Historical Performances

Notes on historical performances of the San Francisco Opera

Historical Performances: Geraint Evans, Stuart Burrows, Jane Marsh Welcome “The Magic Flute” into the San Francisco Opera repertory – September 23, 1967 and October 8, 1967

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I previously reported on a June 1967 performance I attended during the San Francisco Opera’s Spring Opera Theater [SPOT]. Between that June SPOT performance [Historical Review: Nicholas di Virgilio, Simon Estes Lead Impressive Cast in “Tales of Hoffmann” San Francisco Opera’s Spring Opera Theater [SPOT] – June 23, 1967] and the September 1967 opening of … Read more

Historical Review: Nicholas di Virgilio, Simon Estes Lead Impressive Cast in “Tales of Hoffmann” San Francisco Opera’s Spring Opera Theater [SPOT] – June 23, 1967

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Four Spring Opera Theater seasons after my first-ever “Tales of Hoffmann”, I attended my second SPOT “Hoffmann” mounting, the second of its two scheduled performances. The “Hoffmann” performance’s praiseworthy cast and crew were symbolic of the San Francisco Opera’s mid-1960s progress in its commitment to the American opera, and to the operatic careers of American … Read more

Historical Review: San Francisco’s Spring Opera Theater [SPOT]’s “Pagliacci”- June 16, 1967

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After the intermission that followed my first ever performance of Mascagni’s one act “Cavalleria Rusticana” [Historical Performances: Ghita Hager Directs Roberto, di Virgilio, Cossa in “Cavalleria Rusticana” – San Francisco Spring Opera Theater [SPOT] – June 16, 1967], I settled back into my seat for my first ever performance of Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci”. Ghita Hager’s intelligent … Read more

Historical Performances: Ghita Hager Directs Roberto, di Virgilio, Cossa in “Cavalleria Rusticana” – San Francisco Spring Opera Theater [SPOT] – June 16, 1967

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Note from William: This post continues my series of observances of historic performances that I attended at San Francisco Opera during the general directorship of Kurt Herbert Adler. This is the first of three such observances of performances from the company’s 1967 Spring Opera Theater [SPOT] season. My first performance ever of Pietro Mascagni’s “Cavalleria … Read more

Historical Performances: An Exciting “Carmen” from Grace Bumbry and Jon Vickers – San Francisco Opera, November 27, 1966

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Note from William: This post continues my series of observances of historic performances that I attended at San Francisco Opera during the general directorship of Kurt Herbert Adler. This is the fourteenth of fourteen such observances of performances from the company’s 1966 Fall season. As a teenager who became interested in (and then obsessed by) grand … Read more