FSHN PREVIEW – SF OPERA
Opera season is approaching as The San Francisco Opera General Director Matthew Shilvock gears up for the 2018–19 Season. The Company’s 96th Season will open Friday, September 7 with a gala double-bill performance of Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci in José Cura’s production with an international cast featuring Lianna Haroutounian, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Roberto Aronica, Marco Berti and Dimitri Platanias, conducted by Daniele Callegari. To usher in the new opera season, San Francisco Opera Guild will produce its signature benefit event, Opera Ball 2018.
The Company’s new season features nine operas presented in eight productions never before mounted by San Francisco Opera. The variety of works, spanning the Baroque to the contemporary, features repertory favorites Cav / Pag, Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca, Georges Bizet’s Carmen and Antonín Dvořák’s Rusalka; Richard Strauss’ 20th-century romantic gem Arabella; Gaetano Donizetti’s resurgent bel canto masterpiece Roberto Devereux; George Frideric Handel’s powerful and rarely performed Orlando; and, opening in time for the holidays, It’s a Wonderful Life, the new opera by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer which the Houston Chronicle observed “feels like a dream, conjured from the mind of an angel, existing in a plane that’s somewhere between the real and the otherworldly.” Special events of the season include opening weekend galas, free Opera in the Park, and a concert featuring Plácido Domingo on October 21.
General Director Matthew Shilvock said: “This is a season of the new: eight productions never before seen on the War Memorial Opera House stage, including a spectacular new Tosca, and eight conductors—six of whom will be new to our mainstage season—will bring exciting musical insights. The world’s finest guest artists will join our acclaimed orchestra, chorus, dance corps and crew to create thrilling moments of visceral expression and the kind of artistic excellence that is a hallmark of San Francisco Opera. I am also particularly pleased to welcome Plácido Domingo back to San Francisco Opera for a special concert led by Jordi Bernàcer.”
For the 2018–19 Season, San Francisco Opera has invited many of the finest singers and emerging artists to perform at the War Memorial Opera House. They include: sopranos Kearstin Piper Brown, Andriana Chuchman, Ellie Dehn, Christina Gansch, Carmen Giannattasio, Lianna Haroutounian, Anita Hartig, Hye Jung Lee, Ana María Martínez, Sondra Radvanovsky, Golda Schultz, Heidi Stober, Rachel Willis-Sørensen; mezzo-sopranos Jamie Barton, J’Nai Bridges, Sasha Cooke, Jill Grove, Ekaterina Semenchuk; countertenor David Daniels; tenors Roberto Aronica, Marco Berti, William Burden, Arturo Chacón-Cruz, Plácido Domingo, Brian Jagde, Keith Jameson, Daniel Johansson, Brandon Jovanovich, Matthew Polenzani, Russell Thomas; baritones Rod Gilfry, Scott Hendricks, Joshua Hopkins, Brian Mulligan, David Pershall, Dimitri Platanias, Artur Ruciński; bass-baritones Kyle Ketelsen, Christian Van Horn; and bass Ferruccio Furlanetto.
Featured conductors include Marc Albrecht, Jordi Bernàcer, Daniele Callegari, Riccardo Frizza, James Gaffigan, Leo Hussain, Eun Sun Kim, Christopher Moulds, Patrick Summers; Chorus Director Ian Robertson prepares the San Francisco Opera Chorus; and productions are by Tim Albery, José Cura, Harry Fehr, Leonard Foglia, Stephen Lawless, Shawna Lucey, David McVicar and Francesca Zambello.
The SF Opera
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