Saturday, February 29, 2020

SFCM to Present Annual Baroque Opera

Every year the Baroque Ensemble at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) presents a full-length performance of a baroque opera. Many of the past productions have involved the operas of George Frideric Handel, and this year’s offering will follow that tradition. Next month’s performance will be the HWV 15 opera Ottone. The title is the Italian for Otto; and the central character is Otto II, King of Germany. The libretto is fictitious, but in involves the lives of not only Otto but also the king’s future wife, the Byzantine Princess Theophanu, and Adelberto, son of Gismonda, widow of Berengario, who had ruled Italy during his lifetime. Like many baroque operas, the libretto will involve a tangled web of relations among the characters in the cast.

The semi-staged production of this opera will be given two performances in the Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall. These will take place at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 14, and 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 15. There will be no charge for admission, but reservations are highly recommended. There are separate Web pages for arranging reservations attached to the hyperlinks on the above two dates. For those who do not already know, the SFCM building is located at 50 Oak Street, between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street, a short walk from the Van Ness Muni Station.

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