Yesterday afternoon at 1 p.m., subscription tickets went on sale for the 2019–20 season of the San Francisco Opera (SFO). Early in the evening, as he had done last year, General Director Matthew Shilvock shared his thoughts on the new season to a selected audience of donors. Since my own level of donation allowed for my access to this event, I felt it would be useful to share some of his thoughts with my readers. As was the case last year, Shilvock’s presentation included a few musical previews sung by the current crop of Adler Fellows, accompanied at the piano by César Cañón (also an Adler Fellow).
The most significant item in the presentation involved the launch of a three-season production of the three operas that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed to set libretto texts by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Those operas are (in the order in which they will be presented over the course of the coming three seasons) The Marriage of Figaro (K. 492), Così fan tutte (thus do all women, K. 588), and Don Giovanni (K. 527). As can be seen from Ludwig Ritter von Köchel’s catalog numbers, these will not be rolled out in the order in which they were composed.
The director for this project will be Michael Cavanagh, whose previous efforts with SFO included the company’s most recent production of Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah and a distinctively original staging of John Adams’ Nixon in China. Rather than trying to integrate the three operas into a common narrative (which would go against the grain of both Da Ponte and Mozart), Cavanagh decided to have the three operas share a common setting, a moderately grand house in the Early American style, perhaps along the lines of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. All of the operas will be set in the United States but in different historical periods. K. 492 will take place in Colonial times consistent with the physical setting. K. 588 will advance the clock about 150 years, using World War I as part of the context. K. 527 will advance another 150 years to a dystopian future.
Erhard Rom’s set design for the first act of The Marriage of Figaro
Shilvock also observed that the season would be distinguished by the number of performers that would be making role debuts across all eight operas to be presented. In the case of K. 492, the debut performance will be by soprano Jeanine De Bique, who will also be making her SFO debut, in the role of Susanna. Bass-baritone Christian Van Horn, on the other hand, will be making two role debuts, first in September as John Claggart in Michael Grandage’s staging of Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd and then the following June as Don Ruy Gomez de Silva in Jose Maria Condemi’s staging of Giuseppe Verdi’s Ernani. (Not only will Grandage be making his SFO debut but this production, originally performed in the 2010 Glyndebourne Festival, was his first venture into directing opera.)
The opening production of Charles Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette will have debuts in both title roles: tenor Bryan Hymel (last seen in Hector Berlioz’ Les Troyens) and former Adler Fellow soprano Nadine Sierra. Originally a co-production of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo and the Teatro Carlo Felice, its director, Jean-Louis Grinda, will be making his American staged opera debut. In the revival production of Olivier Tambosi’s staging of Giacomo Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, all three leading characters will be making role debuts: soprano Lianna Haroutounian in the title role, tenor Brian Jagde as the Chevalier des Grieux, and baritone Anthony Clark Evans as Manon’s brother. The same is true of the two leading roles in Ernani: tenor Russell Thomas in the title role and soprano Michelle Bradley as Elvira. Finally, there will be four role debuts in the revival of Christopher Alden’s staging of George Frideric Handel’s HWV 27 Partenope. Argentinian countertenor Franco Fagioli, discussed on this site last month for his recorded performance of HWV 40 (Serse), will make his SFO debut as Arsace. Soprano Louise Alder in the title role and countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński as Armindo will both be making American staged opera debuts. Finally, former Adler Fellow bass Hadleigh Adams will make his role debut as Oromonte.
That leaves two other operas in the season. The last of these will be the Bay Area premiere of Mason Bates’ The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, given its world premiere at the Santa Fe Opera in the summer of 2017. This will be an “original cast” performance with the leading roles taken by the same vocalists that performed in Santa Fe (whose performances can be found on the subsequently released live recording). The fall season will conclude with a new production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, originally staged at Covent Garden for the Royal Opera by Antony McDonald, who will be making his SFO debut. The libretto will be sung in English, and the title roles will be taken by mezzo Sasha Cooke and soprano Heidi Stober.
There will clearly be much more to say about all of these productions. However, I feel that I have done justice to my “first impressions.” More will follow with the usual more detailed preview articles for each of the operas in the season. Those who are already subscribers should expect their renewal packets to arrive soon in the mail.
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