The reviews are in from the first weekend of Verdi’s La forza del destino at West Bay Opera, and they are raves indeed:
- La Forza del West Bay – San Francisco Classical Voice
- West Bay applies its magic to Verdi masterpiece – The Almanac
- West Bay’s ‘La forza’ earns chorus of praise – Los Altos Town Crier
As all the reviews mention, the cast is uniformly strong. The biggest revelation to me has been Gabriel Manro’s powerful Don Carlo. Manro is making his West Bay Opera debut in this role. Janos Gerbern put it nicely in his San Francisco Classical Voice review:
If no weapons are involved, next time I am facing a gang in a dark alley, I want Gabriel Manro on my side. The young, lanky baritone would need only sing “Morir! Tremenda cosa!” (Die! Darn it!) and all the bad guys would run away, presto.
It’s rare that you get a chance to see such a large opera like this in a 400-seat house like West Bay’s Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto. There’s one more weekend to see this remarkable production – and to hear me sing 18 measures in the Act II offstage pilgrims’ chorus. JoAnn’s also singing in the pilgrims’ chorus, but the women don’t have quite as much music.
The remaining performances are on Saturday at 8:00 pm and Sunday at 2:00 pm. If there are partial conflicts with Giants’ games, I’m sure you’ll be able to get the score at one of the intermissions. Buy your tickets now!
And to the Giants: May La Forza be with you!