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 chances to catch the “Fidelio” live stream on Oct. 14, 17, and 20. The option to view the opera on-demand will not be available.

Newly installed Music Director, Eun Sun Kim, will conduct the orchestra, chorus, and a cast led by Elza van den Heever as Leonore, Russell Thomas as her husband, Florestan, and Greer Grimsley as Don Pizarro.

Ozawa’s production transports the audience from an 18th-century prison to a modern government detention center. The new staging includes the work of set and projection designer Alexander V. Nichols, costume designer Jessica Jahn, and co-lighting designers JAX Messenger and Justin A. Partier.

“Fidelio” is the first of two productions SFO will live stream this fall; the other being Mozart’s “Così fan tutte,” scheduled for Nov. 21, 23, and 27. Virtual tickets will go on sale in late October.

The opening of “Fidelio” coincides with the release of SFO’s latest installment of its podcast, “North Stage Door,” which will feature director Ozawa, former Arizona Governor and United States Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, San Francisco Opera Chorus Director Ian Robertson and San Quentin State Prison Public Information Officer Samuel Robinson, along with incarcerated persons at San Quentin.