(Credit: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera) The talisman of Beethoven’s “Fidelio” is “Freiheit (freedom).” Though “Fidelio” is Beethoven’s only opera, it was not his only “cri de coeur” for liberty as the conclusion of his Ninth Symphony showed. San Francisco Opera’s production offered that message for today’s world. “Freiheit” equals Liberty. “Freiheit” equals independence, both personal and political. And “Freiheit” equals {…}
San Francisco Opera continues its season with Mozart’s “Così fan tutte” in a new production by Michael Cavanagh. The new production is part two of the Company’s Mozart-Da Ponte Trilogy which sets the opera’s amorous deceptions and confusions in a 1930s American country club. The production is set to be conducted by Henrik Nánásiand will star sopranos, Nicole Cabell and {…}
(Credits: San Francisco Opera) The San Francisco Opera’s Department of Diversity, Equity and Community has announced new “Opera Aficionado” online discussions in November 2021 on the topic of composers who did not compose an opera. San Francisco Opera Dramaturg Emeritus Kip Cranna will talk about German composer Johann Sebastian Bach, analyzing possible reasons why the famed German did not compose {…}
(Credit: San Francisco Opera) Matthew Shilvock, Tad and Dianne Taube General Director of San Francisco Opera has announced the appointment of Lisa Bury as Chief Philanthropy Officer. Bury joins San Francisco Opera from the Dallas Opera, where she currently serves as Chief Advancement and Strategy Officer. “I am thrilled to welcome Lisa to San Francisco Opera at such a pivotal {…}
Set design by Alexander V. Nichols Virtual tickets for San Francisco Opera’s new production of Beethoven’s “Fidelio” are now on sale. The fresh staging by Matthew Ozawa is set to open on Oct. 14, 2021. SFO’s first-ever virtual option enables audiences from around the world to experience Beethoven’s only opera from the comfort of their homes. Audiences will have three {…}
In anticipation of its upcoming production of “Fidelio,” San Francisco Opera has released a new episode of their podcast “North Stage Door,” featuring discussions on Beethoven’s work. The episode features director Matthew Ozawa, former US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, SFO Chorus Director Ian Robertson, participants in the Prison Arts Project at San Quentin State Prison, and other guests, {…}
San Francisco Opera’s Department of Diversity, Equity, and Community has announced “Opera Aficionado,” a series of online discussions running through October and centered on the life and work of Giuseppe Verdi. First up is “The Young Verdi: Preparing for Greatness.” SFO Dramaturg Emeritus Kip Cranna will follow Verdi’s development and early life, with audio and video example to introduce some {…}
(Credit: Karli Adams) The San Francisco Opera has released its latest episode of “In Song,” this time featuring Arturo Chacón-Cruz. From his home base in Miami, Chacón-Cruz visits with Homestead-Miami Mariachi Conservatory students, revealing how culture, determination, and passion shape the music they make together. The new episode gives audiences a look inside Chacón-Cruz’s relationship to music, from performing mariachi {…}
San Francisco Opera will continue its season with Beethoven’s “Fidelio.” The company will present a new production by Matthew Ozawa which updates its original eighteenth-century prison setting to a modern government detention center. Music Director Eun Sun Kim conducts the opera which stars Elza van den Heever as Leonore, Russell Thomas, Greer Grimsley, James Creswell, and Soloman Howard. For the first time in the history of {…}
(Credit: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera) Sunlight on the water, fog hovering. Homecoming at the Opera House, San Francisco September 2021. “Finalmente! Finally.” Masked and vaccinated we arrive at the doors of the War Memorial Opera House and are welcomed as if we are the stars. In a way we were: the ones who up until tonight, could not enter. The {…}
San Francisco Opera has released “Atrium Sessions” online. The new song festival, which was filmed in the Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater, features performances from such artists as soprano Rhoslyn Jones; mezzo-soprano Laura Krumm; baritones Edward Nelson and Efraín Solís and bass-baritone Michael Sumuel as well as pianists John Churchwell, Bryndon Hassman, Matthew Piatt, Robert Mollicone and Maureen Zoltek. {…}