facebook pixel

Contemporary Perspectives

 

Scholars, performers, and technicians illuminate the operas and artists from Streaming the First Century in this series of essays and interviews. Features include director and radio commentator Ira Siff discussing legendary soprano Claudia Muzio; historic recordings expert Ward Marston on San Francisco Opera’s earliest radio broadcasts; Dame Felicity Palmer in conversation about Charpentier’s Louise; along with essays on early broadcast host Marcia Davenport, beloved artist Bidú Sayão, trailblazing soprano Mattiwilda Dobbs, and more.

Black-and-white portrait of soprano Claudia Muzio in an evening gown decorated with roses, holding a small glass. The image accompanies a feature on San Francisco Opera’s early diva.

Diva Edition

Claudia Muzio: SF Opera's Beloved Early Diva

Ira Siff, voice teacher, repertory coach, director, writer, radio commentator for the Met's Saturday broadcasts, and authority on historic singers does a deep dive on Claudia Muzio, one of SF Opera's earliest and most adored divas.

(run time ~ 42 minutes)

Listen
Ward Marston holds an early recording disc in a studio filled with audio equipment and turntables. The image accompanies his discussion of preserving San Francisco Opera’s earliest broadcasts.

Preservation Edition

Ward Marston: San Francisco Opera's Earliest Broadcasts

Grammy Award winning producer and jazz pianist Ward Marston sits down with Jeff McMillian to discuss the art of preserving recordings from the past, and in particular, SF Opera's 1932 Tosca.

(run time ~ 12 minutes)

Listen
Black-and-white photo of soprano Bidú Sayão in a headscarf and lace-trimmed costume, smiling at a dressing-room mirror while holding a powder puff.

Diva Edition

Bidu Sayao: One of Opera's Most Beloved Performers

"One of the most charming sopranos to ever grace an opera house. Hers was not the fake, transactional emotion that so often passes for charm today, but the real deal."

BY PAUL THOMASON
(read time ~ 5 minutes)

Read
Black-and-white backstage photo of two smiling women and a man in white tie. One woman wears an ornate opera costume and headdress; the other wears a sari-style gown and long gloves.

Diva Edition

Mattiwilda Dobbs: Trailblazing Soprano

Mattiwilda Dobbs’ acclaimed 1955 debut with San Francisco Opera was one of the many historic accomplishments of the Atlanta-born soprano, who was also the first African American artist to sing leading roles with the Metropolitan Opera and several European Opera Houses.

BY MAURICE B. WHEELER
(read time ~ 9 minutes)

Read
Black-and-white photo of two opera performers in costume: a man wearing a tunic and large cross pendant stands beside a smiling woman in a fur-trimmed outfit and layered necklaces. They pose before a stone archway.

Diva Edition

Marcia Davenport: First Lady of the Airwaves

"Marcia Davenport always seemed to be in the most interesting place at exactly the right time. ... Given her combination of music and writing experience it is perhaps inevitable that Davenport would end up on the radio during the early days of opera broadcasts. ... Today the best-known example of Davenport on the radio is her introduction to the San Francisco Opera’s 1936 broadcast of Act II of Die Walküre." 

BY PAUL THOMASON

(read time ~ 6 minutes)

Read
Two singers perform on a dark stage: one stands in a long dark costume with their head raised, while the other, in a pale gown and jeweled headpiece, sings beside them.

Performance Edition

SALOME, 1974

"Salome the opera rises or falls on the soprano playing Salome, and here San Francisco Opera’s broadcast truly enters the world of operatic legend with Leonie Rysanek. Just those two words could send shivers of anticipation down the backs of a couple generations of opera lovers. She was incapable of giving a routine performance, and when everything was working, her soaring, incandescent voice and no-holds-barred stage presence could drive audiences wild."

BY PAUL THOMASON

(read time ~ 9 minutes)

Read
A singer in a white gown reclines on a dark stage among scattered red roses, leaning back on one arm and looking upward into a spotlight.

Performance Edition

DIE TOTE STADT, 2008

"Optimism, in short supply when Die tote Stadt first came to the San Francisco Opera fourteen years ago, is in shorter supply today, and the need for it greater. Think of Korngold’s optimism as a synonym for beauty, readily accessible beauty, beauty of melody and texture, beauty that reminds us of the pleasures that humans can offer one another."

BY LARRY ROTHE

(read time ~ 8 minutes)

Read
Black-and-white close-up of an opera performer in an ornate jeweled headdress and costume, looking upward with one hand raised against a dark stage.

Divo Edition

Russell Oberlin: Countertenor Extraordinaire

One of opera's most promising rising stars, countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen discusses San Francisco Opera’s rich history of countertenor singing, beginning with the American premiere of one of the great operatic masterpieces of the 20th Century, Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, starring Russell Oberlin as Oberon. 

BY ARYEH NUSSBAUM COHEN
(read time ~ 6 minutes)

Read
A singer in a dark blue costume stands alone under a spotlight, head tilted back and arms outstretched against a black stage.

Performance Edition

TURANDOT, 1977

"In San Francisco Opera’s 1977 production of Turandot, conducted by 24-year-old prodigy Riccardo Chailly, the lead roles were sung by two of the opera world’s biggest superstars, both in their prime and admired above all for the sheer sensuous beauty of their voices: 44-year-old Spaniard Montserrat Caballé and 42-year-old Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti."

BY MARK BURFORD

(read time ~ 8 minutes)

Read
Two opera performers appear on a dimly lit stage: a man in a patterned clown costume gestures toward a seated woman in a black-and-white dress and feathered headpiece. Audience members are visible in silhouette in the foreground.

Performance Edition

PAGLIACCI, 1962

"Holding her own with these superstars is the American singer Marilyn Horne at a turning point in her career. From Nedda’s first utterances we notice the warm and easy sound, suggesting a sensual person. Nedda listens to the birds in the aria “Stridono lassù” and Horne’s voice soars with the rangy, lyrical phrases."

BY JUDITH MALAFRONTE

(read time ~ 9 minutes )

Read
A woman in a tan period dress and feathered hat stands at the left of a dim stage while a man in a dark coat and white cravat gestures toward her from the right.

Performance Edition

WERTHER, 1978

"The climactic high B natural is as tumultuous as a tidal wave, but Carreras’s ability to then scale the voice down like a god calming the sea, is one of my favorite moments in this performance!"

BY KENNETH OVERTON
(read time ~ 8 minutes)

Read
Two singers perform from separate balconies on a stage painted as an old European street, reaching toward each other across the space.

Performance Edition

LOUISE, 1999

"Streaming San Francisco Opera’s Louise broadcast will surely delight everyone who loves French opera. If you were in the theater in 1999, savor this chance to relive the glories of that performance. And if Louise is new to you, prepare yourself for enchantment, Parisian style. Amusez-vous bien!"

BY ROGER PINES
(read time ~ 11 minutes)

Read
Two opera performers in period dress: a stern-looking woman in black turns toward a distressed woman in a white blouse and blue skirt, who holds a net bag of groceries and a baguette.

Diva Edition

Dame Felicity Palmer: Debuting Louise's Mother

Dame Felicity:  In coming into opera as a mezzo [after singing for several years as a soprano], one thing that has been most interesting to me is to look at some of the horrific women that I’ve had to play and wonder why they were so horrific. There’s usually a reason why they’re jealous or upset or worn down ... 

BY ROGER PINES
(read time ~ 8 minutes)

Read

Performance Edition

JENŮFA, 1980

"In the close community of standees I grew to know that year, "the Söderström and Jurinac Jenufa" was already the stuff of you-should-have-heard-it legend. Wonderful now to hear why, in experiencing this broadcast fourth of a run of six performances."

BY DAVID SHENGOLD
(read time ~ 8 minutes)

Read
A woman in a long white gown sings with her hands clasped near her face while a bearded man lies on the stage at her feet.

Performance Edition

LADY MACBETH OF MTSENSK, 1981

"Very few operas successfully combine irony and pathos, but Shostakovich managed that remarkably in his Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.  As I relistened to the archival recording recently, over 40 years after first hearing the live performances during the 1981 Fall Season at San Francisco Opera, the importance of Shostakovich’s accomplishment struck me more profoundly than ever."

BY KIP CRANNA
(read time ~ 8 minutes)

Read