After years of restricting myself to mostly symphony and ballet in New York City and Paris, I decided to start exploring the world of opera here in San Francisco. The “Opera 101” in the titles of my opera posts is a reference to the fact that I am still learning about this incredible art form and is in no way a claim to be any sort of expert (a fact that will be abundantly clear in reading any of the posts linked below).
Most of my forays into this world have been accompanied by former co-worker La Maratonista, although occasionally other characters may make an appearance. We have generally tried to stick with the popular classics, but this coming year we decided to go all out and get a full subscription, which will include oldies but goodies (Così fan tutte, Lohengrin, Rigoletto, Tosca), a bel canto take on the story of Romeo & Juliet (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), a French take on the German author responsible for Nutcracker and Coppélia (Les Contes d’Hoffmann) and a new take on an American classic (Moby-Dick).
In the meantime, here are the operas I have seen live:
Adamo, Little Women (New York City Opera)
Adams, Nixon in China (San Francisco Opera)
Alfano, Cyrano de Bergerac (San Francisco Opera)
Bellini, I Capuleti e i Montecchi (San Francisco Opera)
Bizet, Carmen (Opéra Comique, San Francisco Opera)
Donizetti, Lucrezia Borgia (San Francisco Opera)
Gershwin, Porgy & Bess (New York City Opera)
Gilbert and Sullivan, H.M.S. Pinafore (SF Lamplighters)
Gilbert and Sullivan, The Gondoliers (SF Lamplighters)
Gilbert and Sullivan, The Mikado (New York City Opera, SF Lamplighters))
Gilbert and Sullivan, The Pirates of Penzance (SF Lamplighters)
Gilbert and Sullivan, Princess Ida (SF Lamplighters)
Gilbert and Sullivan, The Sorcerer (SF Lamplighters)
Gilbert and Sullivan, Trial by Jury (SF Lamplighters)
Gilbert and Sullivan, The Yeomen of the Guard (SF Lamplighters)
Glass, Orphée (Ensemble Parallèle)
Handel, Serse (San Francisco Opera)
Heggie, Moby-Dick (San Francisco Opera)
Janáček, Káťa Kabanová (L’Opéra de Paris, Palais Garnier)
Mozart, Die Zauberflöte (Boston Opera, New York City Opera, San Francisco Opera)
Mozart, Don Giovanni (San Francisco Opera)
Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro (San Francisco Opera)
Puccini, La Bohème (Washington Opera)
Puccini, Madama Butterfly (San Francisco Opera)
Puccini, Tosca (San Francisco Opera)
Puccini, Turandot (San Francisco Opera)
Rossini, Il barbiere di Siviglia (L’Opéra de Paris, Bastille)
Verdi, Aida (San Francisco Opera)
Verdi, Rigoletto (San Francisco Opera)
Verdi, La traviata (L’Opéra de Paris, Bastille)
Wagner, Lohengrin (San Francisco Opera)
