SF Opera celebrates beginning new era with incoming music director Nicola Luisotti

July 13, 1:33 PMSF Opera ExaminerCindy Warner

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Incoming San Francisco music director Nicola Luisotti conducts a new era

SAN FRANCISCO OPERA CELEBRATES THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA

WITH INCOMING MUSIC DIRECTOR NICOLA LUISOTTI

SAN FRANCISCO OPERA OPENS 86TH SEASON WITH VERDI’S IL TROVATORE,

SEPTEMBER 11, WAR MEMORIAL OPERA HOUSE

OPENING NIGHT FESTIVITIES INCLUDE SAN FRANCISCO OPERA GUILD’S

OPERA BALL 2009 AND BRAVO! CLUB’S OPENING NIGHT GALA

2009 OPENING WEEK FREE COMMUNITY EVENTS INCLUDE

SAN FRANCISCO OPERA IN THE PARK, SEPTEMBER 13, GOLDEN GATE PARK AND

WEBCOR BUILDERS PRESENTS OPERA AT THE BALLPARK, SEPTEMBER 19, AT&T PARK

SAN FRANCISCO (July 10, 2009)––Ushering in a new era for San Francisco Opera, Nicola Luisotti begins his inaugural year as music director on Friday, September 11 at the historic War Memorial Opera House with Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore, featuring an all-star cast that includes Sondra Radvanovsky, Stephanie Blythe, Marco Berti, and Dmitri Hvorostovky. Highlights of the City’s fall cultural season, San Francisco Opera’s opening-night festivities include San Francisco Opera Guild’s Opera Ball 2009: A Gala Benefit in Support of Opera Education and BRAVO! CLUB’S Opening Night Gala.

You may remember Stephanie Blythe from the Verdi Requiem conducting by outgoing maestro Donald Runnicles recently.

For a list of summer opera events, many free, click here:  summer opera events.

The opening week celebration continues on Sunday, September 13 with a beloved Bay Area tradition: the annual San Francisco Opera in the Park at Sharon Meadow in Golden Gate Park. This free concert features singers from the 2009–10 fall opera season with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra conducted by Nicola Luisotti.

The festivities culminate on Saturday, September 19 as San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Giants partner with Webcor Builders to bring grand opera to the ballpark for the fourth time in two years. One of the Bay Area’s most anticipated community events, Webcor Builders Presents Opera at the Ballpark brought over 27,000 opera and baseball fans to AT&T Park in June 2009. This unique free evening of entertainment features the evening’s performance of Il Trovatore, conducted by Maestro Luisotti and broadcast live from the stage of the War Memorial Opera House to the enormous scoreboard over the outfield of AT&T Park.

Maestro Nicola Luisotti begins his tenure as San Francisco Opera’s third music director at the start of the 2009–10 Season, succeeding Sir John Pritchard and Donald Runnicles. In his inaugural season as the Company’s music director, Maestro Luisotti conducts Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore and Otello, Giacomo Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West and Richard Strauss’s Salome.

For more Salome articles click here as well as the featured artist section to the right on this webpage:

Baritone Greer Grimsley (John the Baptist) says Salome didn't know any better

SF Opera unveils Salome for October 2009

 Oscar Wilde and the 'love that dares not speak it's name'

For an item on when Berkeley Opera adapted La Fanciulla with tenor Pedro Rodelas, click here:

Puccini's La Fanciulla

Opera Ball 2009: A Gala Benefit in Support of Opera Education / Friday, September 11

Now celebrating their 70th anniversary year, San Francisco Opera Guild presents Opera Ball 2009: A Gala Benefit in Support of Opera Education on Friday September 11. Hailed as one of the City’s premier philanthropic social events, Opera Ball raises funds for San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Opera Guild’s education programs while treating guests to a glamorous evening of food, beverages and world-class entertainment. The event begins at 5 p.m. with an elegant cocktail reception in the atrium of the War Memorial Veterans Building and continues with the opening night performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore in the War Memorial Opera House at 7 p.m. At the conclusion of the opera, guests enter the Beaux-Arts style rotunda of San Francisco City Hall for a sumptuous dinner created by renowned Chef Lucas Schoemaker of McCall Associates and presented in the North and South Light Court rooms. The evening culminates with dancing under the rotunda to live musical entertainment. Opera Ball 2009 co-chairs are Teresa Medearis and Adrianna Pope Sullivan.

BRAVO! CLUB’S 18th Annual Opening Night Gala / Friday, September 11

BRAVO! CLUB, San Francisco Opera's group of young professionals dedicated to building a new audience for opera, presents its 18th annual opening night gala, co-chaired by Alexandra Siliezar and Marie Carr. BRAVO! CLUB hosts a pre-performance champagne and cocktail reception featuring live flamenco dancing at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, September 11 and a delicious post-performance dinner following Verdi’s Il Trovatore, both in San Francisco’s City Hall. To conclude the evening, guests join Opera Ball patrons for dancing under the rotunda to live musical entertainment. BRAVO! CLUB’s Opening Night Gala co-chairs are Alexandra Siliezar and Marie Carr.

Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore / Friday, September 11

 Il Trovatore Final Scene - Joan Sutherland - Marilyn Horne - Luciano Pavarotti - 1981

San Francisco Opera’s 2009–10 Season opens on Friday, September 11 at 7 p.m. with Nicola Luisotti on the podium conducting Verdi’s Il Trovatore, his first production as the Company’s music director. Italian tenor Marco Berti stars in the title role of this suspenseful story of a corrupt count, a dashing warrior and a Gypsy who plots to avenge her mother’s wrongful death. Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky returns to the Company as Count di Luna and Sondra Radvanovsky, whose exquisite soprano voice has thrilled audiences from Vienna to New York, makes her San Francisco Opera debut as Leonora. Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, Musical America’s 2009 “Vocalist of the Year,” makes her first appearance in a fully staged San Francisco Opera production in these performances as Azucena. Blythe shares the role with Malgorzata Walewska, also making her San Francisco Opera debut, in this critically acclaimed production by David McVicar directed by Walter Sutcliffe.

San Francisco Opera in the Park / Sunday, September 13
San Francisco Opera’s opening week festivities continue with San Francisco Opera in the Park on Sunday, September 13 at 1:30 p.m. in Golden Gate Park’s Sharon Meadow. A cherished tradition of San Francisco Opera’s opening weekend, the annual Opera in the Park concert features singers from the Company’s Fall 2009 Season and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra conducted by Maestro Luisotti. The concert draws thousands of music lovers each year, many of whom enjoy the occasion with elaborate picnics on the lawn. This concert is free, no tickets are required. Specific artists will be announced at a later date.

Webcor Builders Presents Opera at the Ballpark / Saturday, September 19
San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Giants partner with Webcor Builders once again to bring grand opera to AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants baseball team on Saturday, September 19 at 8 p.m. The opening week of the Company’s 2009–10 season culminates with a free live simulcast of Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore starring Marco Berti in the title role and conducted by Music Director Nicola Luisotti. Over 27,000 music lovers enjoyed the Company’s most recent simulcast of Tosca in June 2009, and large crowds are once again expected to turn out and experience glorious music in one of San Francisco’s most beautiful locations. Through state-of-the-art technology made possible by the Koret-Taube Media Suite, these simulcasts are transmitted in high definition (HD) to AT&T Park’s 103-feet wide scoreboard—one of the highest quality outdoor scoreboards in the nation—live from the stage of the War Memorial Opera House. Concert quality audio combined with AT&T Park’s huge screen creates an unmatched operatic experience for attendees sitting in the stands and on the baseball field. Traditional baseball game concessions are available, providing audiences the rare opportunity to eat hot dogs, peanuts and popcorn while enjoying glorious opera.

Tickets and Information
Ticket levels for San Francisco Opera Guild’s Opera Ball 2008 are $850, $1,500, $2,500 and $5,000 and may be purchased at www.sfopera.com/guild or by calling (415) 565-3204.

Tickets for BRAVO! CLUB’S Opening Night Gala, which include performance tickets, are priced from $325 to $430 and may be purchased at www.sfopera.com/bravo.

Tickets for the performance of Verdi’s Il Trovatore (not including opening night galas) are priced from $15 to $310 and may be purchased at www.sfopera.com or through the San Francisco Opera Box Office [301 Van Ness Avenue (at Grove Street), or by phone at (415) 864-3330]. Standing Room tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on the day of each performance; tickets are $10 each, cash only.

The September 13 San Francisco Opera in the Park concert at Sharon Meadow in Golden Gate Park is free, no tickets are required. For more information, visit www.sfopera.com or call (415) 864-3330.

The September 19 Webcor Builders Presents Opera at the Ballpark simulcast at AT&T Park is free and open to the public; advance online registration assures early entrance into the ballpark for preferred seating and entry into a special prize drawing. Visit www.sfopera.com/simulcast to register.

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SAN FRANCISCO OPERA 87TH SEASON OPENING WEEK CELEBRATIONS

OPERA BALL 2009: A GALA BENEFIT IN SUPPORT OF OPERA EDUCATION Friday, September 11

A highlight of the city’s cultural and philanthropic season, San Francisco Opera Guild’s Opera Ball 2009 begins with a cocktail reception, followed by the season-opening performance of Verdi’s Il Trovatore, an elegant post-performance dinner, and dancing at San Francisco’s elegant City Hall. Proceeds from Opera Ball benefit San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Opera Guild’s education and outreach programs. Co-chairs: Teresa Medearis and Adrianna Pope Sullivan.

 5 p.m. The black-tie evening begins with a cocktail reception at the historic Veterans Building

7 p.m. Opening night performance of Il Trovatore at the War Memorial Opera House

10 p.m. Guests adjourn to San Francisco's historic City Hall for a sumptuous dinner and live musical entertainment

BRAVO! CLUB’S 18TH ANNUAL OPENING NIGHT GALA Friday, September 11

BRAVO! CLUB, San Francisco Opera's group of young professionals dedicated to building a new audience for San Francisco Opera, presents its 18th annual opening night gala. Co-chairs: Alexandra Siliezar and Marie Carr

5:30 p.m. The celebration begins with a cocktail party featuring live flamenco dancing at San Francisco City Hall

7 p.m. Opening night performance of Il Trovatore at the War Memorial Opera House

10 p.m. Festivities continue with an elegant dinner, live music and dancing at San Francisco City Hall.

 Il Trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi PRODUCTION NEW TO SAN FRANCISCO

September 11 (7 p.m.), 16? (7:30 p.m.), 19? (8 p.m.),
Co-production with Lyric Opera of Chicago 22? (8 p.m.), 25 (8 p.m.); October 1◊ (7:30 p.m.), 4 (2 p.m.),
and the Metropolitan Opera 6◊ (7:30 p.m.) 2009

Libretto by Salvadore Cammarano

First performance: Rome, January 19, 1853

First San Francisco Opera performance: October 6, 1926

Last San Francisco Opera performance: 2002–03 season

Approximate running time: three hours, with one intermission

Sung in Italian with English supertitles

Cast: Production Team:

Manrico Marco Berti Conductor Nicola Luisotti

Leonora Sondra Radvanovsky* Director David McVicar

Azucena Stephanie Blythe Revival Director Walter Sutcliffe*

Malgorzata Walewska*◊ Set Designer Charles Edwards*

Count di Luna Dmitri Hvorostovsky Costume Designer Brigitte Reiffenstuel*

Ferrando Burak Bilgili* Lighting Designer Jennifer Tipton

Inez Renée Tatum† Movement Director Leah Hausman

Ruiz Andrew Bidlack† Chorus Director Ian Robertson

* San Francisco Opera Debut † Current Adler Fellow ◊ Alternate Cast ? OperaVision performance

SAN FRANCISCO OPERA IN THE PARK Sunday, September 13 at 1:30 p.m.

Sharon Meadow, Golden Gate Park

 A cherished tradition of San Francisco Opera’s opening week, the annual Opera in the Park concert features arias and operatic excerpts performed by artists from San Francisco Opera's 2009 fall season, accompanied by the acclaimed San Francisco Opera Orchestra conducted by new music director Nicola Luisotti. The concert draws thousands of music lovers each year, many of whom enjoy the occasion with elaborate picnics on the lawn. This concert is free, no tickets are required.

 WEBCOR BUILDERS PRESENTS Saturday, September 19 at 8 p.m.

OPERA AT THE BALLPARK AT&T Park, 24 Willie Mays Plaza

Baseball and opera fans alike have the rare opportunity to enjoy world-class opera in the beautiful and convivial outdoor setting of AT&T Park as San Francisco Opera continues its highly successful partnership with the San Francisco Giants and Webcor Builders to present Verdi’s Il Trovatore. This event is free and open to the public; advance online registration assures early entrance into the ballpark for preferred seating and entry into a special prize drawing. Visit sfopera.com/simulcast to register.

 About Nicola Luisotti

San Francisco Opera Music Director Designate Nicola Luisotti leads four productions in his inaugural season with the Company this fall: Il Trovatore, Salome, Otello, and La Fanciulla del West. He made his critically acclaimed San Francisco Opera debut in 2005 with La Forza del Destino and, following his appointment as music director in 2007, returned to conduct La Bohème in 2008. Maestro Luisotti made his international debut in 2002 leading a new production of Il Trovatore at the Stuttgart State Theater and has subsequently performed with nearly every major opera company in the world, including the Royal Opera, Covent Garden; Frankfurt Opera; Paris Opera; Bavarian State Opera; the Vienna State Opera; Madrid’s Teatro Real; Los Angeles Opera; Seattle Opera; Canadian Opera Company; Genoa’s Teatro Carlo Felice; and the Metropolitan Opera. He made his debut in Japan with a semi-staged production of Tosca at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and has since conducted Turandot, La Bohème, and Don Giovanni. Equally at home on the concert stage, Luisotti has led many of the world’s most acclaimed orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, London Philharmonia, San Francisco Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Tokyo Symphony, Japan’s NHK Symphony, Dresden State Orchestra, Munich’s Bavarian Radio Orchestra, Rome’s Santa Cecilia Orchestra, and the orchestras of Hamburg, Budapest, Zagreb, and Genoa. The maestro was recently appointed principal guest conductor of the Tokyo Symphony. In conjunction with the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, Luisotti led special concerts in Beijing featuring artists Renée Fleming, Sumi Jo, and Ramón Vargas.

Luisotti’s expanding discography includes a complete recording of Stiffellio (Dynamic) with the orchestra of Trieste’s Teatro Verdi and the critically acclaimed Duets (Deutsche Grammophon), featuring Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón. He is also on the podium of a DVD recording of the Metropolitan Opera’s recent La Bohème, starring Angela Gheorghiu and Ramón Vargas (EMI). Recent engagements include La Damnation de Faust at the Teatro Real, Don Giovanni at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, and Madama Butterfly at La Fenice in Venice, a production that toured China. In future seasons, he returns to the podium at the Royal Opera, Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, and Bologna’s Teatro Comunale, among many other engagements. Born in the Tuscan village of Viareggio, Nicola Luisotti trained as a pianist, with secondary degrees in composition, trumpet, and voice. Early in his career, he held various musical positions at La Scala, La Fenice, and the Maggio Musicale Festival of Florence.

 About San Francisco Opera Guild

 Currently celebrating its 70th anniversary year, San Francisco Opera Guild was founded in 1939 to provide educational programs to the community and to support San Francisco Opera. Each year, over 50,000 young people in more than 200 schools are introduced to opera through the work of the Guild, which strives to make opera accessible to everyone by taking its programs into schools, hospitals, senior centers and theaters, as well as sponsoring special rehearsals in the War Memorial Opera House. San Francisco Opera Guild's Endowment Campaign, "A Gift for All Seasons," was established to provide the funding and resources necessary to continue bringing opera education to young people throughout Northern California. A professionally managed endowment account was established in 1995, which generates income that goes directly to the continued support of such programs as Opera à la Carte, Sing a Story, and Student Dress Rehearsals. To learn more about San Francisco Opera Guild, visit sfopera.com/guild.

 About BRAVO! Club

 San Francisco Opera's BRAVO! CLUB is a group of young adults dedicated to building a new audience for San Francisco Opera. Founded in 1991, BRAVO! CLUB has an annual membership of over 500 Bay Area professionals and hosts a variety of educational and performance-related events in support of San Francisco Opera. If you enjoy opera, BRAVO! CLUB offers you a chance to experience San Francisco Opera with other arts lovers aged 21–40. To learn more about BRAVO! CLUB visit sfopera.com/bravo.

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San Francisco Opera is sponsored, in part, by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn, Franklin and Catherine Johnson, Mrs. Edmund W. Littlefield, Bernard and Barbro Osher and Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund.

Wells Fargo is San Francisco Opera's Season Sponsor. San Francisco Opera is proud to recognize its corporate partners: United Airlines, the Official Airline of San Francisco Opera, and Chevron, fueling great performances everywhere. Opening Weekend Grand Sponsor Diane B. Wilsey is proud to support Il Trovatore. Nicola Luisotti's inaugural season as Music Director of San Francisco Opera is made possible by John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn.

Opera Ball 2009 is made possible by generous support from Opening Weekend Grand Sponsor Diane B. Wilsey, national media sponsor Town and Country, local media sponsor Nob Hill Gazette, spirit sponsor Grey Goose, wine sponsor Hess Collection Winery and sparkling wine sponsor Scharffenberger Cellars. United Airlines and Nordstrom are San Francisco Opera Guild’s 2009 annual sponsors.

San Francisco Opera in the Park is sponsored by Opening Weekend Grand Sponsor Diane B. Wilsey and the William and Gretchen Kimball Fund, and the Music Performance Fund and Film Funds.

San Francisco Opera simulcasts are made possible through the extraordinary technology of the Company’s Koret-Taube Media Suite. A grant from the Koret Foundation provided lead funding for the Koret-Taube Media Suite, with additional support provided by Tad and Dianne Taube. Webcor Builders Presents Opera at the Ballpark is supported by Presenting Sponsor Webcor Builders, Platinum Sponsor Charles Schwab and Gold Sponsor Chevron. CBS 5, the CW Bay Area, Classical 102.1 KDFC, and ClearChannel Outdoor join with San Francisco Opera as media partners for the Company’s 2009-10 Season Community Events.

Yamaha is the official piano of San Francisco Opera. Pianos provided by Music Exchange.

Photo:  Courtesy of San Francisco Opera

For more info:  www.SFOpera.com