Backstage with Matthew: From the Top
The Barber of Seville Meet and Greet
Casts and creative teams at San Francisco Opera are almost always a coming together of artists who have appeared with us before, and artists who are with us for the very first time – maybe even in America for the very first time. It’s a wonderful intersection of existing friends and new friends, and a great reminder that our artistry here is built on the intersection of legacy with the new.
I love these moments in which we begin the creative process of an opera. They are full of such anticipation and possibility. A room full of artists and company members bringing all their skills into a unique, creative and collective enterprise that will unfold over the coming weeks until you see it on stage just a month from now!
Maria Kataeva is one of our Rosinas and she is making not only her house debut, but her American debut. She shared: “I’m very excited to meet new colleagues; with some I’ve worked already, like Levy [Segkapane]; we did Cenerentola some months ago in Baden-Baden where we were the couple there – the Prince and Cinderella – and now we’re transforming into another couple together [the Count and Rosina]! I’m really excited to make my American debut in this opera house. It’s wonderful, and famous with a great tradition. I’m so happy!”
Maria Kataeva at the Meet and Greet
Once everyone has greeted each other, the stage manager (Collette Berg) calls everyone together and we begin the introductions. I’ll do a brief introduction of the title, and then introduce the conductor (Benjamin Manis), the director (Emilio Sagi) and members of the creative/design team who might already be here (our choreographer Colm Seery) – the designers typically arrive later once we move to the stage and begin our technical rehearsals. I’ll then move through the cast, introducing each artist and generally sharing their prior SFO credits, where else they’ve done this role, and whether they’re making a house or role debut. In Barber we have two casts and so it was double the fun!
Introducing one of our Doctor Bartolos, Renato Girolami.
My colleagues Greg Henkel (Managing Director: Artistic) and Jen Good (Managing Director: Production) will then introduce members of the music/artistic and production/staging staff and then our Rehearsal Department Director Trey Costerisan will talk through the ‘how-to’ guide for San Francisco Opera: how and when we distribute the schedule, badges, what to do if you’re sick, fire-drill meet-up points, mail, etc. etc. I’ll also share information about our HR department, ensuring that visiting artists know that they have the full support and protection of the company should they need anything.
For the artists who have been here many times, this is all second nature but for new artists it is invaluable to be grounded in the norms of a new company. One truism you come to realize in opera companies is that no two companies are alike. We all have idiosyncrasies in how we do things, and while that can be charming if you know the idiosyncrasies, it can be disorienting if you don’t. So, the Meet & Greets are wonderful ways to ease someone into their time here.
Meeting with Joshua Hoskins (Figaro) and Levy Segkapane (Almaviva).
Justin Austin, one of our two Figaros, shared his thoughts on making his SFO debut and what was going through his head during the Meet and Greet: “I’m thinking about legacy. The last time I was in San Francisco I was a teenager and I was here to see both of my parents in a production here at San Francisco [Alteouise deVaughn and tenor Michael Austin in Porgy and Bess], so to follow in their footsteps as well as many other extraordinary historic opera singers that I’ve admired my entire life, it’s beyond words really.”
Justin Austin at the Meet and Greet
The Meet & Greets are usually around 30 minutes in length and then we’ll take a short 10-minute break and return either for a concept presentation (if a new production), or straight into a music rehearsal as we did for Barber. And, just like that, we’re up and running and rehearsing an opera!
The first music read-through of The Barber of Seville, immediately following the Meet and Greet.
It is so important to us at San Francisco Opera that we create the best possible environment in which artists can feel able to do their very best work. Creating opera is a vulnerable enterprise – artists need to feel able to explore their roles in a safe and supportive space. That is important through the whole rehearsal process, but it’s particularly critical at the start when we set the tone for what is to come.
These moments are also important times for artists new to San Francisco to learn about the city. Levy Segkapane, one of our Almavivas, and Riccardo Fassi, our Don Basilio, are both making their house debuts, and they both shared how much they are looking forward to finding restaurants, cool bars, museums, just walking around, getting over the bridge, and maybe taking a ferry. Artists are always on the move, discovering new cities, and getting from staff and fellow artists ideas and recommendations for how to make the most of their time here. All this is happening in the Meet and Greets, and then on into the rehearsals.
Levy Segkapane and Riccardo Fassi at the Meet and Greet
Sometimes artists are a little closer to home. Barber marks the stage debut for first-year Adler Gabriel Natal-Báez, now living in the Bay Area, and he shared some thoughts on people coming together for the first time. “I love the energy. Everyone is so excited and seems so motivated to collaborate and get to work and it’s just contagious that energy. It makes you want to work even more.”
There really is a tremendous energy and sense of possibility that exists in these launching-off moments for an opera. These moments are like blank canvases, waiting to be filled with the most glorious art. All of that begins right here, right now. I can’t wait to share the journey with you!
The Adler Fellows who are taking part in The Barber of Seville: Thomas Kinch, Mary Hoskins, Olivier Zerouali, Sofia Gotch, Gabriel Natal-Báez