Arts & Events

Since its inception in 2007, Opera at the Ballpark has become a tradition locally. Each year as many as 30,000 people gather at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, for a free concert of opera simulcast on Oracle Park’s 71-foot high x 153-foot wide, 4K videoboard. The music is simulcast live from the Opera House. This year what was offered was not a specific opera but rather a superb concert featuring great singing by mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton and soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen. This event, which bore the title “The Homecoming,” marked the reopening of San Francisco Opera after 20 dreary months of closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

In addition to great singing, this event featured San Francisco Opera’s new Music Director, Korean-born Eun Sun Kim who conducted the orchestra and singers in a well-chosen program. 

Seeing Eun Sun Kim conduct on a raised podium onstage rather than being submerged in the orchestra pit where she conducted the recent performances of Tosca, offered the audience a great opportunity to study Ms. Kim’s intriguing style of conducting. This unique style was evident from this concert’s opening number, the Overture from Franz von Suppé’s Leichte Kavallerie (Light Cavalry). Unlike so many conductors these days who conduct more for the audience than for the orchestra, Eun Sun Kim does not indulge in histrionics aimed at leading the audience by the nose thru every twist and turn in the music. Instead she conducts specifically for the orchestra, and this is clear by the way she does not, like so many conductors, use her baton to punctuate each note and phrase precisely on the beat. Instead, Eun Sun Kim truly leads the orchestra by anticipating the notes and phrases slightly ahead of the beat. The results are superb! 

After von Suppe’s overture, soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen came onstage to sing the aria and cabaletta “E strano … Sempre libera” from Verdi’s La Traviata. In this music, Violetta weighs the pros and cons of falling in love aroused in her by the ardent wooing of tenor Alfredo. At first, she senses that perhaps Alfredo is the one who will change her life with his love. However, she eventually persuades herself, not all that credibly, that love is madness and she vows to continue her life of pleasure as a Parisian courtisan. The emotional twists and turns of this music make this a difficult choice as the opening number for a singer performing in a concert, and Rachel Willis-Sørensen negotiated the music with a few uneven patches, although she generally succeeded beautifully in conveying the mixed emotions of Violetta. Noteworthy in this performance was the cello’s insistent reminder of music associated with Alfredo’s earlier ardent declaration of love for Violetta. 

Next on the program was Jamie Barton, who sang the aria “”O mon Fernand,” from Donizetti’s La Favorite, performed in French as at its Paris premiere in 1840. Jamie Barton, of course, has won multiple awards; and her singing features solid low-and-mid- ranges and 

astonishingly bright, clear and powerful high notes. Following Ms. Barton’s first number, Ms. Willis-Søresen returned to sing a lilting, exuberantly joyful aria “Depuis le jour,” from Gustave Charpentier’s opera Louise. Here Rachel Willis-Sørensen beautifully conveyed her character’s 

extreme happiness as Louise recalls the wonders of the day she first made love with Julien. 

Next came the aria “O don fatale” from Verdi’s Don Carlo, sung here by mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, whose high notes in this dramatic aria were sensational! The final number before intermission featured both Rachel Willis-Sørensen and Jamie Barton in the dramatic duet “DIo che mi vedi in core” from Donizetti’s Anna Bolena. Here Willis-Sørensen as Anne Boleyn voices her desire for vengeance towards an unknown woman who has stolen the heart of Boleyn’s 

husband, King Henry VIII of England. However, as Boleyn converses with her lady-in-waiting Jane Seymour, sung here by Jamie Barton, Boleyn gradually realises it is her friend Jane Seymour who is Henry’s new love. At first, Boleyn is indignant, but in the end she forgives her friend and sees her as a victim of the sexually predatory Henry VIII. 

After intermission, Barton and Willis-Sørensen paired as Amnøris and Aida, respectively, in the duet “Fu la sorte” from Verdi’s Aida. In this dramatic duet Amneris tricks Aida into revealing that she loves Radames, and Amneris ruthlessly vows to crush her rival for Radames’s love 

Barton was outstanding as Amneris and Willis-Sørensen beautifully conveyed the helpless Aida’s desperate plight as she begs for mercy. Next came the instrumental Polonaise from Dvorák’s opera Rusalka. In this music’s distinctive triple meter rhythm, brilliant trumpet fanfares are heard, as are quieter passages for woodwinds and strings. At the close of this music, conductor Eun Sun Kim singled out the trumpeters, woodwind & string players for applause. Following this came the beautiful aria “Song to the Moon” from Rusalka in which the lovely water-sprite Rusalka pleads with the moon to convey to the prince her wistful love for him. This gorgeous aria was beautifully sung here by Rachel Willis-Sōrensen, who was a sensation in this role when she sang it here in 2019 under the baton of then-guest conductor Eun Sun Kim. 

Next onstage was Jamie Barton who sang the famous aria “Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix” from Samson et Dalila by Camille Saint-Saëns. Here again Ms Barton offered her brilliant high notes, even embroidering an extra high note on the final syllable of her aria. Following this came an orchestral interlude from Capriccio by Richard Strauss. Once again, conductor Eun Sun Kim brought out all the rich colors and textures of the music. The final item on the scheduled program was the incomparable duet “Mira, o Norma” from Vincenzo Belliini’s opera Norma. With Jamie Barton as Adalgisa and Rachel Willis-Søresen as Norma, this superbly sung music brought to a close an extraordinary concert of great singing. A single encore featured both singers in “You’’ll never walk alone” from the Broadway musical Carousel by Rogers and Hammerstein.