La Traviata" (Wed., July 8, 7 p.m.) Natalie Dessay stars as the tragic courtesan Violetta Valery in Willy Decker 's innovative modern-dress staging. Met principal conductor Fabio Luisi leads the tragic love story, which also stars Matthew Polenzani as the lovesick Alfredo and Dmitri Hvorostovsky as his disapproving father, Giorgio Germont.
"La Fille du R�giment" (Wed., July 15, 7 p.m.) Natalie Dessay is the title tomboy in Donizetti's comedy, with Juan Diego Florez as Tonio, the soldier who is willing to go to great lengths (and sing 9 high Cs) to win her love. The supporting cast includes Felicity Palmer as the Marquise of Berkenfield, Alessandro Corbelli as Sulpice, and the late Tony Award-winning actress Marian Seldes, in her Met debut, as the Duchess of Krakenthorp. Marco Armiliato conducts.
"The Merry Widow" (Wed., July 22, 7 p.m.) Last season's runaway hit in cinemas, Broadway director and choreographer Susan Stroman's lavish new staging of Lehar's effervescent operetta stars soprano Renee Fleming as Hanna, the widowed Parisian millionairess. Sir Andrew Davis conducts the stellar cast that also includes baritone Nathan Gunn as Hanna's lover, Danilo; tenor Alek Shrader as the young nobleman, Camille de Rosillon; and baritone Sir Thomas Allen as the scheming Baron Zeta. Broadway star Kelli O'Hara, currently in Bartlett Sher's new production of The King and I, makes her highly-anticipated Met debut as the Baron's coquettish wife, Valencienne.
"Aida" (Wed., July 29, 7 p.m.) One of the most beloved operas of all time, Aida sets a heartbreaking love triangle against the backdrop of an empire at war. Ukrainian soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska made a spectacular Met debut as Aida, the enslaved Ethiopian princess, opposite two major stars: tenor Roberto Alagna as the war hero Radames, and Olga Borodina as the pharaoh's daughter Amneris, Aida's formidable rival. George Gagnidze sings Amonasro, Aida's cunning father, and Stefan Kocan is the imposing Egyptian priest Ramfis. Met principal conductor Fabio Luisi conducts.
Finally, we were invited to dinner with Ovid Napa Valley winemaker Austin Peterson offering up the fruit of the grape, paired with creations from chef Melissa Perello at Octavia. Both parts of this equation were hot tickets. Peterson shared his expertise and Ovid's 2009 and 2012 Hexameter vintages, as well as barrel samples from the 2013 crop. They went down well. Perello's chilled squid ink noodles, butter bean & young garlic soup, and Brandt Farms beef rib-eye were exquisite. Eternal wows for the old OT taste buds.