The following is a list of performances that I am scheduled to review at the San Francisco Opera in June and September of 2025:
La Boheme (Puccini), San Francisco Opera, June 3, 7, 10, 12, 13, 15(m), 18, 19 and 21, 2025
English director John Caird’s production of Puccini’s most popular opera is a co-production with the Houston Grand Opera and Canadian Opera Company. Its attractive scenic design was created by English designer David Farley. The production returns for its third mounting by the San Francisco Opera.
Two casts split the nine scheduled performances. For six of the performances (the first four plus June 15 and 19), Samoan-born New Zealand tenor Pene Pati is Rodolfo, Taiwanese soprano Karen Chia-ling Ho is Mimi, North Carolina baritone Lucas Meachem is Marcello and Maryland soprano Andrea Carroll is Musetta.
For the second cast (performing June 13, 18 and 21) Minnesota tenor Evan LeRoy Johnson is Rodolfo, Australian soprano Nicole Car is Mimi, Illinois baritone Wlll Liverman is Marcello and New York soprano Brittany Renee is Musetta.
[Below: “La Boheme“‘s second scene takes place at Paris‘ Cafe Momus, here in John Caird’s 2016 San Francisco Opera mounting; edited image, based on a Cory Weaver photograph, courtesy of the San Francisco Opera.]
For all nine performances, Michigan baritone Samuel Kidd is Schaunard, Romanian bass Bogdan Talos is Colline and New Jersey bass Dale Travis is both Benoit and Alidoro. Liverman, Carroll and Talos will be making their San Francisco Opera debuts.
Spanish Maestro Ramón Tebar conducts; New York Director Katherine M. Carter oversees the production’s revival.
[For my performance review (first cast), see: Review: A Superbly Performed “Boheme”, Starring Pene Pati, Karen Chia-Ling Ho, Andrea Carroll and Lucas Meachem – San Francisco Opera, June 15, 2025.]
[For my performance review (second cast), see: Nicole Car, Evan LeRoy Johnson, Brittany Renee Lead Alternate “La Boheme” Cast – San Francisco Opera, June 13, 2025.]
[For my performance reviews of previous mountings of John Caird’s “Boheme”, see Review: Michael Fabiano, Alexia Voulgaridou are Vocally Splendid in John Caird’s Cleverly Conceived “La Boheme” – San Francisco Opera, November 14, 2014 and Review: John Caird’s Magical “La Boheme” Production – San Francisco Opera, June 10, 2017 and Review: Back Home for “Bohème” – Houston Grand Opera, November 10, 2018].
Idomeneo (Mozart), San Francisco Opera, June 14, 17, 20, 22(m) and 25, 2025.
Illinois lyric tenor Matthew Polenzani is Idomeneo, in what Polenzani regards as his favorite Mozart opera. Argentinian mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack returns to the stage where, in 2008, she made an unscheduled role debut as Idamante.
Chinese soprano Ying Fang (in her San Francisco Opera debut) is Ilia. Internationally acclaimed South African soprano Elza van den Heever (a former San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow) is Elettra. Oklahoma tenor Alek Schrader returns to the San Francisco Opera to reprise his 2008 role of Arbace. South Carolina tenor Samuel White (debut) is the High Priest of Neptune and South Korean bass-baritone Jongwon Han is the Voice of the Oracle.
I[Photo: Idomeneo (Matthew Polenzani, standing left) blesses the union between his son Idamante (Daniela Mack, kneeling, center left) and Ilia (kneeling, center right); edited image, based on a Cory Weaver photograph, courtesy of the San Francisco Opera.]
South Korean Maestra Eun Sun Kim conducts. The director is Australian Lindy Hume. The set by Connecticut designer Michael Yeargan (of the Yale University School of Drama) was last performed in San Francisco in 2008.
[For my performance review, see: Review: A Colorful Production of Mozart’s Melody-Rich “Idomeneo” – San Francisco Opera, June 14, 2025
[For my review of a previous Lindy Hume production, see: Review: A Feisty, Funny “Fledermaus” – Houston Grand Opera, November 2, 2013.]
[For my review of a previous production of “Idomeneo” with Matthew Polenzani in the title role, see: Review: Matthew Polenzani Stars in Jean-Pierre Ponnelle “World Treasure” Production of Mozart’s “Idomeneo” – Lyric Opera, Chicago, November 2, 2018]
[For my review of Daniela Mack’s unscheduled role debut as Idamante, see: Review: An “Idomeneo” Surprise in San Francisco – Daniela Mack’s Princely Idamante, October 26, 2008.],
Rigoletto (Verdi), San Francisco Opera, September 5, 10, 13(m), 16, 19, 21(m), 24 and 27, 2025.
San Francisco Opera’s 28 year old “Rigoletto” production returns to open the company’s 2025-26 season, its 103rd.
Mongolian baritone Amartuvshin Enkhbat, the lead baritone in Verdi’s “Ballo in Maschera”, the San Francisco Opera’s 102nd season opener, returns to the San Francisco Opera as Rigoletto, a signature role for him. Italian lyric tenor Giovanni Sala makes his San Francisco Opera debut as the Duke of Mantua. Romanian soprano Adela Zaharia is Gilda. Chinese bass Peixin Chen makes his company debut as Sparafucile. Washington State mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges is Maddalena. Ukrainian born American baritone Aleksey Bogdanov is Monterone.
[Below: San Francisco Opera’s sets for a 2017 performance of Verdi’s “Rigoletto”, created in 1997 by Designer Michael Yeargan; edited image, based on a Cory Weaver.photograph, courtesy of the San Francisco Opera.]
Indiana Maestro Patrick Summers conducts. Argentina-born Californian Jose Maria Condemi directs. The sets are those of Connecticut designer Michael Yeargan; the costumes were created by New York designer Constance Hoffman, the choreography by Irish dance master Colm Seery.
[For a previous review of a “Rigoletto” performance in which I discuss the artistic origins of Yeargan’s set designs, see: Review: Gavanelli Dominates Strongly Cast San Francisco Opera “Rigoletto” – October 15, 2006.]
Dead Man Walking (Heggie).San Francisco Opera, September 14 (m), 17, 20, 23, 26 and 28(m), 2025.
California composer Jake Heggie’s most-performed opera, “Dead Man Walking” returns to the San Francisco Opera, the site of the world premiere – the company’s first revival of the celebrated work. Its powerful message against capital punishment makes it one of the most impactful of contemporary operas.
Georgia soprano Jamie Barton is Sister Helen Prejean, North Carolina bass-baritone Ryan McKinny is Joseph de Rocher. New Mexico mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, who had created the role of Sister Helen, returns in the role of Mrs Patrick de Rocher (the role originally created by Federica von Stade).
New York soprano Brittany Renee is Sister Rose, California baritone Rod GIlfry is Owen Hart, Ohio bass Raymond Aceto is George Benton, Texas tenor Chad Shelton is Father Grenville and California mezzo-soprano Nikola Printz is Jade Boucher.
[Below Ryan McKinny as Joseph de Rocher in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s 2023 production of “Dead Man Walking”: edited image, based on a Ken Howard photograph for the Lyric Opera of Chicago.]
Maestro Patrick Summers, who conducted San Francisco Opera’s 2000 world premiere performances, again conducts the San Francisco Opera Orchestra. The production, the second in the opera’s history, although presently owned by the Lyric Opera of Chicago, was originally created by Massachusetts director Leonard Foglia for Costa Mesa, California’s Opera Pacific, and has traveled widely. Its sets were created by Rhode Island designer Michael McGarty.
Director Foglia also collaborated with Heggie on his operas “Moby Dick” and “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Illinois director Katrina Bachus will be associate director.