Guillaume Tell by Gioachino Rossini San Francisco Opera, June 14, 1992 War Memorial Opera House (in French) It's hard to believe that until this week in San Francisco, "Guillaume Tell" hadn't been performed in this country in 90 years. Watching the performance here at the San Francisco Opera today convinces me that this ought to be one of the most frequently produced of Rossini's opera -- or of anybody elses'. I was reminded of The Ring. This opera has considerably more power and scope than most of the "eeney" operas (Rossini, Puccini, etc): much darker color, more epic scope, more emotional content. The orchestration was superb and even the length -- almost 4.5 hours -- was reminisent of Wagner (for good and ill). I found the leading performances all first-rate -- especially Chris Merritt as Arnold Melcthal, the Swiss patriot who loves the Austrian princess (Mathilde, sung by Carol Vaness). Merritt was full of power and sang very securely in the highest registers. I never saw or heard him falter through what is surely one of the most challenging of the lyric tenor roles. Vaness likewise showed why she is so widely regarded as a world-class talent. This was the third time I have seen her sing and each performance has been rewarding. I wasn't in love with the music Mathilde gets to sing in this opera, but Vaness was powerful and pure of tone throughout and won raves from the audience for her effort. I also liked Timothy Nobel as Tell. His voice has a warm, round authoritative quality that he used to good effect in the role. His acting left a little something to be desired; then again, neither staging nor acting were particular strengths in this performance. The stage was a strange conraption that rotated the floor like a corkscrew, presenting different levels to the audience throughout. It worked well as a device to move us from one scene to another without interruption, but seemed forced and contrived at other occasions. I thought the lighting was teriffic, especially in the opening scenes. Other singers of note were Janet Williams as Tell's son (we saw her earlier as the wife in Italiana), a tiny, pretty, animated young black woman with a wonderful clear high soprano; and Jorge Lopez-Yañez, who sang the fisherman with surprisingvigor and a beautiful high tenor register. This opera also marked the debut as Donald Runnicles as music director of the SFO, and he was tremendous. From the opening bars of the splendid overture, he conducted with authority and passion, and the orchestra responded with great enthusiasm. I thought their playing markedly superior to the two previous nights, and while that might be partly attributed to the superior score of Tell over Italiana or Barbiere, I think it's also clear that Runnicles has already established a winning relationship with these players. Production: Lotfi Mansouri Set design: Gerald Howland Costumes: Liz da Costa