Gockley had made changes, some good like moving the subtitles back to the top; some great like the live videocast on the civic center plaza; some so-so, like the redesign of the visual identity back into the 19th century (if we could find it, we would link to the genius who claimed the program now looks like a medical magazine); some that are question marks, like the termination of the excellent conductor Donald Runnicles’ tenure as music director and the hiring of an Italian repertoire specialist, Nicola Luisotti as his replacement. Should we brace for less Wagner (Runnicles’ specialty) and many more Traviatas? Yesterday was Gockley’s opportunity to put his imprint on the place for real by unveiling the 2007-2008 season.

Boy are we in for a treat! We now bow lowly in front of David Gockley and pledge endless, unlimited adoration. This is the most exciting opera season since, well 2005-2006 and Dr Atomic, but that vintage was exceptional already.

We were wrong to think Philip Glass was minimalist because his piano was missing most keys. His Appomattox opens on October 5th. Photo by Annie Leibovitz, courtesy of SF Opera.