Yesterday San Francisco Opera (SFO) announced the two operas that will be released this month through the Opera is ON 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 those that have donated $75 or more. Specifics for the two new offerings are as follows:
July 18: The first offering will revisit the production of Gioachino Rossini’s imaginative retelling of the Cinderella fairy tale, La Cenerentola. The video was captured during the Fall 2014 season. This was very much an “all hands” occasion, beginning with the attention that Jesús López-Cobos brought to the orchestra pit, not only with his chemistry for both pit and stage but also through a variety of innovative techniques for deploying the instruments themselves. His command of the ensemble was further complemented by Chorus Director Ian Robertson’s preparation of the all-male chorus. Staging was by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, directed by Gregory Fortner. All participating vocalists gave sparkling accounts of their respective parts: mezzo Karine Deshayes in the title role, tenor René Barbera as Prince Ramiro, baritone Efraín Solís as the Prince’s valet Dandini, bass-baritone Carlos Chausson as the heroine’s stepfather Don Magnifico, soprano Maria Valdes and mezzo Zanda Švēde as his daughters Clorinda and Tisbe, respectively, and bass-baritone Christian Van Horn as the Prince’s tutor Alidoro.
July 25: The second presentation will be a 2010 performance of Leoš Janáček’s engagingly bizarre opera Věc Makropulos, usually translated into English as The Makropulos Affair. The staging was created by Oliver Tambosi for a co-production with the Finnish National Opera. SFO had presented the American premiere of this opera (first performed in Brno on December 18, 1926) in 1966. That performance was sung in English, but Tambosi’s was sung in the original Czech. The conductor was Jiří Bělohlávek, and the leading role of Emilia Marty was sung by Karita Mattila. The other key roles were taken by tenor Miro Dvorsky as Albert Gregor, bass-baritone Gerd Grochowski as Baron Jaroslav Prus, and bass-baritone Dale Travis as Dr. Kolenatý.
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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