Sagi’s Zany Approach to Rossini to Return

Poster design for the production of The Barber of Seville being announced

Back in August of 2016, a photographic record of the 94-year history of the San Francisco Opera (SFO) was installed as part of the Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera in two galleries on the north and south corridors of the fourth floor of the Veterans Building. When I wrote about this installation, I “got personal” in confessing that my own fondest memories came from the Fall 2013 production of Gioachino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville staged by Emilio Sagi. As a result, I am happy to report that, at the end of this month, this production will return to the War Memorial Opera House.

The four leading characters in the narrative will be double-cast. The “barber” is, of course, Figaro, whose role will be sung by baritones Joshua Hopkins and Justin Austin. His role in the narrative is to assist the Count Almaviva, a tenor younger than the baritone role in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, sung by Levy Sekgapane and Jack Swanson, both making SFO debuts. Almaviva is wooing Rosina (who will later be the countess in Mozart’s opera), sung by mezzos Maria Kataeva (her United States debut) and Hangni Wu. The remaining double-cast role will be that of the scheming Doctor Bartolo, another baritone shared by Renato Girolami and Patrick Carfizzi. The other memorable character in the narrative is the maid Berta, who spends much of the time sneezing. Mezzo Catherine Cook will return to the Opera House to reprise the role of the maid Berta, which she has been performing (and stealing the show) since 1996. The conductor for this production will be Benjamin Manis.

The duration will be a little over three hours with one intermission. The performance will be sung in the original Italian with English supertitles. There will be nine performances taking place at 7:30 p.m. on May 28 and June 3, 5, 9, 12, and 13 and at 2 p.m. on June 6, 20, and 21. A single Web page has been created for purchasing tickets for all of these dates. As of this writing, the most limited availability will be for the first matinee on June 6; and the best availability will be for the evening performances on June 3, 9, and 12.