About two months ago, following up on the announcement of the cancellation of its 2020 Summer Season due to the constrains of social distancing, San Francisco Opera (SFO) shifted its attention to cyberspace with the launch of Opera is ON. The service began officially on May 9 with the streaming of Arrigo Boito’s Mefistofele, which was staged by Robert Carsen for performance in the fall of 2013. The streaming was available worldwide at no charge for a limited time. The video was then archived for subsequent viewing by subscribers and those that had donated $75 or more. The service then continued with subsequent streaming of Vincenzo Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi (the Capulets and the Montagues), Jake Heggie’s Moby Dick, Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia, and the three one-act operas that Giacomo Puccini collected as Il Trittico (the triptych).
Yesterday SFO announced the next three operas to be released through this streaming process. As with the previous offerings, each will become available on Saturday at 10 a.m.; and free access will expire and the end of the following day. Each video will then be added to the archive available to subscribers and donors. Specifics for the three new offerings are as follows:
June 20: The first offering will revisit the production of Richard Strauss’ one-act opera “Salome,” which SFO shared with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and the Opéra de Montréal. This was presented in the fall of 2009. Séan Curran served as both director and choreographer. The title role was sung by German dramatic soprano Nadja Michael. The other major vocalists were bass-baritone Greer Grimsley in the role of Jochanaan (John the Baptist), tenor Kim Begley as Herodes, mezzo Irina Mishura as Herodias, and tenor Garrett Sorenson as Narraboth. Music Director Nicola Luisotti conducted and, in a pre-concert panel discussion, explained that, in spite its blood-and-thunder reputation, there was considerable delicate transparency in Strauss’ score; and this was evident from his introduction of the very opening measures.
June 27: The second offering is somewhat more recent, the staging of Jules Massenet’s Manon, which was given in the fall of 2017. The production, staged by Vincent Broussard and conducted by Patrick Fournillier, was shared with the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre and the Israeli Opera. The title role was taken by soprano Ellie Dehn, and tenor Michael Fabiano sang the part of the Chevalier des Grieux. This is another opera in which there is no end of meticulous detail that Massenet has conceived for both the instrumentalists and the vocalists. In addition Fournillier provided a generous number of visually striking moments, which have probably not been forgotten by those that saw one of the 2017 performances.
July 4: Appropriately enough, the offering on the Fourth of July will feature one of the most significant American composers of opera. The composer is Carlisle Floyd, and the opera is probably his best-known composition, Susannah. While the opera was first performed on February 24, 1955, it only entered the SFO repertoire at the beginning of the fall 2014 season. The title role was sung by soprano Patricia Racette. The two principal male roles were sung by bass Raymond Aceto (Reverend Olin Blitch) and tenor Brandon Jovanovich (Sam Polk, Susannah’s brother). The production was staged by Michael Cavanagh, and Karen Kamensek made her debut as conductor. SFO shared that production with the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Houston Grand Opera.
Access to free streaming is enabled through the SFO home page. For those interested in viewing any of the Opera is ON productions after free access has been terminated, there is a log-in Web page for donors and subscribers. There is also a Web page for those interested in becoming donors in order to benefit from full access to all available videos.
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