Once again, the 2025–26 season of the San Francisco Opera will conclude next month. Two operas remain in the season, the first of which will be Gioachino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville staged by Emilio Sagi, followed by Keith Warner’s staging of the “tense, one-act thriller,” Richard Strauss’ “Elektra.” The baton will then be passed to this year’s Merola Summer Festival. As is usually the case, the season will begin with a recital, followed by two fully-staged operas, and concluding with the annual Merola Grand Finale. English subtitles will be provided for all performances. Dates, times, and content are as follows:
Thursday, June 25, 7 p.m., Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall: As in the past, the season will begin with a vocal chamber recital that explores the narrative arc of song. The focus will be on Neapolitan songs that celebrate the lyric beauty, emotional depth, and regional character of Southern Italy. The selections will be performed in both Italian and Neapolitan dialect. The program will be curated by Mario Antonio Marra; and ticket prices will be $75, $55, and $25.
Thursday, July 9, 7 p.m., and Saturday, July 11, 2 p.m., Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall: La Tragédie de Carmen was created by Peter Brook, Jean-Claude Carrière, and Marius Constant. They took Georges Bizet’s Carmen and condensed it into a starker adaptation. The text will be in French, and ticket prices will be $75 and $25.
John Vanderlyn’s painting of the abandoned Ariadne asleep on the island of Naxos (from Wikimedia Commons, public domain)
Saturday, August 1, 2 p.m., Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall: (The Thursday performance is already sold out.) Richard Strauss’ opera Ariadne auf Naxos is in two parts. The second part is a one-act opera about the myth of Ariadne abandoned by Theseus on the desert island of Naxos. This is preceded by a Prologue, which is a plethora of arguments having to do with how the opera will be performed. The text will be in German, and ticket prices will be $75 and $25.
Saturday, August 15, 7:30 p.m., War Memorial Opera House: As the BBC likes to say about The Last Night of the Proms, this is when “the circus prepares to leave town.” The program is a showcase of operatic selections featuring arias, ensembles, and scenes. Most important is that many, if not most, of the Merola performers will have their first opportunity to deliver their talents on a major opera stage. Due to the size of the venue, there will be a broader range of ticket prices: $95, $75, $65, $35, $25, and $15.
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