DEAR FRIENDS, Something very exciting is happening in San Francisco. The City is in a great period THE of growth and innovation, and standing at the center of this swirling energy is the War Memorial Opera House—a home for dynamic, vital artistry for 94 years. I am so proud of the important role the Opera plays in the cultural life of our City. We bring together artists, artisans and technicians, and join with you, the audience, to share in transformative works that shape our sense of self and society. The 2017–18 Season is no exception. We invite you to delve into the truths of the human condition through nine incredible journeys, including a visceral production of Richard Strauss’s Elektra, the world premiere of John Adams and Peter Sellars’s Girls of the Golden West and Richard Wagner’s epic Ring cycle. MUSIC As we enter our 95th Season, I’m particularly grateful to our Music Director Nicola Luisotti whose exciting tenure comes to a close at the end of the season. Nicola has brought unbridled passion and artistry to the Company and has breathed new life into our work. THAT Thank you for being such an important part of this Company. I am very excited to share this season with you. With warmest wishes, MATTHEW SHILVOCK, GENERAL DIRECTOR MOVES THE CITY TURANGIACOMO PUCCINI What is like ice, but burns like fire? Turandot—a cold-hearted but exquisitely beautiful princess who challenges her suitors to a deadly game of wits. Only Calaf, an exiled prince, is hot-blooded enough to break through her icy veneer. A selfless sacrifice by Calaf’s faithful servant ultimately awakens true emotions in Turandot, proving that in the game of love you can’t win the top prize without giving away your heart. Puccini’s magnificent final opera transports us to another time and place, a world of heightened spectacle where myth comes to life through music, culminating with the glorious “Nessun dorma.” Designed by visionary artist David Hockney and conducted by Nicola Luisotti, with two casts featuring Martina Serafin and Nina Stemmeº, this Turandot is a feast for the senses. sfopera.com/turandot #TurandotSF DOT“I’ve attended opera performances at all of the † † biggest houses across the U.S. and in Europe but SEP 8, 12, 15, 21, 24m, 30 º º º • º º º I always come home to San Francisco Opera!” NOV 18 , 25 , 28 DEC 3m , 6 , 9 –Floyd R., subscriber since 1967 † With Martina Serafin/Nina Stemmeº, Maria Agresta*/Toni-Marie Palmertree /Leah Crocettoº, Brian Jagde, Raymond Aceto/Soloman Howard*º; Conductor Nicola Luisotti/Christopher Franklin*º; Director Garnett Bruce. 3 hours including two intermissions. Sung in Italian with English supertitles. Co-production with Lyric Opera of Chicago. *San Francisco Opera debut. †Alternate cast. ºNov/Dec cast. This production is made possible, in part, by Opening Weekend Grand Sponsor Diane B. Wilsey. Additional support is provided by: John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn; Bernard and Barbro Osher; The Burgess and Elizabeth Jamieson Fund; San Francisco Opera Guild; United Airlines; Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem, through the Conductors Fund and the Great Interpreters of Italian Opera Fund; and Joan and David Traitel, through the Great Singers Fund. 2 3 ELEKRICHARD STRAUSS What would you do if you knew who murdered your father? For Elektra, the answer is clear. In the wake of the Trojan War, Elektra’s mother, Klytemnestra, has killed her father, Agamemnon, and Elektra’s world has come unmoored. When her desire for justice becomes a blood lust, Elektra pushes her fractured family to the brink of destruction. Through her terrifying descent we experience how a legacy of violence—political and personal, physical and emotional—can linger inside our very souls. A trio of powerhouse women—Christine Goerke, Stephanie Blythe and Adrianne Pieczonka—leads this new production of Richard Strauss’s astonishing one-act tragedy, directed by Keith Warner with a contemporary lens on Greek history. sfopera.com/elektra #ElektraSF TRA SEP 9, 13, 17m, 19, 22, 27 With Christine Goerke, Stephanie Blythe, Adrianne Pieczonka, Robert Brubaker, Alfred Walker*; Conductor Henrik Nánási*; Production Keith Warner; Revival Director Anja Kühnhold*. 1 hour, 40 minutes, with no intermission. Sung in German with English supertitles. Co-production with Prague National Theatre and Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe. *San Francisco Opera debut. This production is made possible in part by: John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn; and Joan and David Traitel, through the Great Singers Fund. 4 5 LA GIUSEPPE VERDI Passion that knows no boundaries. Rediscover the spirit and ardor of true romance in one of the most adored operas of all time. Aurelia Florian is Violetta Valéry, the glamorous but fragile seductress, and Atalla Ayan is Alfredo Germont, her admirer from afar. When they find love, it seems as if nothing could keep them apart. But the rules of society and the complexities of family expectations betray them, and Violetta’s fate takes a tragic turn. Whether you are seeing it for the first time or revisiting it once more, Verdi’s classic tale of a courtesan who loses everything only to find grace will make you fall in love all over again. sfopera.com/traviata #TraviataSF TRAV SEP 23, 26, 28 • OCT 1m, 3, 6, 8m, 11, 14, 17 With Aurelia Florian*, Atalla Ayan*, Artur Ruci ´nski*; Conductor Nicola Luisotti; Original Director John Copley; Director Shawna Lucey. 3 hours including two intermissions. Sung in Italian with English supertitles. San Francisco Opera production. *San Francisco Opera debut. IATA This production is made possible, in part, by: Chevron; and Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem, through the Conductors Fund and the Great Interpreters of Italian Opera Fund. 6 7 MANONJULES MASSENET Bright lights, lavish parties and the height of fashion at every turn. But at what price? Composed at the height of the Belle Époque, Jules Massenet’s bright, sensual opera follows a pair of not-so-innocent young lovers as they tangle with the toast of Paris, inviting dangerous consequences. At the center of it all is Manon—beautiful, wide-eyed and insatiable. Tempted by luxury but driven by passion for a penniless man, she ricochets from one impossible situation to the next in search of happiness. With soprano sensation Nadine Sierra as Manon and star tenor Michael Fabiano as Des Grieux, Manon is a quintessential French portrait of a city and a woman no one can resist. sfopera.com/manon #ManonSF NOV 4, 7, 10, 16, 19m, 22 “I’m so grateful to San Francisco Opera. With Nadine Sierra, Michael Fabiano, David Pershall, Robert Brubaker, Timothy Mix, James Creswell; They put their belief in me as a young Conductor Patrick Fournillier; Director Vincent Boussard. 3 hours, 30 minutes including two intermissions. Sung in French with English supertitles. singer earlier than others.” Co-production with Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre and the Israeli Opera. –Michael Fabiano This production is made possible, in part, by: John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn and Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem, through the Emerging Stars Fund. 8 9 WORLD PREMIERE MUSIC BY J O H N A D A M S LIBRETTO BY PETER SELLARS, COMPILED FROM ORIGINAL SOURCES COMMISSIONED BY SAN FRANCISCO OPERA, THE DALLAS OPERA, GIRLS OF THE DUTCH NATIONAL OPERA AND TEATRO LA FENICE GOLDEN“You have no idea of this wild and barbarous life.” – D a m e S h i r l e y This world premiere opera follows four remarkable characters who flock to Gold Country hoping to strike it rich but are quickly caught up in the optimism, greed and prejudices of a rapidly changing world. Dame Shirley is an East Coast transplant chronicling life in the camp. Ah Sing, a Chinese immigrant, works as a prostitute but dreams of striking it rich. Ned Peters is a black, violin-playing cowboy and ex-slave who never quite feels safe. And Josefa is a young Mexican barmaid whose act of self-preservation will change them all forever. Composer John Adams and writer/director Peter Sellars, the team behind Doctor Atomic and Nixon in China, bring us this San Francisco Opera commission. The title is a nod to Puccini’s The Girl of the Golden West, but this new opera tells the story of the unsung pioneers of the Gold Rush in their own words—offering WESTcontemporary audiences a powerful reflection on the everyday people who set out to build new lives in a wild, beautiful land. sfopera.com/goldenwest #GoldenWestSF NOV 21, 24, 26m, 29 • DEC 2, 5, 7, 10m With Julia Bullock*, Hye Jung Lee, J’Nai Bridges, Paul Appleby, Davóne Tines*, Elliot Madore, Ryan McKinny*; Conductor Grant Gershon*; Director Peter Sellars. 3 hours, 15 minutes including one intermission. Sung in English with English supertitles. *San Francisco Opera debut. This production is made possible, in part, by: John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn; Jane Bernstein and Bob Ellis; Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem, through the Emerging Stars Fund; and an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. 10 11 RICHARD WAGNER SUMMER 2018 Donald Runnicles, one of the world’s leading interpreters of Wagner, returns to conduct an extraordinary international cast and the incomparable San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus. CAST PRODUCTION BRÜNNHILDE SIEGMUND / FROH HAGEN / FASOLT GUNTHER / DONNER CONDUCTOR Through myth we find humanity. EVELYN HERLITZIUS* BRANDON ANDREA BRIAN MULLIGAN DONALD JOVANOVICH SILVESTRELLI RUNNICLES Charting an epic course from the birth of nature to the fall of the gods and the dawn WOTAN ERDA / 1ST NORN GREER GRIMSLEY LOGE FRICKA / WALTRAUTE RONNITA MILLER DIRECTOR of a new age, the most monumental work of art ever created returns to San Francisco.