The following is a list of four opera performances that I am scheduled to review at the San Francisco Opera and Santa Fe Opera during August and September, 2026.
Rodelinda (Handel), Santa Fe Opera, July 25, 29, August 7, 11 and 21, 2026
[Photo: a scene from R. B. Schlather’s 2023 production of “Rodelinda” at the Hudson Opera House, Hudson New York; edited image of a Matthew Placek photograph.]
Making her Santa Fe Opera debut in the title role is English soprano Lucy Crowe. English countertenor Iestyn Davies is Bertarido.
English tenor Anthony Gregory debuts as Grimoaldo. English countertenor Hugh Cutting debuts as Unulfo.
Chinese bass Wiliam Guanbo Su is Garibaldo. Mississippi mezzo-soprano Meridian Prall is Eduige.
Maestro Harry Bicket conducts. Director R. B. Schlather, returns to direct his production of Handel’s “Rodelinda”.
Schlather’s debut at Santa Fe Opera was in 2019, directing a production of “Cosi fan Tutte”.
For my performance review of R. B. Schlather’s previous work at Santa Fe Opera, see: Review: “Cosi Fan Tutte” – World Class Singing, Deconstructed Staging – Santa Fe Opera, July 26, 2019.]
Lili Elbe (Picker) Santa Fe Opera, August 1, 5, 14, 18 and 23, 2026
[Photo: Heldenbariton Lucia Lucas; resized image of a Josh New photograph.]
California baritone Lucia Lucas returms to the Santa Fe Opera after a 14 season absence, performing the role of Lili Elbe. Texas soprano Sylvia d’Eramo is Gerta Wegener. South Dakota mezzo-soprano Lindsay Ammann (in her Santa Fe Opera debut season) is Mother Wegener.
Canadian tenor Josh Lovell (in his Santa Fe Opera debut season) is Claude Le Jeune. West Virginia bass Andrew Harris is Professor Warnekros. Missouri mezzo-soprano Deanna Ray Eberhart is Dagmar. Indiana bass Drew Comeer is Christian X.
Several 2026 Santa Fe Opera Apprentices participate in the world premiere run. Making their Santa Fe Opera debuts are 2026 apprentices Georgia mezzo-soprano Anna Kelly as Helene Allatini, New York soprano Alexis Seminario as the Matron, California mezzo-soprano Lindsay Martin as Orpheus, Texas soprano Audrey Welsh as Eurydice and a Young Woman. Illinois baritone Ryan Wolfe is Marius Wegener. Texas baritone Joshua Klein is Major Porta.
Other participating 2026 Santa Fe Opera Apprentices are Georgia soprano Lauryn Davis as a Danish Countess and Michigan baritone Kyle White as Eric Allatini. New Hampsire bass-baritone Evan Lazdowski is an Art Critic.
Mexican maestro Roberto Kalb conducts. The direction, scenic design and costumes are, respectively, the work of Oklahoma director James Robinson, Pennsylvania designer Allen Moyer and Italian designer Marco Piemontese.
For my previous reviews of Tobias Picker operas see: World Premiere Review: Patricia Racette’s Gritty “Dolores Claiborne” at San Francisco Opera – September 18, 2013 and Review: Tobias Picker’s “American Tragedy”, Extensively Revised, Debuts at Glimmerglass Festival – July 20, 2014.
Simon Boccanegra (Verdi), San Francisco Opera, September 12, 16, 19, 22, 25 and 27, 2026
[Photo: Events are taking place in different decades, the events in the foreground (here with George Petean as Simon Boccanegra) are separated in time from the events occurring in the blue background. This scene is from Hamburg Stattsoper’s 2023 revival of the 2017 Claus Guth production; edited image, based on a Hans Jörg Michel photograph for the Hamburg Stattsoper.]
German director Claus Guth makes his San Francisco Opera debut with a revival of his well-traveled 2017 production of Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra”. The sets are by Christian Schmidt.
Mongolian baritone Amartuvshin Enkhbat returns to the San Francisco Opera as Simon. Italian soprano Eleonora Buratto makes her San Francisco Opera debut as the character known variously as Amelia and Maria. She is scheduled to sing the first six performances, and Pennsylvania soprano Toni Marie Palmertree the seventh.
New York bass Christian Van Horn is Fiesco Grimaldi. California tenor Gabriele Adorno Joshua Guerrero mskrd hid San Francisco Opera debut, singing the role of Gabriele Adorno (that I believe is the most unexpectedly fortunate character in Italian opera). California bass Aleksey Bogdanov is the conspirator Paolo Albiani.
South Korean Maestra Eun Sun Kim conducts the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus. (The Chorus is led by Pennsylvania Director John Keene).
For my review of a previous Claus Guth production, see: Review: A “Rigoletto” Surprise in Paris: Ludovic Tézier Subs in Title Role in Claus Guth’s Production with Fabiano, Peretyatko, Luisotti – May 5, 2016.
For my “historical reviews” of my first-ever “Simon Boccanegra” production, 70 years ago, see: Historical Performances: “Simon Boccanegra” with Warren, Tebaldi and Christoff, San Francisco Opera in Los Angeles – October 20, 1956.
Mary, Queen of Scots (Musgrave), September 20, 24, 26, 29, October 2 and 4, 2026.
[Photo: Heidi Stober in the title role of “Mary, Queen of Scots”; edited image, based on a Ellie Kurtz photograph for the English National Opera.]
Thea Musgrave’s opera “Mary, Queen of Scots” will be performed for the second time in San Francisco Opera history, although this will be the opera’s debut mounting by the main company. San Francisco Opera mounted the West Coast premiere of the opera in a Spring Opera Theater production in April 1979, presenting it in the Curran Theater.
The company is importing an English National Opera (ENO) production of Musgrave’s opera. ENO’s artist performing Mary, Wisconsin soprano Heidi Stober, will sing the role in San Francisco also, which will be Stober’s 14th role in nine San Francisco Opera seaons since 2010.
Making their San Francisco Opera debuts are English baritone Thomas Mole as James Stewart, Earl of Moray.and New York tenor Christopher Sokolowski as Lord Darnley.
New Zealand baritone Hadleigh Adams ais David Riccio, California bass-baritone Philip Skinner as Lord Gordon.
Welsh tenor Thomas Kinch iss the Earl of Bothwell, Delaware baritone Olivier Zerouali is the Earl of Morton, Texas tenor Chance Jonas O’Toole is the Earl of Ruthven, Minnesota mezzo-soprano Sadie Cheslak is Mary Seton, California soprano Sofia Gotch is Mary Beaton, Utah soprano Mary Hoskins is Mary Livngston and Canadian soprano Alexa Frankian is Mary Fleming.
Italian Maestra Clelia Cafiero, in her San Francisco Opera debut conducts. Also debuting is the Scottish director and production designer Stewart Laing. Also contributng to the production is Irish choreographer Colm Seery and Pennsylvania Chorus Master John Keene.
For reviews of previous operas in this “Quests and Anticipations” series, see
The Santa Fe Opera productions of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly”, Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” and Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin”. [See In Quest of Midyear 2026 Operas in San Francisco and Santa Fe].