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San Francisco Opera’s 2011- 2012 Season

September 9- November 25 2011: Turandot
September 10-30 2011: Heart of a Soldier
September 23- October 11 2011: Lucrezia Borgia
October 15- November 10 2011: Don Giovanni
October 30- November 19 2011: Serse
November 6- December 4 2011 Carmen
June 8- July 3 2012: Nixon in China
June 12- July 1 2012: Attila
June 13 – July 8 2012: The Magic Flute

Iréne Theorin and Susan Foster share the title role of Turandot. Thomas Hampson stars in the world premiere of Heart of a Soldier. Lucas Meachem is Don Giovanni, Renée Fleming is Lucrezia Borgia, Susan Graham is Serse, and Kate Aldrich is Carmen. In the summer, Brian Mulligan returns to sing Nixon in Nixon in China, Ferruccio Furlanetto sings Attila, and Albina Shagimuratova makes her San Francisco Opera debut as Queen of the Night.

Season Announcement | Official Site

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29 responses to “San Francisco Opera’s 2011- 2012 Season”

  1. Roberto Avatar
    Roberto

    One more year without Rigoletto…

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  2. CruzSF Avatar
    CruzSF

    Other than no Rigoletto, I’m excited by most of the schedule. I’d happy for an opportunity to erase my memories of Jane Eaglen in Turandot, and I missed Don G and Carmen the last time they were around (I’ve never seen them live in SF).

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  3. Roberto Avatar
    Roberto

    And no Strauss either…
    It seems like yesterday that we had Don Giovanni, Carmen and Zauberflote.

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  4. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    We will make it! I’m pretty sure it is coming up in 2012-2013.

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  5. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    I just hope the ladies singing Turandot are good. I am looking forward to the new season, especially to the operas which I’ve never heard before.

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  6. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    At least we are getting good singers and a few new productions. I was surprised that we have two Mozart operas next season!

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  7. upstairs tenor Avatar
    upstairs tenor

    Did we note that FLUTE is being sung in English? Interesting…

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  8. mj Avatar
    mj

    Some good singers, yes. And some odd choices thrown in there too. I wish we could hear ANYONE but Renee Fleming in Lucrezia. Though I am guessing the only reason they chose to do Lucrezia B at all is because she requested it.
    I am disturbed by the choice for Micaela in Carmen. Often Micaela is the only decent singer in a Carmen, but not this time I fear. I guess they are moving Adlers into ever bigger roles in an effort to save money? So they can afford the likes of Renee Fleming?
    Looking forward to Furlanetto and Luisotti in Attila. The Xerxes cast looks great. Nixon in China will be interesting I hope, but probably not loveable.
    The rest looks fair to middling, not unlike this past season (aside from Makropulous Case & Werther). Actually I think all of Gockley’s seasons here can be described that way, with just enough good stuff (Walkuere, hopefully the upcoming Ring) to keep me coming back.
    Disappointed.

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  9. mj Avatar
    mj

    Oh and also, Carmen for families?! wtf? That is hilarious.

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  10. mj Avatar
    mj

    I suppose I should be less cranky and more grateful that we still have an opera company. And I AM grateful, but I want great opera.

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  11. Roberto Avatar
    Roberto

    You’re right. I didn’t notice that. “Opera for the family”. Has anyone ever saw one family at the opera? As mj said, Carmen for the family? Ouch…
    That’s what they should do: Get Sigmundsson from the Magic Flute, Fleming from Lucrezia, Graham from Xerxes, another soprano from somewhere else, get rid of all these operas and let’s have a decent Rosenkavalier! 🙂

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  12. graustark Avatar
    graustark

    On the positive side, I love the David Hockney Turandot production and the sopranos do look interesting. Susan Foster sang a great Isolde in LA a few years back, where she covered for Linda Watson and was given the last performance. Also, Serse and Attila look highly promising.
    On the other hand, Renee Fleming’s Lucrezia looks really problematic. Her bel canto performances seem to have gotten really grotesque.
    Also, I found Lucas Meachem a rather bland Don in Santa Fe a few seasons ago and didn’t find his San Francisco Count any better. I think it is wishful thinking to expect more of him this time around.
    All in all, this looks like a very uneven season, which is par for the course for this highly erratic company.

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  13. John Marcher Avatar
    John Marcher

    That’s because it was yesterday.

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  14. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    I am sure the only reason we are getting Lucrezia is because of Fleming. I am curious to hear it, but not crazy about Fleming either.
    That’s funny, I’ve never liked Micaela very much, I think it is actually a hard role to pull off. I imagine they try to use Adlers whenever they can, not only to cover roles.
    I’m more interested in this season than some of the previous ones, just because we finally get a Baroque opera.

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  15. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    It is funny! I imagine it is because the music is so appealing, but the plot doesn’t seem family-friendly.

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  16. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    Now, now, 2006 and 2007 were not yesterday.

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  17. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    I really hope the translation is not stupid.

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  18. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    I’m quite scared of Iréne Theorin after hearing her as Isolde in Bayreuth, and I’m really surprised she in the title role of our opening night. I’ve only heard good things about Foster though.
    Kate Alrich should be strong in Carmen, and Thiago Arancam was good in Cyrano, so I am curious about how he’ll be in this.
    I also really like Brian Mulligan, and I’m glad he’s singing a bigger role next season.

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  19. Sibyl Avatar
    Sibyl

    Theorin sounded great in the Met broadcasts this year, so I was hopeful about the Turandot, but maybe I should quell my hope? The issue for me is whether to get the 5 opera half season that includes the 4 I want to see, but also includes Lucrezia (I like the opera, but agree not-with-Fleming), or get the half-season that has three of my four and hope that Attila will not sell out before the time when I can do a ticket trade-out for it. And, should anyone care, the four I do not care to miss are Attila, Xerxes, Nixon, and Turandot. I love Carmen and Don G., but have seen both so many times and with so many meh singers that I will now only budge for a really superlative cast. Meaning I get to save my money. And while I lerve me a new, unheard opera, I kind of don’t ever need to go see Thomas Hampson in anything ever again (cf. Renee Fleming, above).

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  20. Ryan Avatar
    Ryan

    Just for information, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich regularly has designated “family performances” where children under 14 can go for 10eur (approx $14). Operas this season include Barber, Butterfly, L’elisir, a double bill of Der Zwerg/L’enfant et les sortileges and yes, Carmen. They are full length and seem to be “regular” performances but with an encouraging discount for children. Each one is preceded by an introductory event aimed at children.
    I don’t know how many other theatres offer similar family schemes but I think the practice should be encouraged.

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  21. knights-tale Avatar
    knights-tale

    On the whole it’s looks like a pretty good season. Two contemporary works, a Verdi rarity. It’s nice to FINALLY see a bel canto opera with “Lucrezia Borgia” (Mr. Gockley seems to think bel canto anathema).
    But another “Giovanni?” Another “Magic Flute?” Another “Carmen?” I hope SFO gets out of its financial mess soon, so we can put a moratorium on “Giovanni,” “Butterfly,” “Magic Flute,” and “Carmen.” I love all of these (well, not so much “Flute”). But enough is enough. Next year SFO will go to an eight opera schedule for 2011-2012, so these warhorses will be a larger share of the season.
    I’ve tried to like Handel opera. And gosh I find it a bore (I much prefer his solo instrumental and chamber music). Yet I’ll dutiful go to “Xerxes,” yet another production of Handel set the 18th century. It will be nice to hear Susan Graham and Sonia Prina again, both of whom carried “Ariodante” a few seasons back.
    I’m cautiously looking forward to the SFO’s first “Turandot” since the beginning of the Rosenberg era. They may actually have engaged a singer who can actually sing the part. But Marco Berti as Calaf? Really? C’mon, Mr. Gockley.
    Why can’t SFO engage world-class tenors? It’s nice to see Ramon Vargas back in “Attila” and Thiago Arancam was fine in “Cyrano” last fall, and a French tenor will make “Bizet” sound pretty.
    But really that’s it? Why have we never or rarely heard Alagna, Alvarez, Cura, Calleja, and so on? I know that Verdi/Puccini tenors are rare these days, but it’s getting silly.
    I find the casting of Adler Fellows in major roles an interesting twist. Micaela and Liu are two of the best lyric roles in the repertoire so, while clearly a money-saving move, we’ll see how these younger singers do. Singing these roles could help launch their careers.
    I find the vanity project thing interesting, too. So this past season SFO imports a ho-hum production of a ho-hum, third-tier opera (“Cyrano de Bergerac”) for Placido Domingo. Now they import “Lucrezia Borgia” for Renee Fleming. At least the opera itself is a thousand times better than “Cyrano.”
    But in each case it’s marketed as if Enrico Caruso or Maria Callas were rising from the dead singing the roles. I’m sorry, I don’t get the mania for Renee Fleming.
    Yes, her voice is lovely (I still have wonderful memories of her radiantly-sung Marschallin a decade ago). But she’s not THAT good. Frankly, I’d rather Karita Mattila or Patricia Racette sing “Lucrezia” (yes, I realize it’s not in their ‘fach’ but still).
    I saw La Fleming’s vanity “Thais” at the Met two years ago and it was a silly production of a second-rate opera with some goofy Lacroix frocks tailor-made for La Fleming. It was all rather a mess. She sounded fine, but not stupendous.
    Frankly, if they cast a nobody in “Lucrezia” I’d be happy. I AM happy SFO didn’t import “Thais” for La Fleming. Ugh.
    Conductor-wise it’s the Luisotti/Summers season, with a couple others thrown in (none of whom I recognize). At least Luisotti and Summers do good work with the orchestra, and it’ll be nice to see the SFO Orchestra strut its stuff outside the opera house.
    In the end, I’m excited for “Nixon in China,” “Heart of a Soldier,” “Attila,” and “Lucrezia Borgia” (the opera itself). I’m already weary of the Mozart choices and “Carmen.” At least the Mozarts are new productions.
    My ranting aside, considering SFO’s financial outlook it’s a strong season. But I worry about the future…

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  22. Hank Avatar
    Hank

    Thanks, knights-tale, for saying the unsayable, viz., that Handle’s operas are b-o-r-i-n-g.
    I know each of those A-A-B-A arias is an exquisite piece of music in itself, but a whole night of them, one after the other? No thanks.
    I’ll skipping the Nixon, too, since I think the only real talent Adams has is that of self-promotion.

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  23. mj Avatar
    mj

    Re: various singers…
    I found Iréne Theorin to be an extremely uninteresting Brunnhilde in the Met’s Walkuere a few years back. She was a last minute replacement I think, but still, not good enough.
    I have really enjoyed Brian Mulligan’s recent SF performances too! Look forward to more from him.
    I love Ramon Vargas, but he seemed totally miscast to me when I heard him in Attila at the Met last year. 😦 It might have been the singer-unfriendly production, costumes, and (possibly) conducting that was bringing him down though….

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  24. knights-tale Avatar
    knights-tale

    Indeed, Hank. I just don’t get today’s critics extolling the virtues of Handel opera. Opera in Handel’s time was meant as a platform for incredible stage effects, vocal pyrotechnics, and for the social elite to see and be seen.
    Baroque opera plots are incredibly arcane because nobody in the audience was actually following them. The audience was there to gawk at the sets, gawk at other audience members, and gawk at the freakish beauty of the castrati voice. And the di capo aria style a way of placating ego-driven singers, the singers’ fan bases, and gave audience members an excuse to chat through the aria, since it was going to be repeated anyway.
    Handel’s operas may be the best of his era, but that doesn’t make them less turgid to sit through (some gorgeous writing not withstandng). But I can sit through an entire evening of his keyboard sonatas, go figure.
    I guess I’m a post-Gluck kinda guy myself when it comes to opera…

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  25. Roberto Avatar
    Roberto

    Agree.

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  26. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    Perhaps Theorin was just not having a good night in Bayreuth, I guess we will just have to see! My half subscription also includes Lucrezia, though I am not crazy about Fleming, I only really disliked her in Rodelinda, so I just have to see how it goes. Really am looking forward to most of the season, unlike the last few.

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  27. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    That’s so funny, I thought Gockley had a bel canto opera every year (La fille du régiment, L’elisir d’amore, Lucia di Lammermoor), but I guess that’s the problem of trying to please everyone. I for one have been waiting 3 seasons for a Baroque opera, and have gone to Berlin, Brussels, and Paris to hear Händel in the meantime. The ENO production of Serse is not traditional, it made me laugh quite a bit when I saw it in Houston last year. I don’t think most SF Opera goers will like it though.
    It is weird that I had to go to Seattle to hear Calleja and LA to hear Alagna. As for Fleming, I am not crazy for her, but I think she is good in the right roles.
    Very excited for both Luisotti and Summers, they are great.

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  28. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    Hee hee. I love da capo, but it is true, I am boring!

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  29. Henry Avatar
    Henry

    I am curious about the Lucrezia too and as luck would have it I expect to be in SF at the time it is performed. I wonder if anyone here could tell me, please — because I couldn’t find it on the SF Opera website — when do single tickets go on sale? Thanks in advance.

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