Arts & Events

On Friday, June 16, San Francisco Opera did itself proud by producing a one-night only Centennial Concert featuring the Opera’s Orchestra and Chorus, three top-notch conductors, and fifteen leading vocal soloists. The company founded in 1923 by Neapolitan Gaetano Merola looked back over its 100-year history, offering projected still images of many of the singers and productions that made this company a major force in the world of opera. Yet there was also a look forward to the years to come, as President Joe Biden noted in the closing words of the congratulatory letter he sent to the company, which letter was read aloud onstage by the current General Director Matthew Shilvock. 

Opening this concert was the Prelude from Richard Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nūrnberg conducted by the company’s current Music Director Eun Sun Kim. Throughout this vibrant prelude, projected still images came fast and furious, indeed, far too fast and furious, there being no fewer than 59 of them! I shuddered to think that perhaps in this concert we’d be bombarded by so many mages they’d detract from the music itself. Happily, this was generally not the case. 

In fact, in the second item on the program, the aria “Amour, viens rendre à mon àme” from Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice, exquisitely sung by mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack, with SF Opera’s former Music Director Sir Donald Runnicles conducting, there were no projected images at all. Next came the sensuous love duet “Pur ti miro” from Claudio Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea, with mezzo-soprano Susan Graham as Nero and soprano Heidi Stober as Poppea., conducted by Patrick Summers. During this wonderful music it was hard to discern why the 14 images were chosen, as few of them had anything to do with this great opera. 

Following this came a rarity, the aria “Odi il voto” from Giuseppe Verdi’s Ernani. So rarely heard is this aria, which is usually omitted, that Matthew Shilvock announced that this would in fact be the first time it had been heard at San Francisco Opera. It was brilliantly sung by tenor Russell Thomas, conducted by Eun Sun Kim, and turned out to be an unexpected highlight of the concert, although there were many others. Next came Pierrot’s Tanzlied” from Die tote Stadt by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, followed by the “Embroidery Aria” from Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten, sung by soprano Heidi Stober and conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles. Next we heard the duet “Vicino a te” from Andrea Chénier by Umberto Giordano, brilliantly sung by soprano Ailyn Pérez and tenor Michael Fabiano, conducted by Eun Sun Kim. Closing out the first half of this concert were a stirring rendition of Va, pensiero” from Verdi’s Nabucco, featuring the SF Opera Chorus whose director is John Keene; followed by tenor Brian Jovano/vich singing “Ch’ella mi creda” from La fanciulla del West by Giacomo Puccini; and the Te Deum” from Puccini’s Tosca, featuring bass-baritone Christian Van Horn as Scarpia and the SF Opera Chorus. 

After Intermission, as the second half of this concert got under way, we heard “The Entrance of the Guests” from Wagner’s Tannhāuser, conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles. For this music, three trumpeters were placed onstage, emphasising their ceremonial function. Following this we heard baritone Brian Mulligan perform the aria “Batter My Heart” from Doctor Atomic by Bay Area composer John Adams. This aria was conducted by Eun Sun Kim. Then came Kostelnićka’s aria “Co chvita” from Jenúfa by Leos Janáček, movingly sung by soprano Karita Mattila, conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles. Then, in a nod to American musical theatre, came “Losing My Mind” from Follies by Stephen Sondheim, sung by soprano Patricia Racette, conducted by Patrick Summers. Racette’s voice seems to have darkened a bit with age, though this may simply be a function of this dark-toned piece by Sondheim.č 

The next two works were highlights of this concert, beginning with a vivacious performance by soprano Adela Zaharia of “Je veux vivre” from Roméo et Juliette” by Charles Gounod, conducted by Eun Sun Kim; and followed by “Ombra mai fu” from Xerxes by George Frideric Handel, exquisitely sung by mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, conducted by Patrick Summers. Following this, we heard “Prosti, nebesnoye sozdanye” from The Queen of Spades by Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky, sung by tenor Brandon Jovanovich, conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles. Then we heard the brilliant duet “Là ci darem la mano” from Mozart’s Don Giovanni, sung by bass-baritone Christian Van Horn and soprano Heidi Stober, conducted by Eun Sun Kim. Next came another highlight, perhaps the highlight of this concert, the Liebestod from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde sung by the current leading Wagnerian soprano Nina Stemme, conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles. Closing out this Centennial Concert were the aria “Cessa di piú resistere” from Il barbiere di Siviglia by Gioachino Rossini, brilliantly sung by tenor Lawrence Brownlee, conducted by Patrick Summers, and, finally, the SF Opera Chorus singing “Ave Signor” from Mefistofele by Arrigo Boito. 

Finally, I can only repeat the closing words of President Biden’s letter, which were, “May the San Francisco Opera continue to help so many discover and rediscover the power of art for years to come.”