Historical Reviews

San Francisco Opera’s first two performances ever of Wagner’s “Das Rheingold” took place in November, 1935 and November, 1936. Its third, fourth and fifth performances would not take place until 31 years later. I was present at the fifth performance in the company’s history. Although I already had seen performances of the second of the … Read more

Having attended “Ballo in Maschera”, featuring Leontyne Price, on Saturday night, November 18, I returned for San Francisco Opera’s Sunday matinee. This would be my first opportunity to attend a performance of two of most famous products of Modena, Italy — tenor Luciano Pavarotti and soprano Mirella Freni. “Boheme” is Puccini’s (and arguably, the operatic … Read more

The month of November 1967 proved to be a memorable time to attend San Francisco Opera performances. In the first weekend I had attended my second-ever performance of Gounod’s “Faust” starring Alfredo Kraus in the title role and Nicolai Ghiaurov as Mephistopheles and my first-ever performance of Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” starring Jess Thomas and … Read more

My first weekend in November, 1967 began with Gunther Schuller’s “The Visitation” on Friday evening, and Gounod’s “Faust” (with Alfredo Kraus and Nicolai Ghiaurov) the next night [See Historical Review: Gounod’s “Faust” Starring Kraus, Ghiaurov, Saunders and Wixell – San Francisco Opera, November 4 and November 12, 1967]. The next day’s Sunday matinee was the … Read more

A Weekend of Schuller’s “The Visitation” and Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore” During a three-day mid-October 1967 weekend in San Francisco, I experienced my first ever performances of Charpentier’s “Louise” and Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut”, followed by a stellar performance of “Der Rosenkavalier”. Two weeks later, I returned for a Saturday evening-Sunday matinee weekend consisting of the American … Read more

A San Francisco Opera Sunday matinee performance of Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier” marked my third visit to the War Memorial Opera House in three days. On Friday night I attended my first performance ever of Charpentier’s “Louise” [Maestro Jean Périsson Leads Arlene Saunders, John Alexander, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni and Sona Cervena in Impressive Performance of Charpentier’s … Read more

The evening after my very first ever live performance of Charpentier’s “Louise” in a San Francisco Opera performance at the War Memorial Opera House [Maestro Jean Périsson Leads Arlene Saunders, John Alexander, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni and Sona Cervena in Impressive Performance of Charpentier’s “Louise” – San Francisco Opera, October 13, 1967], I returned for my first … Read more

After a Sunday matinee, when I saw my first ever “La Gioconda” [Historical Performances: “La Gioconda” with Leyla Gencer, Renato Cioni, Grace Bumbry and Maureen Forrester – San Francisco Opera, October 1, 1967], I returned to the War Memorial Opera House the following Friday night for my first performance ever of Verdi’s “Macbeth”. “Early Verdi” … Read more

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

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

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

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 thirteenth of fourteen such observances of performances from the company’s 1966 Fall season. Ramon Vinay’s Falstaff In what would be his final career performance at … Read more

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 twelfth of fourteen such observances of performances from the company’s 1966 Fall season. In the Fall 1966 San Francisco Opera season, as a subscriber to … Read more

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 eleventh of fourteen such observances of performances from the company’s 1966 Fall season.  A few hours after attending a Saturday night performance of Berlioz’ “Les … Read more

Note from William: This post continues my series of observances of historic performances that I attended at San Francisco Opera during the general directorship woof Kurt Herbert Adler. This is the tenth of fourteen such observances of performances from the company’s 1966 Fall season. One week after my second “Rigoletto” performance of San Francisco Opera’s 1966 … Read more

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 ninth of fourteen such observances of performances from the company’s 1966 Fall season. In the mid-20th century, the San Francisco Opera, following the practice of … Read more

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 eighth of fourteen such observances of performances from the company’s 1966 Fall season. Six days after a memorable Sunday matinee performance of Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov”, … Read more

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 seventh of fourteen such observances of performances from the company’s 1966 Fall season. In 1961, the San Francisco Opera premiered director Dino Yannopoulos’ production of … Read more

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 sixth of fourteen such observances of performances from the company’s 1966 Fall season. The next offering on my Saturday night San Francisco Opera subscription was … Read more

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 fifth of fourteen such observances of performances from the company’s 1966 Fall season. The San Francisco Opera’s 1966 season had mounted five opera productions in less … Read more