We went to the opera yesterday for the introduction of new SF Opera general director David Gockley, who officially succeeded Pamela Rosenberg on January 1st. Pamela Rosenberg was the director for the last five years, commissioned Dr Atomic and generally tried to shake things up a bit, so we were curious to see were Gockley stands.

Gone is the modern -- tacky, screamed the purists -- feel from the brochures and the web site: Glamour is back, with the "emphasis placed on the singers," said Gockley. The Opera unveiled a new furiously retro logo: a gilded exploding firework which mimics the grand chandelier hanging above the orchestra seats. A focus on the singers, and a visual identity which evokes the burgundy of velvets and the brass of candelabras from 18th century opera houses? In one word: conservative.

The Opera's 84th season is not exactly revolutionary either, mostly due to the transition issues: Gockley's influence will only kick in for the 2007-08 season, at which point he promised new world premieres (Appomattox, by Philip Glass on a Christopher Hampton libretto), exciting performers like Renée Fleming or Nathalie Dessay, and the production, jointly with the Washington Opera, of a new Ring Cycle, starting with Das Rheingold in 2008. That is definitely sexy. Gockley's track record in his 33 years at the Houston Grand Opera speaks volume of his commitment to keeping the opera alive, evolving and challenging. We'll just have to wait for him to settle here.

Francesca Zambello will direct the Ring and she was appointed artistic adviser for the SF Opera yesterday as well. We loved her work with An American Tragedy and will have a chance to see her stuff already next season when her highly acclaimed Seattle's production of Tristan and Isolde comes to town.

Exciting singers we will have a-plenty in 2006-07. Deborah Voigt will open the season in Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera, then we'll have an opportunity, in Tristan, to see what's the fuss about Thomas Moser and Christine Brewer, who did not exactly woo us last year in Fidelio.

Then we welcome back Nathan Gunn, him of the toned body and the long fan club, in the Barber of Seville. We just started collecting bets that he will be taking off his shirt.

Karita Mattila will sing the role of Manon Lescaut in a production played last November in Chicago.

We skip a few warhorses (Carmen, Don Giovanni, Die Fledermaus) but we are excited by the last opera of the '06-07 season: Iphigénie en Tauride by Gluck. It is a premiere for the SF Opera, and in the title role we are looking forward to hear Susan Graham, who thrilled us in the Met's American Tragedy last December.

Gockley listed a few of the operas he'd like to see staged in the future: Ponchielli's La Gioconda, Verdi's Ernani, Massenet's Werther, Adams' Nixon in China, and announced the Opera would broadcast not only on the radio soon -we can hardly wait- but would establish a HD-TV video studio to stream operas on the tube but also on websites or on iPods. The electronic media is necessary to keep people aware of our art and our presence, he said. Amen.