Historical Reviews

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 last of 13 such observances of performances from the company’s 1964 Fall season. My final performance of the 1964 San Francisco Opera season was Verdi’s “La Traviata” … 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 13 such observances of performances from the company’s 1964 Fall season. The final offering of the Fall 1964 San Francisco Opera season was the … 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 13 such observances of performances from the company’s 1964 Fall season. My first live performance ever of Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” took place with dramatic … 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 tenth of 13 such observances of performances from the company’s 1964 Fall season. Having sung two performances as Leonore [see Historical Performances: Birgit Nilsson, Jon Vickers, … 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 13 such observances of performances from the company’s 1964 Fall season. The next offering on my Saturday subscription series to the San Francisco Opera … 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 13 such observances of performances from the company’s 1964 Fall season. On Thursday night October 15th, I added another opera to supplement my 1964 … 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 second part of the seventh of 13 such observances of performances from the company’s 1964 Fall season. I reported on the first half of a double bill … 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 part of the seventh of 13 such observances of performances from the company’s 1964 Fall season. In 1958, the set and costume designs of Jean-Pierre … 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 13 such observances of performances from the company’s 1964 Fall season. Even after a decade of attending operas, I had not seen my first … 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 13 such observances of performances from the company’s 1964 Fall season. Experiencing, within a three week period a new production of Wagner’s “Parsifal” and … 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 fourth of 13 such observances of performances from the company’s 1964 Fall season. Although Richard Strauss’ “Die Frau ohne Schatten” was my third opera on my Saturday … 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 third of 13 such observances of performances from the company’s 1964 Fall season. San Francisco Opera during the early years of the long-play record was a regular … 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 second of 13 such observances of performances from the company’s 1964 Fall season. Two seasons prior at the San Francisco Opera, I had seen the team … Read more

Fifty years ago, as a college sophomore, between studying, term papers and fraternity parties, when the interest and opportunity arose, I would purchase an orchestra seat to the San Francisco Opera. The spring semester over and finals done with, I took in the final performance of San Francisco Opera’s Spring Opera Theater production of Rossini’s … 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 last of ten such observances of performances from the company’s 1963 Fall season. San Francisco Opera’s final 1963 Saturday night series performance was a … Read more

San Francisco Opera launched a new Leni Bauer-Ecsy production of Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino” as a vehicle for Leontyne Price. James McCracken was her Don Alvaro in a stirring performance led by Italian Conductor Francesco Molinari-Pradelli. [Below: the Leni Bauer-Ecsy sets for the monastery scene in “La Forza del Destino”; edited image, based on … Read more

The next offering on my 1963 Saturday night San Francisco Opera subscription was a revival of the acclaimed George Jenkins production of Mozart’s “Cosi fan Tutte” that had been my first performance of a Mozart opera seven seasons before [See Cosi Fan Tutte – October 25, 1956.] Elizabeth Schwarzkopf was again Fiordiligi, joined by three artists … Read more

As a college sophomore, in my third year as a subscriber to the San Francisco Opera, I had already experienced Bellini’s “Sonnambula” with Joan Sutherland, Verdi’s “Aida” with Leontyne Price, Regina Resnik and Sandor Konya, and Reri Grist, Cesare Valletti and Hermann Prey in Rossini’s “Barber of Seville” (I also had purchased seats off my … Read more

Two nights after my first live performance ever of Puccini’s “Tosca”, I returned to my regular Saturday night series for the fourth offering of the San Francisco Opera’s 1963 Saturday night series – Tchaikovsky’s “Queen of Spades”. Only the second Russian opera (after Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov” that I had seen presented by the San Francisco … Read more

On October 3, 1963, I attended my first performance ever of Puccini’s “Tosca” at the San Francisco Opera, in which Leontyne Price appeared in the title role, with Hungarian tenor Sandor Konya as Cavaradossi and Australian baritone John Shaw as Scarpia. Twelve days earlier I had seen Price, Konya and Shaw in Verdi’s “Aida” [See 50 … 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 fourth of ten such observances of performances from the company’s 1963 Fall season. I was in my first term as a junior in college. … 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 third of ten observances of  performances from the company’s 1963 Fall Opera season.  Fifty years ago, I had a job operating the dishwashing machine … 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 second of ten observances of  performances from the company’s 1963 Fall Opera season.   On September 13, 1963, Leontyne Price opened the 1963 San … 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 ten observances of  performances from the company’s 1963 Fall Opera season. La Stupenda in San Francisco My first opera of the 1963 … Read more