The San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American
opera company founded in 1923 by
Gaetano Merola
Gaetano Merola (4 January 1881 – 30 August 1953) was an Italian conductor, pianist and founder of the San Francisco Opera.
Biography
Merola was born in Naples, the son of a Neapolitan court violinist and studied piano and conducting at t ...
(1881–1953) based in
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
.
History
Gaetano Merola (1923–1953)
Merola's road to prominence in
the Bay Area began in 1906 when he first visited the city. In 1909, he returned as the conductor of the International Opera Company of Montreal, one of the many visiting troupes that frequented the bustling city. Continued visits over the next decade convinced him that an opera company in San Francisco was viable.
Merola moved back into the city in 1921 while living with Mrs. Oliver Stine's support Oliver Stine. He drafted plans for a new, locally-owned opera company that would not rely on visiting troupes, a common practice for some opera companies since
the Gold Rush
''The Gold Rush'' is a 1925 American silent comedy film written, produced, and directed by Charlie Chaplin. The film also stars Chaplin in his The Tramp, Little Tramp persona, Georgia Hale, Mack Swain, Tom Murray (actor), Tom Murray, Henry Ber ...
. By the next year, Merola organized a trial season at Stanford University. The first performance occurred in the Stanford Cardinal's football stadium on June 3, 1922, with
operatic tenor Giovanni Martinelli performing in ''
Pagliacci
''Pagliacci'' (; literal translation, 'Clowns') is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who mu ...
'', ''
Carmen
''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...
'', and ''
Faust''.
The five-day season's lacked any financial success; Merola instead successfully
raised funds for a full season of opera in the following year. Following this, the first unaffiliated performance given by the San Francisco Opera was ''
La bohème
''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...
'', with
Queena Mario and
Giovanni Martinelli
Giovanni Martinelli (22 October 1885 – 2 February 1969) was an Italian operatic spinto tenor. He was associated with the Italian lyric-dramatic repertory, although he performed French operatic roles to great acclaim as well. Martinelli wa ...
, on September 26, 1923, in the city's
Civic Auditorium.
In subsequent years, SFO would perform a wide array of Italian operas, rarely performing a given opera more than once. SFO seasons seldom lasted more than two months, and occasionally performed less than one month. The 1923–24 season included productions of ''
Andrea Chénier'' and ''
Mefistofele'' with
Beniamino Gigli, ''
Tosca
''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...
'' with
Giuseppe De Luca and Martinelli, and
Verdi's ''
Rigoletto
''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...
'' with Queena Mario, De Luca, and Gigli.
During the nine years following the opening season, the San Francisco
War Memorial Opera House was designed by
Arthur Brown Jr.

On October 15, 1932, the company inaugurated the new opera house with a performance of ''
Tosca
''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...
'' on with
Claudia Muzio in the titular role. Characteristic of Merola's years as general director was the fact (as noted by Chatfield-Taylor) that "the great singers of the world came regularly to San Francisco, often performing several roles in deference to the short season and long travel time across the country."
[Chatfield-Taylor, p. ??]
Edwin MacArthur led the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in several 78-rpm recordings for
RCA Victor
RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...
in the late 1930s, including performances by soprano
Kirsten Flagstad. Some of these were later reissued by RCA on LP and CD.
Short versions of all the works in the season were broadcast on about 30 California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and British Columbia radio stations, starting about 1941.
Merola's tenure lasted 30 years. Characteristics of Merola's SFO included creating opportunities for young American singers regardless of the fact that the opera lacked a formal training program at that time, and also regular tours by the SFO to Los Angeles between 1937 and 1965, which expanded the season into November. However, until well after Merola's death on August 30, 1953, while conducting an open-air concert at
Stern Grove, the main San Francisco season rarely extended beyond late October.
Kurt Herbert Adler (1953–1981)
Kurt Herbert Adler (1905–1988) came to the United States in 1938 after early experience and training in many aspects of music and theatre in Austria, Germany, and Italy. For five years, he worked to build the chorus of the Chicago Opera Company. Merola heard of him and, over the telephone, invited him to San Francisco opera in 1943 as chorus director.

Adler was often regarded as a difficult, sometimes tyrannical person to work for. However, as Chatfield-Taylor notes, "singers, conductors, directors, and designers came back season after season. They came back because Adler made the SFO an internationally respected company that ran at a high level of professionalism and offered them interesting things to do in a warm and supportive atmosphere." Among those who were offered new and exciting challenges were Geraint Evans, the Welsh baritone, Leontyne Price, and Luciano Pavarotti.
He took on more and more administrative details as Merola's health and energy diminished, but Adler was not the board's natural choice to replace Merola at the time of his death in 1953. After three months of acting as artistic director, and with the assistance of its president, Robert Watt Miller, Adler was confirmed as general director.
Adler's aims
Adler's had several aims in taking over the company. One was to expand the season which in Merola's time ran. It changed from the Friday after Labor Day until early November (when the Metropolitan Opera's season began). This was to capitalize on the availability of singers by presenting up to fourteen operas with two or three performances each. Eventually, as seen in the 1961 SFO season, eleven operas were given five or six performances each on average while the season ran to late November.
Another aim was to present new talent, and, for this, he was tireless in seeking out up-and-coming new singers, whether American or European, by attending performances in both major and minor opera houses. He heard
Leontyne Price
Leontyne Price ( born Mary Violet Leontine Price February 10, 1927) is an American spinto soprano who was the first African-American soprano to receive international acclaim. From 1961 she began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera. ...
on the radio and offered her a role in ''
Dialogues of the Carmelites'' in 1957, thus providing her with her first performance on a major operatic stage. A short time later in the same season, she was to step into the role of
Aida at short notice to replace
Antonietta Stella, a role which gave her long-lived international acclaim.
Adler developed a strong professional relationship with
Birgit Nilsson. Nilsson made her US-debut in San Francisco in 1956. She returned almost every season for 26 years and made her last appearance in the house in 1982.
A characteristic of the Adler years was the interest in developing stronger connections to opera stage directors in an attempt to strengthen the dramatic and theatrical elements of the works. In this, he was greatly supported by his long relationship with
Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, the often-controversial stage director and designer who began his association with SFO in 1957.
Merola Opera Program
Several innovations undertaken by Adler included the
Merola Opera Program (named after the first general director). It began during the 1954/55 Season and was given its current name in 1957. The program now annually offers approximately 23 gifted singers, four apprentice coaches, and one apprentice stage director the rare opportunity of studying, coaching, and participating in master classes with established professionals for eleven weeks during the summer. Many went on to international careers, among them
Carol Vaness and
Thomas Hampson.
Opera in the Park
Another innovation was "Opera in the Park" which, since 1971, has been an annual free concert in Golden Gate Park on the Sunday following opening night of the Fall Season. It traditionally features artists from the opening weekend in full concert with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra. The event is open to the public and draws some 30,000 listeners. The concert is presented in conjunction with the non-profit
San Francisco Parks Trust and the San Francisco Chronicle Charities.
Success of the company
By the 1970s, the company was highly successful and offered audiences the "cream of the crop" of internationally known singers, but with Adler often bringing in unknowns to make their American debuts or the surprise of well-known singers replacing ailing ones, there were some exciting nights at the opera. These included
Plácido Domingo
José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...
flying with no notice from New York City to San Francisco – albeit three hours after curtain time – to replace the ailing
Carlo Cossutta on the opening night of ''
Otello
''Otello'' () is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on William Shakespeare, Shakespeare's play ''Othello''. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, first performed at the La Scala, Teatro alla Scala, M ...
'' and the last-minute substitution by
Leontyne Price
Leontyne Price ( born Mary Violet Leontine Price February 10, 1927) is an American spinto soprano who was the first African-American soprano to receive international acclaim. From 1961 she began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera. ...
for
Margaret Price in the role of Aida.
From 1971 to 1979, San Francisco station
KKHI broadcast the regular Friday night performances of the opera on AM and FM (in multiplex stereo with quadraphonic encoding). The broadcasts were hosted by several well-known announcers, including
Scott Beach and Fred Cherry.
In the summer of 1972, the San Francisco Opera began its 50th anniversary celebrations with a special free concert in Sigmund Stern Grove. Adler conducted most of the program, which featured performances by many of the surviving singers who had appeared with the company during its history. The legendary tenor Lauritz Melchior conducted the orchestra, rather than sing, in a performance of the famous Radetsky March by Johann Strauss I; it was possibly his last public appearance. One of the highlights of the afternoon program was a moving performance of the love duet from ''Madama Butterfly'' with soprano
Licia Albanese and tenor
Frederick Jagel.
Adler retired on December 15, 1981.
Terence McEwen (1982–1988)
Following Adler's retirement announcement in June 1979,
Terence A. McEwen (1929–1998) was Adler's hand-picked successor. Growing up in the Montreal area of Canada, McEwen learned to love opera at an early age, listened to the
Met broadcasts, and at age 14, made a trip to New York one winter break to hear several of his favorite operas, which included
Bidu Sayão and
Jussi Björling in ''
Rigoletto
''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...
''. As a singer, Sayão was forever to remain his passion, one which was accentuated by seeing her in ''
Manon'' performances in Montreal.
His passion for opera in general led him to visit the
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...
in London and a lowly paid job with
Decca Records
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...
in that city. Moving up the ranks in the 1950s, he landed in New York in 1959 and for the next 20 years made London Records, Decca's classical arm, the most significant classical label in the United States.
After being approached by Adler regarding the San Francisco opera job, he moved to the city in 1980 and involved himself totally in learning the running of an opera company. In January 1982 McEwen was running the SFO.
Given his expertise and background in understanding opera and the wonders of the human voice, it is not surprising that his approach in his early years was away from the theatrical side and more focused on singers. With his ''
Ring Cycle'' which began in the Summer 1983 and Fall 1984 seasons — and which was presented in its entirety in June 1985 – McEwen demonstrated where his priorities lay: they were focused on hiring the best singers in the world.
As a reaction to the economic climate of the times, in 1982 McEwen, created the "San Francisco Opera Center" to oversee and combine the operation and administration of the numerous affiliate educational and training programs. Providing a coordinated sequence of performance and study opportunities for young artists, the San Francisco Opera Center included the "Merola Opera Program", "
Adler Fellowship Program", "Showcase Series", "Brown Bag Opera", "Opera Center Singers", "Schwabacher Recitals", and various Education Programs. By introducing his young singers to the great voices of the past, inviting them to rehearsals, and giving tickets to current productions McEwen hoped to create rounded performers who could appear in the regular Fall season.
Among his successes in this regard was the mezzo-soprano
Dolora Zajick from Nevada. By "hand holding" her through the various stages of training, he prepared her for the role of Azucena in ''
Il trovatore'' for the summer 1986 season to great acclaim.
During the 1983 fall season, the student/family matinee performances of ''
La traviata'' were presented with
supertitles. These are English translations of the libretto projected over the proscenium simultaneously with the action on stage. The overwhelmingly favorable response prompted the company to introduce the practice in increasing numbers of performances in subsequent seasons. Supertitles are now used for all San Francisco Opera productions and SFO also rents its supertitles internationally to other opera companies.
In 1986, Sir
John Pritchard was appointed music director and served until 1989.
On 8 February 1988, McEwen announced his resignation. The following day his mentor, Kurt Herbert Adler, died.
Lotfi Mansouri (1988–2001)
Lotfi Mansouri (born 1929) was already a known quantity when Terry McEwen announced his retirement. Then head of the
Canadian Opera Company
The Canadian Opera Company (COC) is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and one of the largest producers of opera in North America. The COC performs at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performin ...
in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, Mansouri had received an education in medicine in Los Angeles, but gave it all up upon becoming fixated on opera, first as a young tenor with UCLA's Opera Workshop, and then with opera in general.
As early as 1962, with Mansouri having found work as director in Los Angeles followed by his becoming resident stage director at the
Zürich Opera, Adler came to see him at work, and he was offered six operas to direct in the 1963 season. By the time he became general director, he had directed 60 operas for SFO and many others elsewhere.
By 1975 he was director of the Canadian Opera Company where, in 1983, he had introduced the revolutionary supertitles. Mansouri's feelings on the effects of titling was that the audience would be more engaged in the performance. This was a momentous change in the world of opera.
Mansouri introduced many new operas to the SFO repertory. These included more Russian operas with the highlight being
Valery Gergiev
Valery Abisalovich Gergiev (, ; ; born 2 May 1953) is a Russian conducting, conductor and opera company director. He is currently general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre and of the Bolshoi Theatre and artistic director o ...
's conducting of
Prokofiev's ''
War and Peace'' and a firm link established with the
Kirov Opera. Also, there was
Rossini's ''
Guillaume Tell
William Tell (, ; ; ; ) is a legendary folk hero of Switzerland. He is known for Shooting an apple off one's child's head, shooting an apple off his son's head.
According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a cro ...
'' and Verdi's ''
I vespri siciliani'' which followed.
One of Mansouri's triumphs was the overseeing of the reconstruction and renovation of the opera house following the
October 1989 earthquake. After closing at the end of the 1995 Fall season for "a 21-month, US$88.5 million renovation, San Francisco's
War Memorial Opera House reopened on 5 September 1997 with a gala concert celebrating this occasion, as well the 75th anniversary of the San Francisco Opera. Fittingly, the concert featured operatic greats of the past, present and future. The project included repairs of damage caused by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, improvements for the audience and performers, seismic strengthening and a general cleanup that left the 65-year-old Opera House gleaming."
Donald Runnicles was named music director and principal conductor of SFO in 1990, and assumed the posts in 1992.
In November 1992, Mansouri introduced "Pacific Visions", an ambitious program designed to maintain the vitality of the opera repertoire through new commissions and the presentation of unusual repertoire. It was launched with the commissioning of the following operas:
* ''
The Dangerous Liaisons'', composed by
Conrad Susa to a libretto by Philip Littell, had its world premiere during the 1994 fall season and was the subject of a nationwide TV broadcast. The cast featured
Renée Fleming
Renée Lynn Fleming (born February 14, 1959) is an American soprano and actress, known for performances in opera, concerts, recordings, theater, film, and at major public occasions. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Fleming has been nom ...
,
Frederica von Stade
Frederica von Stade (born 1 June 1945) is a semi-retired American classical singer. Best known for her work in opera, she was also a recitalist and concert artist, and she recorded more than a hundred albums and videos. She is especially associa ...
, and
Thomas Hampson.
* ''
Harvey Milk
Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
Milk was born and raised i ...
'', composer
Stewart Wallace to a libretto by
Michael Korie
Michael Korie (born April 1, 1955) is an American Libretto, librettist and lyricist whose writing for musical theater and opera includes the musicals ''Grey Gardens (musical), Grey Gardens'' and ''Far from Heaven (musical), Far From Heaven'', and ...
. It was performed in 1996 as a joint commission and co-production of the SFO,
Houston Grand Opera, and
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through its 2013 bankruptcy, and again since 2016 when it was revived.
The opera company, dubbed "the peopl ...
. The cast featured Raymond Very as Dan White, Robert Orth as Harvey Milk and Gidon Sachs as Mayor Moscone.
* ''
A Streetcar Named Desire
''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pe ...
'', composed by
André Previn
André George Previn (; born Andreas Ludwig Priwin; April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three major genres: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music. In each he achieved ...
to a libretto by Philip Littell, after the play by
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...
. The work had its premiere during the 1998–99 fall season. The cast included
Renée Fleming
Renée Lynn Fleming (born February 14, 1959) is an American soprano and actress, known for performances in opera, concerts, recordings, theater, film, and at major public occasions. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Fleming has been nom ...
as Blanche DuBois and
Elizabeth Futral as Stella, baritone
Rod Gilfry as Stanley Kowalski and tenor
Anthony Dean Griffey as Mitch.
* ''
Dead Man Walking'', composed by
Jake Heggie from a libretto by
Terrence McNally
Terrence McNally (November 3, 1938 – March 24, 2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Described as "the bard of American theater" and "one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced," M ...
after the book by Sister
Helen Prejean, received its premiere in October 2000. The cast included
Susan Graham as Sister Helen Prejean, John Packard as Joe; and
Frederica von Stade
Frederica von Stade (born 1 June 1945) is a semi-retired American classical singer. Best known for her work in opera, she was also a recitalist and concert artist, and she recorded more than a hundred albums and videos. She is especially associa ...
as Mrs. Patrick de Rocher.
* ''
The Death of Klinghoffer''(a co-commission between San Francisco Opera, Brussels' La Monnaie, the Opera de Lyon, the Los Angeles Festival, the Glyndebourne Festival and the Brooklyn Academy of Music), composed by
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...
in 1992. The cast included
Janice Felty in 3 roles,
James Maddalena as The Captain, and
Thomas Hammons as the First Officer.
Summing up his years at the SFO, the
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
noted: "He's never been interested in the ''succès d'estime'', the daring intellectual or theatrical coup that dazzles culture mavens but leaves the general public alienated or bewildered. For Mansouri, a success that doesn't put fannies in the seats is no success at all."
Towards the end of the 2001 season, Mansouri announced his retirement after fourteen seasons with SFO and 50 years in opera.
Pamela Rosenberg (2001–2005)
's first connection with the San Francisco Opera was as a
standee
A standee is a large self-standing display promoting a movie, product or event, or Point of sale display, point-of-sale advertising, often in the form of a life-size cut-out figure. They are typically made of Paperboard, foam-board, and may ran ...
while attending the University of California, Berkeley. She returned to SFO with a background of operatic productions in Germany and, specifically, as head of the Stuttgart Opera.
In January 2001, Rosenberg announced her first artistic initiative for San Francisco Opera, "Animating Opera", a multi-year plan of interwoven themes and series. These included "Seminal Works of Modern Times", "The Faust Project", "Composer Portrait: Janáček/Berlioz", "Women Outside of Society: Laws Unto Themselves", "Metamorphosis: From Fairy Tales to Nightmares", and "Outsiders or Pioneers?: The Nature of the Human Condition".
Incorporated within the production programming of "Animating Opera" was the America staged premiere of
Messiaen's ''
Saint-François d'Assise'',
Virgil Thomson's ''
The Mother of Us All'', as well as a commission for a new work by
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...
and
Peter Sellars entitled ''
Doctor Atomic'', which premiered on 1 October 2005. Other operas new to the SFO's repertoire during her directorship include Busoni's ''Doktor Faust'', Ligeti's ''Le Grand Macabre'' and Janáček's ''The Cunning Little Vixen''.
After much controversy surrounding her management of the SFO, which included deficits created after the "dot-com" collapse in 2000 and the effects of September 11 on arts attendance, she announced in 2004 that she would not renew her contract with the company when it ended in late 2005.
As noted by Steven Winn in the ''
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
'' in December 2005, "Productions were scuttled or postponed in the face of a $7.7 million deficit. Ambitious programming initiatives and plans for a second, smaller performance venue went by the wayside. Company-wide cuts pared 14 percent from the company's $67 million budget in 2003."
He continued: "Embattled by financial woes and trying labor negotiations, Rosenberg was routinely blamed for problems that were largely beyond her control. Her taste for new and unusual operas and a European-honed aesthetic that favored brash and even radical reinterpretations of the classics, the thinking went, drove away audiences and donors and ran up costs in the company's hour of greatest need."
Rosenberg returned to Germany to work with Sir
Simon Rattle and the
Berlin Philharmonic
The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world.
Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...
as its ''Intendantin''. From 2004 to 2007,
Keith Cerny served as the chief financial officer of the San Francisco Opera.
David Gockley (2006–2016)
After 33 years of directing the
Houston Grand Opera,
David Gockley became the SFO's General Director on 1 January 2006. As part of an announcement of the 2006/2007 season and the future of the company on 11 January, Gockley noted that "this season we debut a new visual identity and logo in keeping with a new artistic philosophy. I believe that it speaks of glamour, sophistication, tradition and innovation all things that infuse our plans for the future of San Francisco Opera."
In May 2011, it was announced that Gockley's contract was to be extended through SFO's 2015–16 season. In October 2014 it was announced that Gockley would be stepping down from his post at the end of the 2015/16 season. His replacement was announced to be Matthew Shilvock in September 2015.
Innovations announced
As part of his future plans, Gockley stated "I want nothing less than to have the greatest stars of the opera world perform here regularly. You can expect in coming seasons to hear
Renée Fleming
Renée Lynn Fleming (born February 14, 1959) is an American soprano and actress, known for performances in opera, concerts, recordings, theater, film, and at major public occasions. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Fleming has been nom ...
,
Anna Netrebko,
Thomas Hampson,
Dmitri Hvorostovsky,
Marcello Giordani,
Ramón Vargas,
Marcelo Álvarez,
Juan Diego Flórez,
Ben Heppner,
Natalie Dessay, and
Angela Gheorghiu, among many others. We will have a world premiere for you in 2007, and the
Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
lovers among you will be happy to hear that we expect to commence a ''
Ring Cycle'' in 2008."
''Ring Cycle''
San Francisco Opera and
Washington National Opera began a co-production of a new ''Ring Cycle'' in 2006 directed by
Francesca Zambello. The production used imagery from various eras of American history and had a feminist and environmentalist viewpoint. SFO presented ''
Das Rheingold
''Das Rheingold'' (; ''The Rhinegold''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86A, is the first of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nib ...
'' in June 2008, ''
Die Walküre
(; ''The Valkyrie''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86B, is the second of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was ...
'' in June 2010, and three complete ''Ring'' cycles in June 2011. The complete cycles in June 2011 were conducted by
Donald Runnicles and featured cycle role debuts of
Mark Delavan (Wotan) and
Nina Stemme (Brünnhilde) as well as
Jay Hunter Morris (making his role debut in the title role of ''
Siegfried'') and
Ian Storey (making his role debut as Siegfried in ''
Götterdämmerung
' (; ''Twilight of the Gods''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86D, is the last of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). I ...
''.
Technological innovations
In May 2006 Gockley oversaw SFO's first
simulcast, a live broadcast of a mainstage performance of ''
Madama Butterfly
''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa.
It is based on the short story " Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Lu ...
'' to San Francisco's
Civic Center Plaza for a crowd of 8,000. Subsequent simulcasts have been presented at Stanford University's
Frost Amphitheater, four theaters in Northern California, and San Francisco's
AT&T Park. SFO's has simulcast nine operas to AT&T Park since 2007 that have collectively drawn more than 165,000 opera fans.
[History of San Francisco Opera on company's website](_blank)
/ref>
The technology for the simulcasts and other innovations like OperaVision—a series of screens located throughout the War Memorial Opera House that project close-up shots of the action on stage—is made possible through SFO's Koret-Taube Media Suite. Completed in 2007, The Koret-Taube Media Suite is the first permanent high-definition broadcast-standard video production facility installed in any American opera house according to the company's website.
In 2007, San Francisco Opera returned to regular broadcasts of its productions on national and international radio., and in December the Opera announced the presentation of four operas in movie theaters across the United States. Following the initial presentation of the four operas in movie theaters in 2008, San Francisco Opera used these four titles to create its Grand Opera Cinema Series, making these titles available to be presented by performing arts centers, theaters, and universities. Since 2008 the company has added eight additional operas to the Grand Opera Cinema Series, and they have been presented by KQED-TV with hosts Rita Moreno and Joan Chen
Joan Chen (simplified Chinese; 陈冲; born April 26, 1961) is an American actress and film director. She made her film debut in the Chinese film ''Youth'' (1977) before starring in the film (1979). She came to the attention of American audien ...
.
Music directors and conductors under Gockley
In September 2006, it was announced and reported that by mutual agreement with Gockley, Donald Runnicles would conclude his tenure as music director in 2009. However, he has maintained an association with SFO and conducted the 2010/11 production of ''Der Ring des Nibelungen
(''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the . The compo ...
'' as well as 2015's '' Les Troyens''.
On 9 January 2007, SFO announced its third music director would be the Italian conductor Nicola Luisotti, beginning with the 2009/10 season, for an initial contract of 5 years. Luisotti made his SFO debut in 2005 with '' La forza del destino'', and returned in 2008 to conduct ''La bohème
''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...
'' prior to assuming the role of music director. In SFO's September 2009 program magazine, David Gockley announced that bringing on Luisotti as the company's music director was a large part of his goal to "reinvigorate the core Italian repertory that is San Francisco Opera's birthright." Gockley also stated that Luisotti would conduct three to four productions each season, including one non-Italian opera; since 2009 these non-Italian operas have included ''Salome
Salome (; , related to , "peace"; ), also known as Salome III, was a Jews, Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II and princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New T ...
'', '' Lohengrin'', and ''Carmen
''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...
''.
In January 2009, Gockley announced the reappointment of Patrick Summers as principal guest conductor and named Giuseppe Finzi as the company's new assistant music director. Finzi was named as SFO's resident conductor in 2011.
Programming
The company secured composer John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...
' '' Nixon in China'' for their 2011/12 season.
San Francisco Opera has presented several world premieres under David Gockley's tenure. So far these include Philip Glass
Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...
and Christopher Hampton's '' Appomattox'' in 2007; Stewart Wallace and Amy Tan's '' The Bonesetter's Daughter'' in 2008; and Christopher Theofanidis and Donna Di Novelli's ''Heart of a Soldier'' in 2011. In 2013, the company presented three world premieres: Nolan Gasser and Carey Harrison's ''The Secret Garden
''The Secret Garden'' is a children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in book form in 1911, after serialisation in ''The American Magazine'' (November 1910 – August 1911). Set in England, it is seen as a classic of English c ...
'', based on the children's book by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (24 November 1849 – 29 October 1924) was a British-American novelist and playwright. She is best known for the three children's novels ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' (1886), ''A Little Princess'' (1905), a ...
(and staged in conjunction with UC Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...
's Cal Performances); Mark Adamo's ''The Gospel of Mary Magdalene''; and Tobias Picker and J. D. McClatchy's '' Dolores Claiborne'', based on the novel by Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...
. In the summer of 2015 the world premiere of ''La Ciociara'' by Marco Tutino and Luca Rossi, based on novel of the same name by Alberto Moravia
Alberto Pincherle (; 28 November 1907 – 26 September 1990), known by his pseudonym Alberto Moravia ( , ), was an Italian novelist and journalist. His novels explored matters of modern sexuality, social alienation and existentialism. Moravia i ...
, took place.
San Francisco Opera's recent commissions include '' Dream of the Red Chamber'' by Bright Sheng and David Henry Hwang in the fall of 2016, based on the work of the same name by 18th-century Qing Dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
writer Cao Xueqin.
Wilsey Center for Opera
In order to consolidate its various office and work spaces scattered throughout San Francisco, SFO took over the fourth floor of the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center in February 2016, following the completion of the building's $156-million seismic retrofit and renovation. To accomplish this, the company started a campaign to name various locations of the new space after donors in 2011. San Francisco philanthropist Dede Wilsey pledged a $5-million gift, and the entire facility was named the Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera. Designed by San Francisco architectural firm Mark Cavagnero Associates, the center provides additional office space as well as costume storage; two multipurpose rooms for rehearsals, board meetings, and social events; and a 299-seat performance venue.Janos Gereben, "Music News: 22 November 2011", ''San Francisco Classical Voice''
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References
Notes
Sources
*Chatfield-Taylor, Joan, ''San Francisco Opera: The First Seventy-Five Years'', San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1997
External links
San Francisco Opera official website
San Francisco Opera Performance Archive
Bud Cary San Francisco opera collection. Collection guide, California State Library, California History Room.
{{Authority control
California opera companies
Culture of San Francisco
Musical groups established in 1923
1923 establishments in California
Entertainment companies based in California