Down the Rabbit Hole

"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)

"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)

"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)

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)

One of opera's most promising rising stars, countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen discusses San Francisco Opera’s rich history of countertenor singing, begining 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)

Grammy award winning, respected producer, re-recording engineer, 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)

"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)

"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 )

"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)

"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)

"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)

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)

Mattiwilda Dobbs’ acclaimed 1955 debut with San Francisco Opera was one of many historic accomplishments for the trailblazing 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)

"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)

"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)

As Magee and Kerl point out, Decker’s production strategy solves a dramatic problem even as it places added burdens on the soprano and tenor leads -- they forfeit an interval of relief from roles that are among opera’s most taxing, sacrificing their comfort to verisimilitude.

(run time ~ 12 minutes)

Anyone who knows me (Terence McEwen, Executive VP of London Records) knows that Gwyneth Jones is a very special prima donna in my life.  The last 20 years I’ve been working with famous prima donnas, but you have to have some favorites and Gwyneth is one of my special favorites, so it’s a terrific thrill for me to be here in San Francisco, my sweet, to interview about Fidelio. 

(run time ~ 19 minutes)

In 1972 the San Francisco Opera Guild initiated - Opera Salon, renamed Insight Panels in 1980 - a series of panel discussions by experts on various topics. 

Join Kip Cranna as he talks with Die tote Stadt's conductor Donald Runnicles, revival director Meisje Hummel, and lead tenor Lucas Meachem singing the role(s) of Fritz/Frank.

(run time ~59 minutes)

Arthur Kaplan, then staff writer in San Francisco Opera’s Public Relations Department, interviewed Montserrat Caballé and Luciano Pavarotti. The opening of Turandot had taken place several days earlier, and the artists talked about their experiences in performing what for both of them had been firsts in their operatic careers. 

(run time ~ 15 minutes)

"Citizenry of San Francisco, join me in a greeting of welcome, and in extending you a cordial invitation to join us in the glory of the opera, a dream long denied fulfilled, and the opera house in which the most enthusiastic opera lover could feel a just and glowing pride ... "

(run time ~ 14 minutes)

Baritone Richard Bonelli, was a frequent artists with the San Francisco Opera from 1926 to 1942.  During that time, his wife Mona frequently could be found, camera in hand, filming whatever activity might be going on.

The San Francisco Opera footage, from the Richard Bonelli Collection held at Stanford University, captures some of the first offerings of the Opera at the War Memorial Opera House, which opened in 1932. Footage includes performances, dress rehearsals, and backstage activities. 

(https://library.stanford.edu/collections/richard-bonelli-collection)

Listen in as Terry McEwen, SF Opera's third general director, engages his dear friend Bidú Sayão in a lively conversation recorded for radio broadcast in 1979 -- 40 years after her Company debut in Manon.

(run time ~ 31 minutes)

Long-time San Francisco Opera legend, James Schwabacher, sits down with Maestro Antonio de Almeida to discuss Massenet, Werther, and what makes an opera French.

(run time ~ 16 minutes)

The OTHER Manon ... Otto Guth asks of Leontyne Price: Do you like doing operas for the first time here in San Francisco with us?  Her reply: Yes, for many reasons.  The first place, I am blissfully happy here, which probably may be the reason that I come so often.  Also, it’s sort of like a good luck charm, because ..."

(run time ~ 17 minutes) 

Eavesdrop on October 10th, 1980 as we listen in to a charming conversation between Sena Jurinac (as Kostelnicka) and Elisabeth Söderström (as Jenůfa), moderated by Marilyn Mercur (SF Opera broadcast producer).

(run time ~ 23 minutes)

Listen in on a lunch time panel as Calvin Simmons (conductor), Gerald Freedman (stage director), and Richard Rodzinski (whose father Artur Rodzinski was instrumental in bringing this opera to the U.S.) discuss Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.

(run time ~ 15 minutes)

Join Scott Beach, longtime SF Opera broadcaster, as he and Regina Resnik delve into her characterization of The Countess.

(run time ~ 16 minutes)