This weekend will see the opening of the second of the final two operas to be presented in the 2024–25 season of the San Francisco Opera (SFO). So this seems like a good time to look forward to the 2025–26 season! This will include a world premiere and a new staging of Richard Wagner’s final opera. During the fall there will be three opera productions, one concert, and the annual Opera in the Park event. There will then be two additional operas in the spring, along with a Chorus Concert the second Pride Concert. In “order of appearance,” the operas to be presented are as follows:
Rigoletto, Giuseppe Verdi: As was the case this past fall, the season will begin with a Verdi opera conducted, as in past Verdi productions, by Caroline H. Hume Music Director Eun Sun Kim. This is one of the most popular in the overall repertoire of grand opera. The title role will be sung by Mongolian baritone Amartuvshin Enkhbat. Romanian soprano Adela Zaharia will take the role of Gilda, and the Duke of Mantua will be sung by Italian tenor Giovanni Sala. The production will be directed by Jose Maria Condemi.
Dead Man Walking, Jake Heggie: This will be the 25th anniversary of the first opera to be composed by Jake Heggie. The conductor will be Patrick Summers, who also led the opera’s premiere; and the production will be directed by Leonard Foglia. The libretto is based on the book of the same name by Sister Helen Prejean of the Sisters of St. Joseph, and her role will be sung by mezzo Jamie Barton. The narrative involves her encounter with Joseph de Rocher, sung by baritone Ryan McKinney, who is awaiting execution for the conviction of two murders. Mezzo Susan Graham will sing the role of de Rocher’s mother.
Parsifal, Richard Wagner: The aforementioned new staging will be by Matthew Ozawa, and Kim will again conduct. The title role will be sung by tenor Brandon Jovanovich, and mezzo Tanja Ariane Baumgartner will take the role of Kundry. The knight Gurnemanz will be sung by bass Kwangchul Youn; and baritone Brian Mulligan will be Amfortas, the leader of the Kingdom of the Grail.
Tenor Kang Wang, who will make his SFO debut in The Monkey King (photograph by AriaDream taken on May 25, 2024, from Wikimedia Commons, licensed under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication)
The Monkey King, Huang Ruo: This will be the world premiere, based on Chinese mythology with a libretto by David Henry Hwang. (Readers may recall that Hwang also provided the libretto for Bright Sheng’s Dream of the Red Chamber.) The title role will be sung by the Australian-Chinese tenor Kang Wang, who will be making his SFO debut. Staging will be by Diane Paulus, and the conductor will be Carolyn Kuan. Both of them will also be making SFO debuts.
The Barber of Seville, Gioachino Rossini: The spring will begin with one of the most popular operas in the repertoire. Emilio Sagi will stage a production shared with the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre. All of the major roles will be double-cast. The conductor will be Benjamin Manis.
Elektra, Richard Strauss: The season will go out with a bang (of sorts) with the performance of Strauss’ one-act opera. The title role will be sung by soprano Elena Pankratova in her SFO debut. The role of her sister will be sung by soprano (and former Adler Fellow) Elza van den Heever. Mezzo Michaela Schuster will take the role of Klytaemnestra. Anja Kühnhold will direct the revival of the original production by Keith Warner. Kim will conduct.
Further information will be provided as the opening dates of these productions draw nearer.
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