Opera Warhorses

Since the year 2006, I have reviewed each of the opera productions mounted by the San Francisco Opera in the War Memorial Opera House, providing each with a letter grade. Like the seminars associated with Ph.D. programs, I do not grade “on a curve”, but, instead expect that a San Francisco Opera performance of any opera, like … Read more

The opera “Carmen” is the world’s most popular French opera. Tchaikovsky called it “the perfect opera”. For San Francisco Opera, the eight performances it scheduled in the 3000+ seat War Memorial Opera House have been sold out for virtually every performance. The San Francisco Opera’s “Carmen” run, using New York director Francesca Zambello’s well-traveled production, … Read more

In an unprecedented evening in San Francisco Opera history, instead of an operatic performance, the San Francisco Opera scheduled a performance of Ludwig von Beethoven’s Symphony Number Nine. The sold-out performance celebrated the 200th anniversary year of the Ninth Symphony’s first performance in May, 1824. “The Ninth” is an epochal contribution to the format of … Read more

I was present at the third of five performances of San Francisco Opera’s presentation of Paul Curran’s production of Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde”. The production, created in 2012 for the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, incorporated some minor modifications for its presentation in San Francisco. The opera was presented without cuts. Simon O’Neill’s Tristan and … Read more

In a three and a half month period in mid-2024, the San Francisco Opera presented two contemporary operas from two Nordic countries – Finland and Denmark. One performance was the late composer Kiaja Saariaho’s 2019 opera “Innocence [American Premiere Review: Saariaho’s and Oksanen’s “Innocence”- a Milestone in the Dramatic Possibilities of Operatic Performance – San … Read more