And the Cleopatra costumes are stunning.”
“As an audience member, you feel the tension of this passionate, complex love story, which has the epic scale of Aida but at its core is about human vulnerability and fallibility.
“I am feeling quite an extraordinary energy at all levels of the production - the music, the design, the costumes, and the propulsive intensity between the characters,” Shilvock said of rehearsals. The production, which has seven performances, ranges from ancient Rome and Egypt to 1930s Hollywood, with sets by Mimi Lien, projections by Bill Morrison, and costumes by Constance Hoffman. Bass-baritone Gerald Finley, who headlined the world premiere of the composer’s Doctor Atomic at SFO in 2005, and Egyptian soprano Amina Edris (replacing Julia Bullock, who withdrew because of her pregnancy) sing the title roles, with music director Eun Sun Kim conducting. John was energized by doing a work that blended the intimate and the public in the story of these two characters amidst the interplay of romance and politics and power.”Īdams crafted the libretto from Shakespeare’s text (plus Plutarch, Virgil, and other classical sources) with director Elkhanah Pulitzer and dramaturg Lucia Scheckner. “After I proposed a new opera for the centennial, he came back a few months later with the idea of Antony and Cleopatra. “I learned that John had been reading all 37 plays by Shakespeare that year as a sort of immersive exercise,” said Shilvock, who has headed SFO since 2016. John Adams and music director Eun Sun Kim during a workshop on ‘Antony and Cleopatra.’ (Kristen Loken)
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