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SF Opera’s Annual Meeting 2009

* Notes *
San Francisco Opera's Annual Meeting for 2009 was held yesterday afternoon, over in one of the rehearsal halls in Davies. Board of Directors President George H. Hume, General Director David Gockley, and CFO Michael Simpson all gave reports. The mood is considerably more gloomy than last year, the endowment is down by some $30-35 million, though ticket sales are quite strong. The Netrebko performances of La Traviata are sold-out, and Porgy and Bess will undoubtedly sell out as well. It was admitted that the cinemacasts have not been a success, and that the Met has a stranglehold on distribution to the major cinemas.

In addition to canceling Peter Grimes next season, San Francisco Opera has reduced the number of performances, limited rehearsal times, cut a revival of La Bohème, and is not putting on family performances next year. However, three cycles of Der Ring will be performed in 2011, in the style of Bayreuth.

The War Memorial Veterans Building is slated to be seismically retrofitted, and an annex may be added to alleviate some of the space limitations the opera has. Apparently San Francisco Opera has storage space out in Potrero Hill, a costume shop in SOMA, and an annex on Ivy Street. SFJAZZ has plans to move over to a new venue on Franklin near Fell, so it may also be the case that some smaller scale works may have a chance to be performed by San Francisco Opera in Herbst.

There were five Adlers that performed, sopranos Leah Crocetto and Tamara Wapinsky, mezzo Daniela Mack, tenor Alek Shrader, and pianist Allen Perriello. Shrader's diction and control were good in "Ich baue ganz," though he sounded constrained at the top of his voice. Crocetto gave a powerful performance of "My man's gone now," she really sounded like she could shatter glass with her voice. Wapinsky sang "O mio babbino caro" fairly well, she has a lot of vibrato, but she stayed in tune. Mack and Shrader were perfectly charming in "Un soave non so che," both were deft and light in their approach.

* Tattling *
A cellular phone rang as Gockley introduced Crocetto. Also, it was confirmed that Le Nozze di Figaro is slated for 2010-2011, with Luisotti conducting. We also may well hear Dead Man Walking in the next 5 or 6 years.

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10 responses to “SF Opera’s Annual Meeting 2009”

  1. Patrick Avatar
    Patrick

    What does “in the style of Bayreuth” mean? Are they ripping out all the seat cushions? (That’s a joke, but I’m really asking.)
    I hope they’re getting a new production of Nozze — their current one is ghastly.

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  2. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    It means they are doing each cycle in 6 days, rather than more spread out.
    They are getting a new production, from Graham Vick, or so I hear.

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  3. J. Marcher Avatar
    J. Marcher

    A six day ring would be great, especially because LA’s are going to stretch out to 9 days, which is a pretty long time for us out-of towners. I hope they aren’t thinking of covering the pit.
    Limiting rehearsal times? Terrible idea, obviously. Cutting the family performances? Stupid idea. So the complete lack of guts and imagination we see in the programming is now manifest on the administrative side as well? Oh, the future looks dark, dark indeed.
    Did Gockley remember your name this time?

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  4. Not For Fun Only Avatar
    Not For Fun Only

    Thanks for this informative behind-the-scenes report. I couldn’t have done better if I’d been there myself! No question that the administration has a lot of complex challenges. It is interesting & very frustrating that the opera has the digital content ready to go but no access to the major distribution channels. The opportunity to use Herbst as a venue in the future would be great.

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  5. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    The 9 days it a bit much, and I’m going to miss the opening of the SF Opera summer season next year because of it.
    American opera companies rehearse their productions a lot more than in Europe, so in any case it won’t be worse than some of the stuff they put on the stage in Munich, for example. This also gives more opportunities for opera disasters, which can be amusing. Let’s hope so, anyway. The family productions will come back in time, as I remember, before we didn’t have them every year either.

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  6. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    It will certainly be interesting to see what happens next. I do hope we get to hear some Monteverdi or Vivaldi at Herbst.

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  7. David Avatar
    David

    No Handel?

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  8. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    Doesn’t sound like any is coming up soon, sadly, at least not for SF Opera. Handel does sound lovely in Herbst, as PBO has demonstrated.

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  9. Immanuel Gilen Avatar
    Immanuel Gilen

    Monteverdi/Vivaldi at Herbst…call me when that happens and I’ll move right back!

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  10. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    Right, I’m completely dreaming, no? It is more likely if they do use that venue, they’ll perform Turn of the Screw. But you’ll be the first to know if it does ever happen, I’m sure.

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