San Francisco Opera

It has long been speculated that librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte drew on his friendship with the infamous lover Giacomo Casanova to write the script for the dark Mozart opera "Don Giovanni." But what about this weekend's free streaming special, the light-hearted comedy "Così Fan Tutte?" Some academics, like Bruce Alan Brown, see a parallel between the arguments in "Così" where reason is pitted against love and the anecdotes in Casanova's memoirs.... Casanova even evokes scenes similar to the premise of "Così," wherein he gambles on the fidelity of lovers. At one point, having tempted a woman with the promise of 20 sequin coins, he concludes cynically that "così son tutte" a phrase that means all women are like that. A phrase that echoes the title of Mozart's comedy. Reason or love? Find out which prevails in this weekend's rom-com event: https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/ (: Cory Weaver |Conductor: Nicola Luisotti |Director: Jose Maria Condemi |Production: John Cox |Production Designer: Robert Perdziola)

Oh, you think you stand a chance with these sisters? Puh-lease. Tired of being harassed and cajoled by two seeming strangers, Fiordiligi lays down the law with her famous aria "Come Scoglio" from this weekend's free streaming special, Mozart's "Così Fan Tutte." She and her sister are already happily engaged, thank you very much. And their hearts are "like a rock:" steadfast against any tempests, any temptations, especially those as piddling as these two gentlemen.... "Only death could change the feelings in our hearts," she sings. Soprano Ellie Dehn gives a fiery performance as Fiordiligi in "Così Fan Tutte" stream it now: https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/ (: Cory Weaver |Conductor: Nicola Luisotti |Director: Jose Maria Condemi |Production: John Cox |Production Designer: Robert Perdziola)

Life is going well for the prince Ariodante: He’s engaged to a noblewoman he loves and who loves him. But one day, he sees a rival lover being summoned into her bedchambers, by a woman who appears to be his fiancée. Too bad it’s all a set-up to tear the lovers apart. George Frideric Handel’s masterpiece Ariodante premiered #OnThisDay in 1735, helping to inaugurate Handel’s first season of operas at London’s Covent Garden theater. It also marks the first of his operas set in... the U.K., despite the fact that Handel himself spent much of his career in England. If the plot sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Shakespeare drew on the same source material, the epic poem Orlando Furioso, for his comedy Much Ado About Nothing. Despite being heralded as a masterpiece in the centuries after Handel’s death, Ariodante remains a rare treat on the opera stage. It has only been staged once at San Francisco Opera, in 2008. (: Terrence McCarthy/San Francisco Opera's "Ariodante," starring Ruth Ann Swenson) #OTD #Opera

"Ah! Look, sister," Fiordiligi exclaims, gazing at her lover's portrait. "Could you imagine a nobler face, a sweeter mouth?" Indeed, her sister Dorabella could and is. She's enraptured by her own beau's photograph. "Just look at the fire in his eyes," she muses. "It's like flames are darting from them." How could two women so deeply in love ever fall for a seduction-in-disguise? Find out when soprano Ellie Dehn and mezzo-soprano Christel Lötzsch take the stage this weekend ...in our free streaming special, Mozart's "Così Fan Tutte:" https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/ (: Cory Weaver |Conductor: Nicola Luisotti |Director: Jose Maria Condemi |Production: John Cox |Production Designer: Robert Perdziola)

The way he tells it, French composer Francis Poulenc rediscovered the Catholicism of his youth while on a pilgrimage to a shrine of the Virgin Mary in southern France. Poulenc who was born #OnThisDay in 1899 was turning to a new period in his career. Previously known for the humor in his music, he entered his 30s and 40s with an eye toward weightier subjects. It was also later in his career that he started to compose opera, producing three works, the most famous of which ...was The Dialogues of the Carmelites. That was the opera that helped launch soprano Leontyne Price to fame. She starred in its U.S. premiere right here at San Francisco Opera, making her operatic stage debut as Lidoine, the Carmelite convent’s new head nun. At the end, she leads her sisters to sing in prayer, as they each step forward to the guillotine the public death afforded to religious figures during the French Revolution.

All bets are off! A wager goes off the rails in Mozart's raucous comedy "Così Fan Tutte" streaming for free, starting now! Bored at a seaside resort, two soldiers agree to an outrageous wager, gambling their lovers' hearts on the prospect of 100 gold coins. But winning this bet may mean losing something far more valuable. As the architect behind the bet, Italian bass Marco Vinco leads an all-star ensemble cast in a performance the San Francisco Chronicle hails as a "cagey m...arvel dark-hued, knowing and full of demonic elegance." Tenor FRANCESCO DEMURO delivers "ardency and tonal brilliance" alongside Philippe Sly in a "robust and lyrical" company debut as the two gullible soldiers. At stake are the hearts of mezzo-soprano Christel Lötzsch and soprano Ellie Dehn, critically acclaimed for her "commandingly wide vocal range." Don't delay: Mozart's wildest rom-com is streaming for a limited time only! Tune in: https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/ (: Cory Weaver |Conductor: Nicola Luisotti |Director: Jose Maria Condemi |Production: John Cox |Production Designer: Robert Perdziola)

#OperaExplained Translated supertitles are a standard feature at live opera performances thanks, in part, to a man who would become general director at San Francisco Opera. Lotfi Mansouri was running the Canadian Opera Company in the 1980s. But one day, while at home with his wife, something she said caught his attention. She had been watching the Ring operas on television when she quipped: You know, Lotfi, this is not as dumb as I thought it was. It was a moment of e...piphany for Mansouri, as he later told the National Endowment for the Arts. His wife had reacted to the lyrics that were translated and scrolling across across the screen. He wondered, If they do it in the cinema, why can we not do it in the theater? For his 1983 production of Elektra, Mansouri decided to give the idea a shot. He added supertitles, projected on a screen above the stage, to help audience members better follow the action. It proved to be a controversial act but one that was adopted by many major opera houses across the world. I got blasted, Mansouri recalled. They called it the plague from Canada. I had vulgarized opera. But I didn’t give a damn because all of a sudden the audience was involved. San Francisco Opera was an early adopter of Mansouri’s innovation, starting in the fall of 1983. Later Mansouri himself joined the company as general director. But the debate over supertitles rages on, even after over three decades. Should the music take precedence over the lyrics? Do real-time translations take listeners out of the moment, preventing them from feeling the emotion of the music? Tell us your thoughts!

Love is all you need, right? As his buddy Guglielmo leaves to grab a bite, Ferrando hangs back. Having just observed his fiancée in disguise, he's witnessed how she withstood Guglielmo's incessant flirting and it has bolstered his faith in romance. A breath of love from our beloveds will fill our hearts with sweet sustenance, Ferrando sings in the aria "Un Aura Amorosa," part of this weekend's free streaming opera, "Così Fan Tutte."... Will Ferrando's faith in love be rewarded? Tune in now to see tenor FRANCESCO DEMURO in this classic Mozart comedy: https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/ (: Cory Weaver |Conductor: Nicola Luisotti |Director: Jose Maria Condemi |Production: John Cox |Production Designer: Robert Perdziola)

"Così Fan Tutte" is an upbeat comedy about two soldiers with a serious gambling problem wagering 100 gold sequin coins on the fidelity of their fiancées. But it premiered at a time when Mozart himself was struggling financially. Mozart was never particularly known for keeping a tight budget: Some experts estimate he was in the top five percent of wage-earners in Vienna in the 18th century, though his income only amounted to about $42,000 by today's standards. But Mozart's f...inancial woes were compounded by poor health and international affairs. His patrons in Vienna's court were embroiled in a costly war with the Ottoman Empire, and his wife had fallen ill. Mozart himself may have been depressed, producing less work than he had previously. Still, "Così" netted him at least 450 gulden coins though when he begged a friend for a loan, he estimated his commission closer to 900. Was he lying? Was he paid off-book? Or was he stiffed by Vienna's court? Mysteries of history... See "Così Fan Tutte" all weekend long, starting Saturday at 10 a.m. Pacific: https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/ (: Cory Weaver |Conductor: Nicola Luisotti |Director: Jose Maria Condemi |Production: John Cox |Production Designer: Robert Perdziola)

It was the summer of 1940, but the problem was an eternal one: The kids were bored. The great composer Francis Poulenc had tried to distract the children with his virtuoso piano playing, but nothing worked until the kids placed a book on his music stand. It was "The Story of Babar," the picture book about an elephant who would be king. It was the inspiration Poulenc needed and the distraction the kids demanded. Poulenc improvised a new narrative symphony, and this Wednesd...ay, you can see it brought to life under the baton of our incoming music director Eun Sun Kim! She leads La Scala's orchestra in a free livestreamed performance of "The Story of Babar" available for free on the Teatro alla Scala website, YouTube channel and Facebook page! https://www.teatroallascala.org//the-story-of-babar-sympho (: Scott Wall/San Francisco Opera)

Happy birthday to our company founder, the Neapolitan conductor and pianist Gaetano Merola! Born in 1881 to a court violinist, Merola left Italy for the United States in his late teens, where he found a position as an assistant conductor with the Metropolitan Opera. But it was on tour with the San Carlo Opera that he found the future home for his ambitions: San Francisco.... Though his visit to the Bay Area would be characterized in the New York Times as a "financial failure," Merola discovered a community hungry for more opera. That, combined with the San Francisco's plans for a municipal theater, encouraged Merola to found his own company in 1923. And the rest is history!

Bring the opulence of the stage home to your next costume party or Halloween bash! This November, we're breaking open our vault for a historic event: our first digital-only costume sale. Browse over 500 outfits direct from our most beloved productions, including stunners from "Tannhäuser," "The Merry Widow," "Die Fledermaus" and more! Pick up your own piece of San Francisco Opera history. And who knows? Maybe you'll nab a gown worn by legends like Frederica von Stade or a costume from a world premiere! Head to our website for more details: https://sfopera.com/costumesale (: Thierry Bosquet for "The Merry Widow")

Get in the way of true love and you’ll get your comeuppance. That’s the story behind Gaetano Donizetti’s hit comedy, Don Pasquale, which premiered #OnThisDay in 1843. Donizetti himself selected the subject matter and was so particular about its telling that he drove his librettist crazy. Giovanni Ruffini even refused to be credited on the project, saying he didn’t recognize the writing as his own. The opera tells the story of Ernesto and his elderly uncle, Don Pasquale. E...rnesto is deep in love with Norina, but her poverty and widowhood make her an ineligible match in his uncle’s eyes. He refuses to even meet Norina which allows her to partake in a plot to change his mind. Don Pasquale’s premiere in Paris allowed Donizetti to reunite the original stars of another Italian hit, Vincenzo Bellini’s I Puritani. It was an instant hit and remains so to this day. (: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera's "Don Pasquale," featuring Lucas Meachem, Heidi Stober, Lawrence Brownlee and Maurizio Muraro)

It was a year of unrest, isolation and heartbreak a year when democracy itself was put to the test and the world came together to mourn over a million lives lost to pandemic. 2020 was a year for the history books, no doubt about it. But while we wouldn’t want to relive it, we do want to acknowledge the artists who soldiered through and made new music in a year of unprecedented hardship. This Sunday at 8 p.m. Pacific, KDFC’s The Opera Hour is dedicated to that music: the new releases that gave us hope for the future. Tune in to hear hosts Bill Lueth and Matthew Shilvock share excerpts from some of the best classical albums of 2020: https://www.kdfc.com/radio/programs/the-opera-hour/

Start the new year off right with a new season of opera featuring some of our hottest performances yet! Our #OperaIsON free streaming series returns on January 16 with the opera that launched our 97th season: Charles Gounod's "Romeo and Juliet," starring Pene Pati and Nadine Sierra. Then, the following weekend, get ready for the steamy temptations of Camille Saint-Saëns's biblical epic "Samson and Delilah," with mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina and tenor Clifton Forbis leading t...he cast. Finally, January ends with a classic: Giuseppe Verdi's "La Traviata." Soprano Nicole Cabell stars as the courtesan with all of Paris at her feet until she trades it all for a chance at love with Stephen Costello's bourgeois young gentleman. When his family protests the match, will she sacrifice her love for his honor? Check out all the coming attractions, streaming free this month: https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/ (: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera)

Everything's going to be alright now. She's going to go down to the fountain to meet her lover Edgardo just like she used to. And they're going to get married. And they're going to be happy. "At last I am yours," Lucia sings. "At last you are mine." But that joy Lucia feels is an illusion, blinding her to the reality: She has already been married. Just this day, in fact. And the blood on her hands is that of the husband she murdered. Her beautiful dreams, so real in her eyes,... will never come to pass. Gaetano Donizetti composed the mad scene in "Lucia di Lammermoor" with a cutting-edge instrument in mind: the glass harmonica. Able to produce the same otherworldly sound as a finger rubbing on a wine-glass rim, the glass harmonica had been recently invented by Benjamin Franklin and was reputed to induce madness among its listeners. For this production with soprano Natalie Dessay, we used a modern update on the glass harmonica, a verrophone. Listen for it in this weekend's #Halloween streaming special: https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/

New leadership for the new year! As we look ahead to 2021, we're excited to welcome South Korean conductor Eun Sun Kim to the podium as our newest music director, right before the start of our 99th season! What a way to start the next hundred years, eh? Kim will also join us throughout the year for our reimagined spring season, as well as new digital initiatives. Help us ring in the new year with a hearty welcome for the conductor! (: Kristen Loken/San Francisco Opera)

Happy New Year! The San Francisco Opera Center home to our young artist training program is kicking off 2021 with a new direction for the future, starting at the top. This January, celebrated pianist and vocal coach Carrie-Ann Matheson takes over as the center's artistic director. Life coach, baritone and artist manager Markus Beam joins her as general manager. Welcome to the team, Carrie-Ann and Markus! https://sfopera.com//press-/SFOC-Leadership-Matheson-Beam/

Happy Halloween! Celebrate with the ghosts of a rivalry generations in the making, as it reaches its epic, bloody conclusion. Right now, you can start streaming Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, free on our website through midnight Sunday Pacific time. In what the San Francisco Chronicle calls a probing and musically resplendent company debut, French soprano Natalie Dessay stars as the ill-fated Lucia, one of her trademark roles and a maddeningly brilliant performance. See it today: https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/ (: McCarthy/San Francisco Opera's "Lucia di Lammermoor")

The sound of a lighter, clicking in an empty theater. A ghostly specter, blocking the attic exit. A box of ashes, sealed into the War Memorial walls. An impresario, forever watching over the opera he dedicated his life to. This Halloween, meet the phantoms of our opera with backstage lore from War Memorial Opera House head John Boatwright! Hear the stories that make our stagehands jump with fright: https://sfopera.com//goosebumps-and-ghost-stories-with-op/... (: Esther del Rosario/Courtesy of John Boatwright)

... And the clock strikes midnight out here on the West Coast! As we take our first steps into 2021, we want to pause a moment to say "thank you" for helping us make it here today. Without your unfailing enthusiasm and support, it's hard to imagine how we would have survived a year as tumultuous as 2020. It's been one of the toughest periods in our nearly century-long history. But as we move forward with optimism, we want to acknowledge the community that is our engine and ...the inspiration for everything that we do. So thank you. May the new year bring joy and prosperity to everything you do. (: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera's "La Bohème," starring Ellie Dehn and Dale Travis)

Hear that? It's the sound that reputedly drove listeners insane and had composers going wild as well! The glass harmonica was all the rage following its invention in 1761 by Benjamin Franklin. Composer Gaetano Donizetti had it in mind when he wrote the infamous mad scene in his opera "Lucia di Lammermoor" but its eerie, otherworldly sound had to be substituted for a flute right before the opera's 1835 premiere, following a contract dispute. This weekend's production of "Lucia di Lammermoor" pays tribute to Donizetti's original vision by employing a verrophone a 20th-century update on Franklin's design. See it in action this weekend: https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/

"Soon this neglected tomb will give me refuge," Edgardo Ravenswood sings before the tomb of his ancestors. He is alone in the world. His family has fallen. The love of his life perishes behind castle walls. He sees no alternative but to join his forefathers in the grave, his grief is so great. Italian tenor Giuseppe Filianoti delivers a wrenching performance of the aria "Fra poco a me ricovero" in this weekend's #Halloweeen streaming special "Lucia di Lammermoor:" https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/

They sat next to you in the darkened theater. Sang to you from the stage. Summoned worlds of fantasy and magic from the tips of their batons. They lived for opera. They lived for the joy it brought. They lived to share that passion. Today, we take a moment to remember the people we lost this year, members of our community that helped to build this community. These are but a few of their names:... Mika Shigematsu, mezzo-soprano Hertha Töpper, soprano Erin Wall, soprano Gabriella Tucci, soprano Arthur Woodley, bass Suzanne Turley, patron and supporter of the arts Richard Woitach, conductor Charles Schneider, conductor Join us in remembering the people we’ll miss in 2021. Share your memories below, and visit our blog to see more remembrances: sfopera.com/inmemoriam2021

Theirs are the voices that shaped San Francisco Opera whether they sang on the stage, led from the orchestra pit or worked tirelessly behind the scenes. As we prepare to bid farewell to 2020, we take a moment to remember a few of the lives we lost in the past year. They were our friends, our colleagues, our mentors, not to mention our inspiration for the future and the great art we aspire to. Please join us in taking a moment to pause in memory of the departed:... Arlene Saunders, soprano Eugenia Ratti, soprano Valéry Ryvkin, coach and conductor Jeanette Pilou, soprano Doug Norby, supporter of the arts Rolando Panerai, baritone Joel Revzen, conductor Elinor Ross, soprano Nello Santi, conductor Kerstin Meyer, mezzo-soprano These are only a few of the voices we lost this year. For more remembrances, please visit our blog to find 2020’s In Memoriam tribute: sfopera.com/InMemoriam2020

If you ain’t been throwed, you ain’t rode. That was the advice novelist John Steinbeck gave to a young playwright, Terrence McNally, and it’s advice we’ve had to take to heart this year. 2020 was a year we all were throwed: by violence, by pandemics, by incalculable loss. McNally’s was among the lives claimed by COVID-19. But his example, and that of the other artists and leaders we remember here today, instruct us how to move forward.... The challenges they overcame inspire us to do the same and to ensure that, no matter the obstacle, that art will endure. These are a few of the artists, friends and allies we lost in the past year: Nadžda Kniplová, soprano Franz Mazura, bass-baritone Warner Henry, patron and supporter of the arts Harry Kupfer, director Ernest Knell, conductor and chorus master Ming Cho Lee, art director and designer Nancy Livingston, patron and supporter of the arts John Macurdy, bass Terrence McNally, playwright and librettist Jolanda Meneguzzer, soprano For more remembrances, please visit our blog: sfopera.com/InMemoriam2020

How did opera gain a foothold in the United States? This Sunday, allow researcher Laura Prichard to take you back to colonial times, to discover which operas fired the American imagination and meet the key figures who introduced the art form to the United States, including Mozart collaborator Lorenzo Da Ponte! Register now to secure your spot at this interactive event: https://sfopera.com//educat/community-programs/aficionado/... (: Carolyn Mason Jones/San Francisco Opera's "La Sonnambula," starring Anna Moffo)

As we move into 2021, we look to the past for the creativity and inspiration to forge ahead. We look especially to those we lost titans of the stage, visionaries behind the scenes and leaders who made their work possible. It was through their efforts that we saw the power of art to transform the world. It is through their passion that we understood the wonder and excitement opera can provide. Throughout the day, we’ll be sharing the images of those we lost in the past year.... Here are a few of those we’ll miss as we look back on 2020: Christiane Eda-Pierre, soprano Mirella Freni, soprano Anton Coppola, conductor Silvano Carroli, baritone Claude Heater, baritone Rosanna Carteri, soprano Rosalind Elias, mezzo-soprano Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Supreme Court justice and supporter of the arts Gabriel Bacquier, baritone Ann Getty, philanthropist and supporter of the arts Join us in remembering those lost in the past year. Visit our blog for more remembrances: sfopera.com/InMemoriam2020

It's a musical menagerie starting with the regal prance of the lions. Then come the vaulting chords of the kangaroos, the heavy footfalls of elephants, and the chirping strings of the birds up above. A parade of animals comes to life with Camille Saint-Saëns's music, under the baton of our incoming music director Eun Sun Kim! On New Year's Day, she leads a free broadcast of "The Carnival of Animals," performed by La Scala's orchestra.... Tune in for the premiere at 11 a.m. Central European time (2 a.m. Pacific) or catch the performance throughout the day: https://www.teatroallascala.org//the-carnival-of-the-anima (: Kristen Loken/San Francisco Opera)

#YearInReview I felt, in a lot of ways, I was losing my identity. Earlier this year, Efraín Solís, baritone and star of "The Magic Flute," spoke to the mental health challenges facing performers during this time of widespread cancellations. It's more than the sudden loss of financial security, he says though that is a big factor as well.... I think ultimately like we perform because we're very emotional people. For me at least, that is part of my outlet, Solís said. I love that I can leave my crap at the door and really just dive into someone else’s music, someone else’s psyche, and through that release a lot of my emotional baggage. Solís, who now performs as part of Opera San Jose's corps of resident artists, shares how growing up in Southern California gave him a deep appreciation of music and introduced him to opera: https://sfopera.com/blog/efrain-solis/ (: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera's "The Magic Flute")

#YearInReview In 2020, we heard from an icon in our midst, wig and makeup master Stan Dufford. Only his work wasn't always considered the art it is today. Dufford oversaw the departments in the 1950s and '60s, and when he arrived, he was given few resources. Sometimes, he wasn't even told how many performers he'd be helping to dress. I had to cut up wigs in order to make new wigs because I was not given a budget for hair. In the 13 years I worked here, I was given $50 to buy... hair, Dufford says. It was a horrendous race against time. After over a half century in the opera business split between San Francisco and Chicago Dufford pulled back the curtain to show us how the industry has changed and how hair and makeup has changed with it: https://sfopera.com//for-stan-dufford-a-battle-for-respec/ (: Carolyn Mason Jones/San Francisco Opera)

Talk about flexibility! Today, on #WorldBalletDay, we tip our hats to our amazing corps of dancers but they do so much more than pirouettes and pliés! Whatever style of dance a script calls for, they jump in with the perfect moves and choreography. Fun fact: It was tradition for grand opera in the French style to have a ballet but never in the first act. That was due in large part to Paris's high-rolling Jockey Club, whose members would often arrive late, after a sumptuou...s dinner. The ballets were a must-see attraction for the Jockey Club's male-only clientele, some of whom reportedly had mistresses among the dancers. So composer Richard Wagner had to insert a ballet into his opera "Tannhäuser" ahead of its 1861 performance in Paris. One problem? He put the ballet in the first act. It was quite le scandale! (: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera's "Rusalka")

How do you get to Opera Land? By dancing, of course! Here to get you and young ones moving is BEARitone the Opera Bear, with a brand-new "Dance-a-Long" this Tuesday, December 29. Get to know some of opera's most toe-tapping tunes, and practice your best dance moves, just in time for the new year! Register today for our final BEARitone event of the year: bit.ly/sfo1229

At age 12, she was already giving concerts. Less than a decade later, she was starring at La Scala. We were saddened to hear that Verona-born soprano Rosanna Carteri passed away this past weekend at age 89. Carteri arrived in San Francisco at age 23, ready to make her U.S. debut in the role of "La Bohème's" tragic heroine Mimì. In the year that followed, she tackled a number of starring roles on our stage, from Manon in "Manon Lescaut" to Susanna in "The Marriage of Figaro."... Here, she plays Zerlina in 1955's "Don Giovanni," a role she took on tour to Los Angeles. Learn more about the performer and her life: https://operawire.com/obituary-italian-soprano-rosanna-car/ (: Carolyn Mason Jones/San Francisco Opera's 1955 "Don Giovanni")

#YearInReview You never really think that these things are gonna happen to you until they just do. 2020 will be remembered as the year over 1.6 million people worldwide were lost to the novel coronavirus. Soprano Nadine Sierra knew its perils. This past spring, one of her friends had died from complications of COVID-19. His memory was on her mind when she, her mother and her young sister discovered, months later, that they too had contracted the virus.... For Sierra, she noticed the virus affecting her heart condition, mitral valve stenosis: She would feel her chest fluttering as she battled the illness. But for her mother, the symptoms were much worse. Normally athletic, her mother found herself feeling so weak she couldn't walk. Fortunately, all three made a full recovery. But Sierra chose to share her story this past September in the hope her experience could help educate and comfort others. We have to help one another through this kind of thing, she said. You can find her story here: https://sfopera.com/blog/soprano-nadine-sierra/ (: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera's "Lucia di Lammermoor")

#YearInReview It hasn't happened often, tenor Arturo Chacón-Cruz says, but he has received pushback to performing both opera and mariachi. He's quick to note that he respects the differences in styles and the unique demands of each genre. But while he's performed opera from La Scala to the Carnegie Hall, he's also faced criticism about his background in mariachi singing. An agent, he says, once advised him that mariachi was in the low class and that I shouldn’t be singing ...that because it would bring my career down." Chacón-Cruz shakes off those types of comments. "The future is not going to be for the rigid," he says with a smile. In this 2020 interview, we catch up with the celebrated performer in Montreal, where he reflects on the state of the opera industry and his embrace of his musical roots: https://sfopera.com/blog/tenor-arturo-chacon-cruz/ (: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera)

This is your community. Your neighbors. Your friends. These are the artists who bring grand opera to the Bay Area. And they need your support. Join Matthew Shilvock, general director, and consider donating to support San Francisco Opera in its time of need. Now through November 23, every dollar donated is a dollar doubled, as part of our Company Relief Challenge. So double your impact, and keep this community alive: https://sfopera.com/donate

#ThrowbackThursday Opera and theater set designer Ming Cho Lee passed away last week at the age of 90. Lee's work was seen by San Francisco Opera audiences over three decades (19611991). Pictured here is an example of his sets for the Company's Spring Opera Theater production of Bach's The Passion According to Saint Matthew (1973). : Carolyn Mason Jones/San Francisco Opera

#YearInReview When safety precautions kept us apart, we found a way to come together while still adhering to the principles of social distancing. This fall, we hosted our first drive-in cinema experiences, with the help of our friends at Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture, the only movie theater with sunset views of the Golden Gate Bridge. Two iconic productions, "Lucia di Lammermoor" and "Tosca," came to the big screen. We shared gasps, we shared laughs, we shared the frisson of excitement as the curtain rose. In short, we shared the magic of opera and we are so honored you came out to join us.

#YearInReview It took a week of seemingly endless hammering, a needle stabbing every inch of his body from his waist down to his knees. But when tenor Amitai Pati emerged from the sacred ceremony with a freshly drawn pe'a tattoo covering much of his lower body he emerged as a new man: a Soga’imiti, a figure of respect and courage in Samoan life. Earlier this year, we were honored to sit down with Amitai and older brother Pene Pati, who shared a glimpse at the traditions t...hey had inked into their skin. Though the brothers initially worried that receiving large, traditional tattoos would affect their ability to be cast in opera productions, neither have any regrets. If anything, they expressed pride in their ability to share Samoan culture with opera audiences. I’m proud of my heritage, I’m proud of my culture, and I represent my family every time I go out and people see this tattoo. It’s something I don’t want to shy away from, something I don’t want to hide from the rest of the world. If anything, I want to expose it as much as possible, Amitai said. I feel like, for me, it’s my unique stamp on the opera stage. Read on for a bit of pre-pandemic good news from the Pati brothers, recently seen together here in "Rigoletto:" https://sfopera.com//transformation-in-song-and-ink-how-t/ (: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera's "Rigoletto")

He slips a ring onto her finger, the woman he loved so dearly and then so violently lost. If her soul has flown to heaven, that's where he'll go to never to be parted from his beloved Lucia. Tenor Giuseppe Filianoti stars this weekend as Edgardo, heir to Lucia's hereditary rivals, the Ravenswoods. Like a Scottish Romeo beholding the body of his Juliet, he is overcome with grief and sees no way to bridge their family's hatred than to join his loved one in the grave. "Tu che a Dio spiegasti l'ali" is the epic climax of this weekend's free streaming special, Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor." How did things get so dire? Find out in this twisty drama, full of ghosts, blood feuds and vengeance: https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/

Lucia embarked gravely on her cavatina in G major. She complained of love’s pangs; she longed for wings. Emma, too, fleeing from life, would have liked to fly away in an embrace. Gaetano Donizetti’s opera Lucia di Lammermoor has inspired other tragic love stories including one of the most scandalous novels of its time, Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary. The novel’s main character, Emma Bovary, is a romantic at heart, but the break-up after her first extra-marital affai...r leaves her shattered. Her husband, a passionless country doctor, decides that she needs a pick-me-up: an outing to see Lucia di Lammermoor. It does more than he realizes. The opera rekindles Emma Bovary’s romantic fantasies and reintroduces her to the object of her next affair! Ready to see the opera that inspired Madame Bovary? Lucia streams this weekend: https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/ (: McCarthy/San Francisco Opera, starring Natalie Dessay and Giuseppe Filianoti)

Christmas time is here, full of happiness and cheer and music! Our opera librarian, tenor Michael Bragg, is here to wish you a holly, jolly holiday with a soundtrack that will have you rocking around the Christmas tree in no time. His curated playlist features some of the most memorable voices in the history of opera: civil rights icon Marian Anderson, silver-toned titan Leontyne Price, bel canto master Joan Sutherland, emotional powerhouse Luciano Pavarotti and more. Hear their renditions of holiday classics: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6qeTcQKDVtrdScjxUR7BRZ

Nothing like some taunting to reignite a blood feud. Enrico Ashton has conspired to separate his sister Lucia from her true love Edgardo, the son of a rival house. Now that he sees Edgardo again, he can't help but gloat: Lucia is in bed with her new husband, he sings. Edgardo takes the bait. Yes, he'll fight Enrico. Yes, he'll meet him at the tomb of his ancestors at dawn. And yes, he'll settle their generations-old family rivalry with swords and bloodshed. It's a battle to the death in the duet "Ah! O sole, più ratto," part of Gaetano Donizetti's gothic tale of romance and horror. See "Lucia di Lammermoor" this Halloween weekend: https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/

From the entire San Francisco Opera family, happy holidays! May your day be filled with warmth and cheer! (: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera's "It's a Wonderful Life")

Suppose a wolf came out of the forest with yellow eyes and sharp teeth? Would you be brave enough to stop it? We're calling children young and old to join our incoming music director Eun Sun Kim on an adventure with Sergei Prokofiev's beloved symphonic fairy tale, "Peter and the Wolf!" Kim conducts a livestreamed special with the Teatro alla Scala on Christmas Day, along with music from Mozart.... Catch it when it premieres at 11 a.m. Central European time (2 a.m. Pacific), or watch the performance throughout the day: https://www.teatroallascala.org//peter-and-the-wolf-concer (: Matthew Washburn/San Francisco Opera)

Dance your way to Opera Land this Sunday with BEARitone the Opera Bear! Adventure through worlds brought to life through classical music in our latest free story time event, "Sing-a-Long and Story Time." BEARitone teams up with his good buddy Mr. Cole to teach young opera fans rhythm and the stories of some of opera's works all in this fun, free family event. Register today: bit.ly/sfo1227

#YearInReview It would end up being our last live public performance this year and it starred two up-and-coming sensations, mezzo-soprano Simone McIntosh and tenor Zhengyi Bai, both members of our 2020 class of Adler Fellows. Together, on March 4, they performed a Schwabacher recital with pianist Robert Mollicone which featured an ambitious slate of music, including a rendition of Olivier Messiaen's surreal song cycle "Harawi," pictured here. Critics hailed the performance ...as "stunning." All our 2020 Adler Fellows have been invited to return again in 2021 meaning we can look forward to more performances like this one in the coming year. (: San Francisco Opera)

#YearInReview Early in the coronavirus lockdown, when cabin fever started to set in, our resident artists, the Adler Fellows, turned to song. They and other stars from our stage produced a series called "Odes to Joy," each with a musical selection dedicated to those suffering through the coronavirus pandemic. Did music help get you through 2020? Share your story below and your own musical recommendation!

#YearInReview We got a little silly in 2020 with conductor and former music director Nicola Luisotti, diving into his pastime, his passion, his obsession with mushrooms. But for all the lighthearted insight into the cloak-and-dagger world of mushroom hunting, Luisotti left us with some important words about how he's seen 2020 affect the opera industry. He called on the United States to do more to revive its live performances, while still staying safe during the pandemic.... People continue to go on the bus. People continue to go on the airplanes. People continue to go on the trains. People go continue to go to the supermarket, to the malls, and everything but the theater and culture. We can't stop the culture. Because if we stop the culture, it means that we are stopping life," he said in a recent interview. Read on to get to know more about the celebrated conductor: https://sfopera.com//nicola-luisottis-secret-to-mushroom-/ (: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera)

#YearInReview "Things are starting to move in a healthier direction. Which is really awesome. I did not think I would live to see that." Since completing an Adler Fellowship at San Francisco Opera in 2018, Canadian director Aria Umezawa has been on a mission: to confront harassment in the opera industry and train people in bystander intervention. "I think the #MeToo movement put it on my radar," she said in a new interview.... "Long before it even hit the opera industry, I was seeing what was happening in film and television and thinking these worlds are very interconnected. Nothing exists in a silo." What is the state of harassment training in 2020? And what do "geniuses" have to do with toxic workplaces? Catch up with Umezawa as she reflects on the changes in the opera industry and the work still to come: https://sfopera.com//confronting-genius-director-aria-ume/ (: Kristen Loken/San Francisco Opera)

#YearInReview A love letter to the Bay Area and the community that keeps us going, through good times and bad. That was the vision behind this December's 90-minute digital concert event, "Celebrating the Voices of San Francisco Opera." And the voices came ringing from across the globe: from Madrid, from Berlin, from Chicago, from Auckland and more. Plus, our very own San Francisco Opera Orchestra performed right here in the Bay Area. Pictured here are just two of those musi...cians: harp player Olga Ortenberg Rakitchenkov and violinist and concertmaster Kay Stern. Thank you to the performers who shared their music, to the interviewees who lent their insight and to all those who tuned in to support art on stages near and far! (: Kristen Loken/San Francisco Opera)

Is the weather outside un-BEAR-able? Looking for an im-PAWS-ibly good time to have indoors this holiday season? BEARitone the Opera Bear is hosting his first holiday party, and you’re invited! Gather your littlest opera fans for a morning of song, dance and stories. This Wednesday, join BEARitone and his friends Alto Owl and Foxy Tenor to celebrate winter traditions from across the globe. Register today: bit.ly/sfo1223

#YearInReview This spring, we caught up with mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, star of 2019’s Rusalka and the inaugural host of our Pride Night at the Opera event. Through her words, she took us back to the rural town in Georgia where she grew up and where she started singing as a child. There was a performance element in the bluegrass community, she explains. We would get together and have what they would call ‘pickins and grinnins,’ just a community event gathering at some...body’s house. Everybody brings potluck. All the kids are running around outside and everybody with an instrument is sitting in the living room just jamming. But late at night, she was indulging in what she calls her teenage rebellion: classical music. Barton would drift off to sleep to the sounds a nearby @NPR station in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The DJ who ran that station really loved Chopin, so Chopin was the first composer who I was like: ‘Holy crap, I love this guy.’ Which composer made you fall in love with classical music? Tell us below! And read more from our 2020 catch-up sessionwith Barton: https://sfopera.com//talking-pride-with-mezzo-soprano-jam/ (: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera's "Norma")

#YearInReview When an elementary-school-age Stephanie McNab went to visit her father at work, it wasn't unusual to see comedian Billy Crystal stroll by or her favorite movie villain, Anthony Hopkins from "The Silence of the Lambs." And when McNab went to the movie theater, she could pick out her father's trumpet among some of cinema's most iconic soundtracks: "Jaws," "Jurassic Park" and "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark." But growing up the daughter of a Hollyw...ood musician came with drawbacks. When McNab decided to pursue the flute as a career, she worried her last name would overshadow the qualifications she'd earned herself. This year, McNab shared her journey out from her father's shadow and how she found a home in the opera's orchestra pit, rather than a Hollywood sound stage: https://sfopera.com//from-hollywood-to-the-pit-flutist-st/

#YearInReview It was spring 2020, and suddenly, America's once-busy stages were silent. The country had gone into quarantine. But in Laura Albers's home, it wasn't silence and isolation she had to contend with. It was the noise of two kids with no place to go and an abundance of energy. "Tonight as I wiped down the counters after dinner, my husband was practicing piano in the living room, my son was composing a theme song on violin for his latest superhero story, and my 4-y...ear-old was marching around the house banging on a hand drum," she writes in her beautiful, heartfelt essay "The Soundtrack of Togetherness." Albers, an associate concertmaster at the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, shares her experiences finding music in an ever-busy home and the challenges she faces being apart from her fellow orchestra members. Read on: https://sfopera.com/blog/the-soundtrack-of-togetherness/

#YearInReview On Friday, July 10, we premiered our first digital concert event: a three-part, 90-minute spectacular called "Celebrating the Summer Season." The coronavirus pandemic had forced the cancellations of our three summer operas: "Ernani," "Partenope" and what would have been our first performance of "The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs." But the artists behind those productions rallied together to put on an at-home concert that opera lovers could enjoy from the safety of ...home. We are celebrating and honoring the operas that should have been on our stage right now, Matthew Shilvock, general director, said ahead of the broadcast. Joining him for the event were artists like Sasha Cooke, Michelle Bradley, Mason Bates, Russell Thomas, Louise Alder, Jakub Józef Orliski - Countertenor and Eun Sun Kim. Bravi tutti!

#YearInReview As 2020 rounds to a close, we bid farewell to a legend on stage and off: soprano Sheri Greenawald. Over the course of 18 years, Greenawald trained hundreds of young artists in her role as director of the San Francisco Opera Center. And in the decades before that, she delighted audiences with her performances of "Fidelio," "Manon," "Cinderella" and more. But it was a journey to command the respect she does today. In a new interview, Greenawald shared that she was... sometimes dismissed as a "dumb singer" during her career despite the fact that she originated new roles, pouring herself into the construction of characters never before seen on the opera stage. All singers deserve respect equal to that of any other musician, Greenawald argues. "I’m sorry, but we have had to learn a language. We’ve had to put that together with music, and we have to stand up and run around on stage and act as well. So don’t call me a lousy musician if I can do all that. Curious what the next chapter holds for Greenawald? Read on to discover her plans to be Jane Fonda and what her artistic goals are for the future: https://sfopera.com//sheri-greenawald-on-culture-shock-ge/ (: Kristen Loken/San Francisco Opera)

#YearInReview One of the memories we'll cherish most is of the young artists we were able to present through our annual Schwabacher Recital Series. Though it was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year's series kicked off in January with a trio of powerful, up-and-coming performers: Alice Chung, mezzo soprano; Laureano Quant, baritone; and Nicholas Roehler, pianist. They presented a series of songs themed around nighttime including compositions written by Quant himself, based on poetry from his native Colombia. Check out these snapshots as they prepared for showtime!

#YearInReview As we look back on 2020 the highs and the many, many lows we're taking a moment to reflect on some of the events and perspectives that defined our year. Baritone Sidney Outlaw gave voice to what many of us were feeling this year when he said, "These aren’t normal times. These are awakening times. When we reached out to Outlaw in the summer of 2020, he explained he contemplated retreating from the world. It was tempting to surrender to a repeat viewing of "S...chitt's Creek" rather than face the endlessly bleak news cycle. But then he remembered singer Nina Simone's words: It's an artist's duty to reflect the times. In this interview, he does just that, calling out the barriers to entry in the opera world today and sharing the art that inspires him to carry on: https://sfopera.com//leveling-the-playing-field-an-interv/ (: Kristen Loken/Merola Opera Program)

If the chill in the air has chased you indoors, gather your loved ones together for a winter-themed story time, hosted by everyone's favorite opera bear! BEARitone the Opera Bear returns for a three free workshops, designed to take you and your littlest opera fans on a magical adventure through the worlds of opera. Get ready for sing-a-longs, adventure stories and dances you can practice at home! Register now for the first workshop, this Wednesday, December 23: bit.ly/sfo1223

Always keeping the new in view. That’s how today’s birthday boy, Ludwig van Beethoven, described his philosophy toward composing and that’s why his only opera Fidelio proved to be such a challenge. Beethoven had started another opera, Vestas Feuer, when the story of Fidelio took his attention elsewhere. It told the story of a woman who faces down a tyrannical regime and frees her wrongfully imprisoned husband. Beethoven started Fidelio in 1804 and he completed i...t in time for its Vienna premiere in 1805. But its reception was tepid. Theater owners didn’t like the original title, Leonore it was too similar to the name of another opera and Vienna was in the midst of a French military occupation. Not a lot of takers for German opera. So over the course of the next nine years, Beethoven set about reworking Fidelio. I could compose something new far more quickly than patch up the old with something new, as I am now doing, he complained to a new librettist he brought aboard, Georg Friedrich Treitschke. A fourth and final version of Fidelio debuted in 1814. I assure you, Beethoven added, that this opera will win me a martyr’s crown. (: Ron Scherl/San Francisco Opera's 1978 "Fidelio," starring Gwyneth Jones and Spas Wenkoff)

Okay, so it may (or may not) be Beethoven’s 250th birthday today, though with a year as crummy as 2020, we’ll take any reason we can claw onto to celebrate. Which is why we’re sharing this archival photo from our very first production of Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio. It was a Monday night in 1937 when the story of Leonore, Beethoven's jail-breaking heroine, first appeared on our stage. Leonore has infiltrated a foreboding state prison, governed by the tyrannical Don Pi...zarro a prison warden so vile, he berates his staff for allowing inmates the luxury of a moment in the sun. She’s searching for her husband, a prominent dissident long presumed dead. But she’s in a race against time: Don Pizarro faces a surprise prison inspection tomorrow, and he’s eager to bury the evidence of his past misdeeds. To play Leonore is to play a heroine so courageous as to defy the most powerful men in the land. So San Francisco Opera founder Gaetano Merola chose one of the most prominent sopranos on the opera scene at the time: Norwegian soprano Kirsten Flagstad. Flagstad had made a dark-horse debut at the Metropolitan Opera two years prior, creating a splash with her nationally broadcast performance of Die Walküre, despite meager publicity. Merola scouted Flagstad backstage at the Met and brought her back to San Francisco for a series of firsts: the company’s first Ring cycle, then the company’s first Fidelio. So in honor of their achievements, let’s raise a toast to Beethoven for this powerful opera and to the artists who brought his only operatic masterpiece to life!

#ThrowbackThursday Soprano Sheri Greenawald made her San Francisco Opera debut in Beethoven's Fidelio in 1978 (pictured here with bass Marius Rintzler as Rocco). Earlier this month, she was awarded the Opera Medal, the Company's highest honor, after 18 years of leadership as director of San Francisco Opera Center and artistic director for the Merola Opera Program. We salute Sheri and also pay tribute to Beethoven on his 250th birthday. : Ron Scherl/San Francisco Opera

Okay, okay, so it may not be *exactly* Ludwig van Beethoven's birthday today. Today was the date of his baptism in 1770 but really, who can pass up a day to celebrate in a year as miserable as 2020? Raise a toast to the German composer with this roundup of history tidbits and musical highlights from the The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com//beethoven-250-birthday-classical-

Excited for conductor Eun Sun Kim to take over as music director in 2021? Itching to see her on the podium? We have the perfect event to tide you over until then: The South Korean conductor is teaming up with Milan's famed Teatro alla Scala for a family-friendly holiday treat! On Christmas Day, December 25, she starts the first of a series of livestreams, entitled "Wolfgang Amadeus and the great musical fairy tales." ... For the kick-off, she leads the orchestra in Sergei Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf," as well as a bevy of Mozart favorites: https://www.teatroallascala.org//peter-and-the-wolf-concer Then, on New Year's Day, she returns to the podium for a program including Camille Saint-Saëns's "The Carnival of the Animals:" https://www.teatroallascala.org//the-carnival-of-the-anima Finally, on January 6, the series wraps up with Francis Poulenc's "The story of Babar, the little elephant," along with more Mozart favorites: https://www.teatroallascala.org//the-story-of-babar-sympho The livestreams start at 2 a.m. Pacific (11 a.m. CET) and remain available on the La Scala website, as well as its YouTube and Facebook pages! (: Matthew Washburn/San Francisco Opera)

The fashion show continues, now with backyard belles and modern-day plague doctors! Egad! Check out more of the outfits from our 2020 costume sale, modeled by the people who bought them (and one very dapper mannequin). Did you nab your own piece of San Francisco Opera history from the sale? Flash us that diva style and send us a snapshot!

#OnThisDay in 2000, Bay Area composer John Adams debuted a new version of the nativity story, reimagined for a new millennium: "El Niño." The opera told using biblical text as well as Spanish-language poetry reunited Adams with his frequent collaborator, director and librettist Peter Sellars. Together, they evoked not only the events of the nativity but also moments of contemporary history, like the massacre at Tlatelolco in Mexico City, where hundreds of unarmed proteste...rs were killed in the shadow of the 1968 Olympics. The work received its U.S. premiere in San Francisco, at Davies Symphony Hall, and Adams and Sellars would cast baritone Davóne Tines in a later performance. The collaboration between those three artists Adams, Sellars and Tines would result in the creation of another opera: "Girls of the Golden West," which premiered here at San Francisco Opera in 2017. #OTD (: Terrence McCarthy/San Francisco Opera)

Our free #OperaIsON streaming series returns this November with a stunning role debut from superstar soprano Nadine Sierra in Gounod's "Romeo and Juliet!" If you can't wait for more free opera, check out this performance Sierra recent gave at the Teatro San Carlo... a taste of the powerful vocals to come this January, when a new year of streaming premieres on the 16th!

New challenges require new solutions and a fresh vision for the future of opera. Mark your calendars for February 16, when we unveil plans for a re-envisioned spring 2021 season! Given the ongoing challenges of staging large-scale art in the era of COVID-19, we’ve taken the opportunity to embrace a different path one that explores reimagined live performances as well as digital offerings. Stay tuned for more details, coming soon: https://sfopera.com/springFAQ

Need a last-minute gift for the opera aficionado in your life? Support the art you love with apparel, accessories and decor from San Francisco Opera. Bring the opera house home with an array of DVDs and CDs, and treat your loved ones or yourself to a print of the original art made for our greatest productions. Plus, we've got baseball caps, shirts, mugs, notebooks and more! Browse our collection, and give the gift of music to your families and friends: https://shop.sfopera.com/

What will the arts look like, post-pandemic? And what can San Francisco do to ensure a thriving future for the industry? This Thursday, San Francisco Opera invites you to join Mayor London Breed and arts organizations across the city to discuss the challenges that lie ahead and what the city can do to face them. Register here for this free event: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/re-imagine-san-francisco-throu

Looks to make Anna Wintour swoon! Presenting the first annual San Francisco Opera fashion show, featuring the stars of our 2020 costume sale: YOU! In our time of need, you answered the call, buying nearly 500 costumes spanning four decades of opera, including shows like "Samson and Delilah," "Tannhäuser," "Die Fledermaus," "The Merry Widow" and more. Every purchase went to support the artists of San Francisco Opera including the artists who stitched these costumes together!... And then in a move that made our hearts nearly burst you sent us photos of the costumes in their new homes! Wagnerian dancers tiptoed around Christmas trees. Courtly ladies modeled their finery. And knights pulled out their iPhones to show us their best looks. Zoolander, eat your heart out! Got a stunner of your own? Share your costume shots below! And a big thanks goes out to our models, including George Krause, Brian Gill, Jess Perry, Juday Aurbach, Danny Dancer, Peter Watler, Kimberly Hughes, Madison Knowles, Joey Seq and Emory Etheridge.

Trying to unravel the mystery of a new character? Bass-baritone Dale Travis who stars as Benoît and Alcindoro in this weekend's "La Bohème" starts with the details of the libretto. No punctuation is too small, no notation too obscure. Each can be a clue to the emotion needed for a scene. See his performance this weekend in Puccini's masterpiece, streaming now until midnight Pacific: https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/

It’s the disease that claims the heroines of La Traviata, The Tales of Hoffmann and this weekend’s streaming special, La Bohème. And it inspired an aesthetic that endures to this day. Tuberculosis continues to affect millions of people worldwide. And yet, despite its enduring status as one of the deadliest infectious diseases on the planet, it has garnered a reputation as a romantic disease, fueled in part by the art of 19th-century Europe. Poets like John Keats and E...dgar Allen Poe caught the disease. Painters like Claude Monet authored portraits of sufferers in the last throes of life. Even turn-of-the-century medical texts described the disease with a degree of romance. Its symptoms included a thin figure; fine, silky hair; and delicate, transparent skin qualities that serve as precursors to the waif look that remained popular well into the 20th century, from Twiggy to Kate Moss. But while the symptoms of tuberculosis were romanticized through the fashions of 19th-century Europe, public health officials at the time feared that style choices could also perpetuate the disease. Items of particular concern? Overly tight corsets, excess fabric and the bushy facial hair preferred by Victorian men. Romantic or just plain tragic? See Puccini's portray in "La Bohème," streaming for free this weekend: https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/ (: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera's "La Bohème," starring Alexia Voulgaridou and Michael Fabiano)

It didn't matter that the vinyl record was old, or that the song it played was in some strange language he didn't understand. All he knew was that he was experiencing a song of great sadness and that tidal wave of emotion would come to reshape his life. That moment helped shape baritone Hadleigh Adams into the singer he is today. Now, he shares his formative experiences with opera, just in time for his performance in this weekend's free streaming event, "La Bohème:" https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/

From the start, soprano Nadine Sierra knew she wanted to sing. But seeing the opulent Franco Zeffirelli production of Puccini's "La Bohème" helped seal the deal and guide her toward an opera career. In this interview, she shares how growing up in Florida with vocal coach César Ulloa helped shape her into the international artist she is today. See Nadine Sierra as one of the rag-tag bohemians in this weekend's free streaming special, "La Bohème:" https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/

What a cold little hand! In the opera La Bohème, the poet Rodolfo describes the effects of tuberculosis with the intimacy of someone who has seen it up close. That’s no coincidence. One of the two writers behind La Bohème’s libretto, playwright Giuseppe Giacosa, was forced to watch as the disease ravaged one of his close friends, actress Eleonora Duse. Tuberculosis was fairly common in the late 19th-century though its effects were no less tragic because of it. In Pari...s, for instance, the disease is estimated to have caused at least one in every five deaths. Many more survived but lived with the longterm effects of the disease. Both Giacosa and Duse were artists at the top of their craft. On top of being a playwright and novelist, Giacosa co-wrote some of Puccini’s most celebrated operas, Tosca and Madama Butterfly among them. Duse, meanwhile, had been acting since age 4. Her charisma on stage would be so great, she became the first woman (and first Italian) on the cover of Time magazine. The two met in 1880 and grew close. When one of Giacosa’s plays failed, she helped revive it. And when Duse fell ill with tuberculosis, Giacosa came to her aid. It was he who put her into the care of Nobel-nominated doctor Carlo Forlanini, inventor of a treatment for tuberculosis. Duse survived, but her lungs would be weak until the end of her life. See Giacosa put his experiences into poetry and music, as La Bohème streams for free this weekend: https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/ (: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera's "La Bohème," starring Michael Fabiano and Alexia Voulgaridou)

Giacomo Puccini confessed to having neronic instincts and one of the manifestations of that was his philosophy of having grande dolore in piccole anime: great suffering in little souls. His heroine Mimì one of the central characters in this weekend’s streaming special La Bohème bears the brunt of this narrative viewpoint. After finding true love, she risks having it ripped away by the forces of poverty and illness. But Puccini aimed to do more than merely torturing... his heroines. He was part of a tradition of verismo opera in late 19th-century Italy that prized realism, however gritty or unsavory the circumstances may be. How well did he capture the injustices of poverty in Mimì’s tale? Watch La Bohème this weekend to find out: https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/ (: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera's "La Bohème")

Our last streaming special of 2020 starts right now! Let Giacomo Puccini's music transport you to the magic of Paris on Christmas Eve, where a group of artists huddle together in a garret apartment: a painter, a poet, a musician, a philosopher. But for all their youth and idealism, they're about to confront two forces stronger than all their artistry: love and poverty.... An all-star cast including Michael Fabiano, Alexia Voulgaridou, Alexey Markov and Nadine Sierra headline this weekend's free streaming event, "La Bohème" available on demand NOW: https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/ (: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera)

As a child, tenor Michael Fabiano would dance, not to pop music or rock, but rather to his parent's vinyl record of Antonín Dvoák's "New World Symphony." "I've always had classical music in my ear," he says. "Not that I don't have appreciation for other musical forms, but classical music is what I love." Fabiano brings that passion to the stage this weekend as the poet Rodolfo in our last free streaming special of 2020, Puccini's "La Bohème." Tune in today, starting at 10 a.m. Pacific: https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/

This week, we honored an icon: Soprano Sheri Greenawald received our most prestigious award, the Opera Medal, for her years of service with the company. For the last 18 years, Greenawald has dedicated herself to developing new talent, in her role as director of the San Francisco Opera Center, one of the premier young artist programs in the country. But well before that, she was sharing her artistry with San Francisco audiences through her performances on our stage. She made h...er company debut with Beethoven's "Fidelio," following that performance with starring roles in operas like "Manon" and "Cendrillon." Congratulations to Sheri on this well-deserved win! https://sfopera.com//press-releases/Greenawald-Opera-Medal/

They part as they met: alone together in a garret apartment, in one of the poorest corners of Paris and thoroughly, deeply, in love. Mimì is dying, the victim of a tuberculosis infection that has ravaged her lungs. Her eyes flicker open as she begins her final duet. "Have they gone?" she asks her lover, the poet Rodolfo. "I pretended to be asleep to be alone with you." In that song "Sono andati? Fingevo di dormire" they relive their first moments together in the heartbreaking finale of Giacomo Puccini's "La Bohème." American tenor Michael Fabiano and Greek soprano Alexia Voulgaridou star in this weekend's free streaming special, starting tomorrow at 10 a.m. Pacific: https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/

'Tis the season for laughter. For merriment. And most of all, for great holiday music. Trade in your "fa-la-la-la-las" for some "hojotohos" this holiday season with our latest Opera Aficionado event! San Francisco Opera's emeritus dramaturg Kip Cranna is your guide to Yuletide wonder at our latest online, interactive discussion a digital sleigh ride through opera's silliest and sublime holiday scenes. Space is limited. Reserve your spot today: sfopera.com/aficionado... (: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera, featuring Golda Schultz)

The original Rodolfo was a real writer the one who wrote the stories upon which La Bohème is based. French author Henry Murger immortalized bohemian Paris in his 1851 story collection Scenes of Bohemian Life. The collection started as a magazine series, but soon their popularity afforded Murger the ability to publish the stories as a book and later as a play, in which Murger himself would star. But Murger suffered from the same money troubles he depicted. His Bohemian...s were water drinkers or buveurs d’eau, too poor to afford wine. Ten years after the publication of Scenes of Bohemian Life, Murger would lie nearly penniless on his deathbed, inside a city hospital. His fans buried him in Paris’s Montmartre cemetery, beneath a statue representing youth, scatting petals across his grave. See the opera inspired by his stories this weekend, when "La Bohème" streams for free: https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/ (: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera)

Wrap up the magic of opera this holiday season with our 2020 holiday sale! We've got something for everyone: apparel for the fashionista in your life, water bottles and tumblers for the opera-lover on the go, vintage posters for art lovers, and embossed notebooks for the aspiring librettist! Plus, relive your favorite opera-house moments with CDs and DVDs of your favorite performances. Every purchase supports San Francisco Opera, so give the gift that gives joy to your friends and family and supports your local opera company: https://shop.sfopera.com/col/opera-shop-online-holiday-sale

She's come all the way to the gates of Paris, coughing and wheezing, to discover why Rodolfo has so cruelly rejected her. Hiding behind an abandoned cart, Mimì is about to get her answer and so much more. In the song "Mimì è tanto malata," Rodolfo reveals to his best friend Marcello that Mimì is dying and that he holds himself to blame. "My room is squalid. I have no fire," he sings, unaware that Mimì hears his every word. "Mimì is a greenhouse flower, and poverty has withe...red her." Soprano Alexia Voulgaridou and baritone Alexey Markov make their company debuts, opposite tenor Michael Fabiano as Rodolfo, in this weekend's free streaming special, "La Bohème:" https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/ #OperaIsON

Is Puccini’s La Bohème the Love Actually of holiday operas? Both have been bestowed the title of Christmastime classic and both have as many detractors as they do fans. To get to the bottom of the mystery, we rewind to 1896 Turin, where La Bohème made its premiere and, like Love Actually, met with mixed reviews. You are young and strong, Puccini, a critic from Turin’s Gazzetta del Popolo wrote in 1896, teeing up one epic backhanded compliment:... You have talent, culture and imaginative ability such as few possess: You have today conceived the whim of forcing the public to applaud you where and when you will. That is all very well for once, but for once only. For the future, turn back to the great and difficult battles of art. And the Bohème-bashing only got worse from there. Chief among its critics was the celebrated British composer Benjamin Britten, who would profess to be sickened by the opera’s cheapness in a 1951 magazine. But like Love Actually, the opera remains tremendously popular around the world. To this day, it is the most performed work on the San Francisco Opera stage. Love it or hate it? Judge for yourself this weekend, when we stream this holiday classic free: https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/ (: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera's "La Bohème," starring Michael Fabiano and Alexia Voulgaridou)

It's dark. It's cold. And Rodolfo is alone in his room, groping the floor for a lost key next to the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. He takes a risk. He places her palm in his. "What a cold little hand," he exclaims in the iconic aria "Che Gelida Manina," one of the highlights of Giacomo Puccini's immortal opera "La Bohème." Tenor Michael Fabiano stars as the poet Rodolfo in this weekend's free streaming special the last of 2020! https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/ #OperaIsON

"Sì, mi chiamano Mimì..." Yes, her name is Mimì, but her real name is Lucia, she confides in her neighbor Rodolfo. She explains her story is short and simple though the emotions she conveys are anything but. This weekend, witness Greek soprano Alexia Voulgaridou in her company debut as Mimì in our latest streaming special, Puccini's "La Bohème." Voulgaridou who also sung the role at London's Royal Opera and on the floating stage at the Bregenz Opera Festival made "a lovely, affecting Mimì" with a "pure, sweet tone and articulate phrasing," according to the Bay Area's Mercury News. See her performance for free: https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/streaming/