SAN FRANCISCO — It seems that Mark Twain never said that the coldest winter he ever spent was summer in San Francisco. But it can be surprisingly chilly for people who are unprepared. Twain came here in the 1860s and may well have attended opera.
With the Gold Rush of 1849, people came from everywhere, as did opera singers. There were almost 5,000 opera performances in 26 theaters here between 1851 and the earthquake that destroyed most of the city on April 18, 1906. The Metropolitan Opera made an important visit in November 1900, bringing along fifteen productions (including a Ring Cycle), orchestra, chorus and soloists, all traveling by rail. It came back in 1901 with at least 18 productions and again in 1905 with nine productions and a concert program.
The Met returned in mid-April 1906 for a two-week stand and performed Goldmark’s Die Königin von Saba and Carmen (starring Olive Fremstad and Enrico Caruso) before the earthquake struck. These productions, along with La Bohème, Die Walküre, Don Pasquale, Faust, Hänsel und Gretel, Lohengrin, Martha, Le Nozze di Figaro, Siegfried, Tannhäuser and Tosca, were all destroyed during the quake. It was a financial disaster for the Metropolitan Opera. Caruso was an able caricaturist and made drawings of the devastated city.
The Met did not return and a significant void was created. In 1906, a young Neapolitan named Gaetano Merola arrived in the city with dreams of creating an opera company. Long story short, he did. The San Francisco Opera began performing in 1923 and the majestic War Memorial Opera House opened in 1932 opposite City Hall, much as one might see in a European capital.
Merola led the company until 1953, when he died while conducting a performance of Madama Butterfly just as Cio-Cio-San uttered the word morire. He was replaced by Kurt Herbert Adler, who arrived as chorus master in 1943 and retired in 1981. In the years since, the illustrious leaders of the company have been Terence McEwen, Lotfi Mansouri, Pamela Rosenberg, David Gockley and Matthew Shilvock, who became general director of the company in August 2016. It amazes me that I have met all but Merola and I am not even old enough to receive Social Security.
The company has presented many big stars and cultivated superb young artists. Adler established the Merola Program in 1957. Participants are affectionately called Merolini. It has trained hundreds of opera singers and coaches. Among the most notable are Leah Crocetto, Joyce DiDonato, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Bryan Hymel, Anna Netrebko, Patricia Racette, Ruth Ann Swenson, Carol Vaness, Deborah Voigt and Dolora Zajick. The cream of the crop are invited to become Adler Fellows, who receive more intensive training and performance opportunities.
San Francisco Opera has also been a leader in commissioning new works. The next will be in November: Girls of the Golden West with music by John Adams and a libretto by Peter Sellars. It is set at the time of the Gold Rush and is drawn from original sources, including the writings of Mark Twain. This is one of five very appealing works in the three-month fall season.
I like visiting San Francisco in June because the air is fresh and cool while the cultural scene is hot. There are major art exhibitions (SFMOMA has a show on the works of Edvard Munch) and a lot of good music. And the food is delicious.
The San Francisco Symphony programs big works to conclude its season. I planned my visit to hear Berlioz’s seldom-performed “dramatic symphony” Roméo et Juliette. Michael Tilson Thomas led the orchestra and wonderful Symphony Chorus along with three superb singers — mezzo Sasha Cooke, tenor Nicholas Phan and bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni. It was a stupendous performance and I am glad that it was recorded for future release on CD.
The San Francisco Opera typically presents three operas each June that attract people from North America and elsewhere. In 2016 I heard Carmen, Don Carlo and Jenufa (the latter two were memorable) while in 2015 there was an outstanding Le Nozze di Figaro, Les Troyens and the world premiere of Marco Tutino’s La Ciociara starring Anna Caterina Antonacci.
This June the SFO embraced the 50th anniversary of San Francisco’s Summer of Love by presenting three masterpieces with operas—La Bohème, Don Giovanni and Rigoletto—that express, in their own ways, different aspects of love. These works were all revivals but were cast and performed with care. The wise decision was made to have an outstanding, charismatic singer in the title roles. Italians Erika Grimaldi (Mimì) and Ildebrando D’Arcangelo (Giovanni) were excellent.
American baritone Quinn Kelsey, an alumnus of the Merola Program, was nothing short of amazing as Rigoletto. I am sure I have seen a hundred performances of this opera and probably fifty interpreters of the title role, but Kelsey already joins the select few whom I will never forget. I want to hear him in every Verdi baritone role.
Rigoletto also featured the excellent Gilda of Nino Machaidze and a breakout performance from tenor Pene Pati as the Duke of Mantua. He and his tenor brother Amitai are both Adler Fellows from New Zealand. Pene Pati is a large, charismatic man with a beautiful voice that has colors in it that recall (dare I say it?) those of Luciano Pavarotti. He also has superlative diction in Italian—I understood every word.
I have already blocked a week in June 2018 to return to San Francisco. The Opera is presenting 3 cycles of Francesca Zambello’s production of Der Ring des Nibelungen, conducted by Donald Runnicles. I would go only for the Siegmund and Sieglinde of Brandon Jovanovich and Karita Mattila, but there will be exciting artists in all four operas, including Evelyn Herlitzius, Jamie Barton, Greer Grimsley and Falk Struckmann. With a cast this hot, I may not need to dress warmly for a San Francisco summer.