We will get to hear the microphone between the tits! Anna Netrebko, who kicked off her career in the US here in '96 (in Glinka's Ruslan and Lyudmila) will be back in La Traviata, the SF Opera announced today when unveiling their 2008-09 season. You'll want to see other, um, microphones too, as the darn sexy Angela Gheorghiu, who we were so smitten with in La Rondine, comes back for more Puccini with La Boheme. It's the 150th anniversary of the birth of Puccini this year, so you get two operas by him, Tosca being the other one. That's a bit lame, we say, since you typically get two operas by Puccini in any season. Say, La Rondine and Madama Butterfly, for instance. A true anniversary celebration would be to have all operas by Puccini, or even better, eleven different productions of Butterfly. That would rock....

Oh, those nifty New Yorkers; it's all about them. As usual. Why? Because David Gockley, General Director of the SF Opera, announced that the company will start producing HD broadcasts of performances for theaters all across the states. Lovely, right? But the NYT then turns it into some kind of pissing contest because they did it first. Hrumph. Dude, why can't we all just get along. It's not like people in Chico are saturated with......

Third opera in November, third reaction from the audience at curtain rise. After the enthusiastic applause for La Rondine's shiny marble sets after the bleak and silent shock of Macbeth's hole-in-the-wall sets, we got the giggles after catching sight of The Rake's Progress' opening oil field. The patrons were willing to entertain an oil well and a 1950s Americana re-setting that dramatically differs from Stravinsky's original 18th Century,even though they were a tad skeptical.......

So foul and poor a play we haven't seen. At least, not during this San Francisco Opera season. That is, until now: behold, the vile production that is Macbeth. It's easier to count the things that went right, because there were so few: Thomas Hampson (fan), the Adler fellows, and Raymond Aceto, who all more or less shine. The rest, sadly, was pretty awful. You know you're in for a long night when you're forced......

Angela Gheorghiu, the diva, made her SF Opera debut on Wednesday evening, in Puccini's La Rondine. That she made it onstage was somewhat of an accomplishment; she just had been fired from a production in Chicago for missing rehearsals. She was attending her husband, French tenor Roberto Alagna, concert at the Met, it seems. (Alagna's claim to fame has been walking off the stage at La Scala in the middle of Aida, after being booed.......

This past Wednesday was New-Yorker night in Civic Center: the classical music critic, Alex Ross was promoting his new book at Herbst theater, and we attended the production of the Magic Flute designed by Gerald Scarfe, who regularly illustrates the magazine. Scarfe toned down his usually acidic satirical pen (see the sample from his website that we put after the jump) to cook up sets that are humorous, and respectful of Mozart’s intent. The set,......

More bad puns on Philip Glass’ name! Appomattox, which we rose our Glass to, was not the end of our wall-to-wall Glass coverage. The Glass is not full, we haven’t hit the Glass ceiling yet, ha. Take tonight. There’s a cool concert at Herbst Theater, presented by Other Minds, an organization devoted to new music: Dennis Russell Davies and his partner, Maki Namekawa, playing music for two pianos from Philip Glass, but also J.S Bach......

Who better to compose an opera on the repetitive forces which govern human nature than Philip Glass! There is no better match to write about the immutability of the human soul, as the theme begs for an insistent ostinato in a minor key, of course. His score is one of the strong points of Appomattox, which had its premiere on Friday night: it is distinctly Glass-ian, but integrates elements and influence contemporary to the civil......

We got word that 27,000 people made a reservation to attend this Friday's Opera at the Ballpark. 27,000! And there are still tickets left! Tonight is the last day to see Barry at AT&T park, but plenty of other divas, plenty of other big guys with supernatural powers will be on stage in the stadium this Friday, as the SF Opera presents Samson and Delilah on a giant High Def video screen with a live......

This settles it for now. Wagner's Tannhäuser, the first new production ordered by SF Opera general director David Gockley, opened last night, initially making us a bit nervous. Why? Well, Gockley had announced the end of the fedora, and the return of glamorous period productions. Since last year’s most compelling production was Iphigenie en Tauride, a timeless rendition in a naked black cell, we fretted: is this season going to be the return of kitsch?......

The SF Symphony returned from its trip to Europe and kicks off its 2007-08 season tonight, with a sold out opening night gala featuring MTT and Renée Fleming. We find it ironic that they will play Aaron Copland’s "Fanfare for the Common Man" -- a piece riddled with leftist political overtones -- to SF’s high society. Well then, it looks like the SF symphony is more subversive than we give them credit for this time.......

[Update: you can see a live simulcast of this opera for free at PacBell Stadium on Sept. 28. Information here!] While we expected a sense of deja vu at last Tuesday’s performance of Saint-Saëns’ Samson and Delilah -- we had seen Olga Borodina in this very role, sung in that very set, on that very stage back in 2001 -- we didn't. Why? Because the set manages to be both impressive, and, well, forgettable. Sure,......

What does SF Opera music director Donald Runnicles do when he's not conducting Wagner at the War Memorial Opera House? He's conducting Wagner in London. What does SF Symphony music director Michael Tilson Thomas do when he's not conducting Mahler at Davies Symphony Hall? You guessed it: he's conducting Mahler in London. We knew that addicts to Mahler or Wagner existed. But to think that they live in our own backyard? Well, that's just spooky.......

We don’t dabble in national politics much, except when a gay Republican senator is outed in a Minneapolis airport (fun!). But we relate to the Two Americas theme of Democratic primary candidate John Edwards’ campaign: there is an America which will go to the SF Opera tonight, and another one which will go to Opera in the Park on Sunday. The first one, tuxedoed and bejeweled, cheered up by a cocktail reception, will enjoy a......

Thesis: classic Italian opera represents the core tradition of the art form and success as a singer means being able to master the genre. Anti-thesis: opera is an evolving live form, and the work of contemporary composers is relevant, forget about the old dead ones. Synthesis: let’s toss a little bit of everything on the wall, old and new, domestic and foreign, we’ll see what sticks, and call it the Merola Grand Finale. To conclude......

It has been documented, in Nature no less, that listening to Mozart makes you smarter. Only for spatial reasoning, though. Only for 15mn afterwards. And the results got disputed later. Damn. And even worst, the same effect was observed with music from, hold on one second while we regain our composure, Yanni. Yanni!...

If you are concerned about people growing old around you, just keep looking for fresh faces to hang out with. We got this bit of wisdom not from Gavin Newsom (who got it from Willie anyway), but from James Schwabacher. One of Schwabacher’s initiatives was to co-found the SF Opera Merola program, now in its 50th anniversary, a training program-slash-talent-search for opera singers that lasts all summer. Schwabacher sadly passed away in the middle of......

--Who owns the new East Bay Express? [the EBX's 92510] --Oh, now Newsom's all for foot patrols. [KCBS.] --The Bike Coalition and Ross Mirkarimi want lights at Fell and Masonic. [Examiner.] --Wanna pay someone to wait in line for you for an Apple iPhone? [Chron. More Chron iPhone madness here.] --Quit trying to recall people. [Beyond Chron.] --Sim art! (Picture a big green diamond over our head as our Fun bar zooms up.) [All......

We saw Iphigénie en Tauride last Wednesday, and the curtain fell not only on the last opening of this season, but on the Pamela Rosenberg era. There are still three more performances of Iphigénie to attend (including one tonight; plus three Rosenkavalier and two Don Giovanni), so it’s not yet time to look back. This season was the last that Rosenberg planned (before her successor at the helm, SF Opera general director David Gockley tweaked......

Der Rosenkavalier opens with two women making out in bed, and the SF Opera did not even think of asking Miller Lite to sponsor the performance? Actually, one of the characters is only sung by a woman, and is supposed to be a precocious seventeen year old lad, Octavian, aka. Quinquin, taking advantage of the lessons and wisdom of an older woman, the Marschallin, aka. Princess Marie Thérèse von Werdenberg, aka. Bichette (litteraly, little doe). ...

A controversy was brewing, surrounding the dismissal of Hope Briggs, who was originally scheduled to sing Donna Anna, and her replacement with Elza Van Den Heever, in the new SF Opera production of Don Giovanni, which kicked off the summer season on Saturday night. The explanation for the switch from the upper floors of the opera house was rather laconic, which left the door open to wild speculations. Was it, as this Berkely Daily Planet op-ed conjectured, due to the new media suite, which will record every performance on high definition from this Don Giovanni on and thus will put some demand on the singers to look good, conjectures the writer? ...

--Well, it's official -- Halloween in the Castro is done. We look forward to chaos this October 31 when people show up anyways and no one's expecting them. --No African-Americans in the Bay Area in either jazz or classical music today. Yoshi's apologizes, the SF Opera does not. --Good for Caltrain! They cited over 100 people who drove under the lowered railroad safety arms. --Personnel turmoil at the Oakland Animal Shelter. --You can follow......

--A feuding local family's trip to the Dr. Phil show doesn't go so well for the ex-wife. --We've been trying, and failing, to muster up the energy to write up a full post about the fake San Francisco DA intern all day -- and all you're getting in the end is a Day/Bay link. --The SF Opera abruptly fired a talented, well-liked, local African-American soprano from tomorrow's season opening Don Giovanni, and replaced her......

Over the long week-end, we thought we'd take in some art as the SF Opera performed gratis in Dolores Park. It was so cold that, up on stage, it ended up looking like a scarf fashion show at Macy's. And now, showing off a pastel pink cashmere pashmina, please welcome Susan Graham! For those who were hoping to ogle on some decolleté, well, no cleavage for you, perv. We even took a few pictures, that......

Got your ruching done? Better hope so, because Tim Gunn's coming to town! Everybody's favorite Project Runway mentor is in the area on Friday and Saturday to promote his new book Tim Gunn: A Guide To Quality, Taste, And Style, which covers topics like: how to shop (broken down into designer, chain, and vintage), creating your own personal style, and even how to improve your posture. ("I don't know. I just don't love it," we......

We hadn’t really opened last year’s Christmas gift yet: when David Gockley became general director of the San Francisco opera a year ago, we did not really know what was in the box. The second half of the 2006 season, and the 2006-2007 season operas were already booked by his predecessor. He was not the one who chose this rather uninspired selection of yet another Carmen, yet another Barber of Seville, yet another Rigoletto. ...

The SF Opera wraps up its Fall season with two girls behaving badly, Puccini's Manon Lescaut and Bizet's Carmen. Manon is a young woman, who on her way to seclusion in a convent, elopes with a poor student, Des Grieux. It is not said what peccadillo she committed to earn a sentence of life as a nun, but her brother, instead of being dismayed at the news of her disappearance, calmly expects her to show......

SFist Jon's DSL is still screwed up; you're stuck with us and our insistance on using two dashes instead of one to start off our entries. --SFMike from SF Civic Center had a keee-razee day pollwatching on Tuesday. Ha! You gotta read this one. --People voted in cool places. We totally want to move to the precinct that votes at the puppy adoption center. --Cindy Sheehan gets arrested again in DC. --Alix Rosenthal says she......

The SF Opera revived yesterday its 2003 production of the Barber of Seville, with Nathan Gunn returning in the role of Figaro. 2003, you say? Indeed, smack in the heart of the Rosenberg era, which means a re-invented version of the popular opera, set in some period best desribed as achronistic, rather than anachronistic: the set is the star of the show, a beautiful, white two story house which spins on its axis to......

Donald Runnicles opened his tenure at the San Francisco Opera by conducting two ring cycles in 1990, which led to his appointment as musical director in 1992. His expiring contract won’t be renewed in 2009, yet he’ll still conduct the Ring currently in production for 2010-2011: he and Wagner go together. ...