Over the course of the next two months, San Francisco Opera (SFO) will return to presenting live performances. Since all San Francisco War Memorial & Performing Arts Center venues are still under lockdown, the venue for these events will be on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge on the campus of the Marin Center. The offerings will include performances of Gioachino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and recital performances by the 2021 Adler Fellows.
The opera production will be adapted to accommodate both the venue and the handling of the audience. These will be “drive-in” events, meaning that the audience will experience the performance from their respective cars, thus avoiding any problems that might involve social distancing. Tickets will be available for two neighboring locations on the Marin Center campus. The Fairgrounds will provide a view of the set and the performers. The Lagoon will be equipped with a drive-in movie screen, allowing ticket holders to experience a simulcast of the performance. The music will be transmitted through an FM radio signal. Both sets and projections have been designed by Alexander V. Nichols, and JAX Messenger has created the lighting for this open-air production. New costumes have been designed by Jessica Jahn.
Director Matthew Ozawa has created a staging to accommodate the extraordinary circumstances of the performance. The duration will be 90 minutes without any intermission. Furthermore, Ozawa will exploit the available technology by adding backstage comedy to the mix. The performance will be sung in English with English supertitles. There will be eleven performances taking place on April 23, 24, 27, and 30 and on May 1, 4, 7, 8, 11, 14, 15, all beginning at 8 p.m.
On the musical side Roderick Cox will make his SFO debut conducting a socially distanced ensemble of members of the SFO Orchestra. The title character (Figaro) will be sung by baritone Lucas Meachem. The role of the Count Almaviva will be sung by tenor Alek Shrader. Two mezzos will share the role of Rosina, whom Almaviva aspires to make his Countess. Daniela Mack (who happens to be Shrader’s wife) will sing at the first eight performances, and Laura Krumm will take the role for the remaining three. Rosina’s guardian Bartolo (who aspires to marry Rosina himself) will be sung by bass Philip Skinner; and mezzo Catherine Cook will (once again) sing the role of his maid Berta, a part she has sung in five previous SFO productions of this opera.
[added 3/25, 9:50 a.m.:
For those interested in the medical challenges that needed to be confronted as part of the process of rehearsing for this production, Joshua Kosman has written a thoroughly engaging account for the San Francisco Chronicle of these problems, approaches to solutions, and the contributions of the medical community, some of which are likely to remain valuable even after pandemic restrictions have been lifted.]
Tickets for the Fairgrounds will be sold at $250 per car. For those watching the performance on the drive-in screen at the Lagoon, admission will be $50 per car. A Web page has been created for online ticket sales. Tickets may also be purchased by calling the SFO Box Office at 415-864-3330. Tickets must be purchased ahead of time; no tickets will be sold at the Marin Center. Shortly after the final performance, a video stream will be available for $25.
The Adlers offering will be a 70-minute program of popular arias, duets, and scenes from the opera repertoire. The vocalists will be sopranos Anne-Marie MacIntosh, Elisa Sunshine, and Esther Tonea, mezzo Simone McIntosh, tenors Zhengyi Bai, Christopher Colmenero, and Christopher Oglesby, baritone Timothy Murray, and bass Stefan Egerstrom. Accompaniment will be provided by pianists Kseniia Polstiankina and Andrew King. There will be three performances, again beginning at 8 p.m. on April 29, May 6, and May 13.
Once again tickets will be sold for both the Fairgrounds and the Lagoon. The price for the live performance at the Fairgrounds will be $150, while admission to the Lagoon will again be $50. Again, there is a Web page for online ticket sales; and tickets can also be purchased through the Box Office. Also again, no tickets will be sold on the site of the Marin Center. There will again be a video stream available shortly after the final performance.
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