San Francisco Opera

TONIGHT is your chance to experience San Francisco Opera's "harrowing, must-see" (San Francisco Chronicle) The Handmaid's Tale from anywhere in the world! Catch the livestream beginning at 7:30PM PT for just $27.50.

The opera will then be available on demand beginning on Sep 23 at 10am PT and ending Sep 25 at 10am PT.

🔗 Get your livestream pass at https://www.sfopera.com/operas/handmaids-tale/livestream/

📸 Cory Weaver Photographer

On Sunday, September 8, nearly 10,000 people gathered in Golden Gate Park for San Francisco Opera's 49th annual "Opera in the Park" concert, hosted in partnership with San Francisco Chronicle.

It was a glorious afternoon of music presented by Eun Sun Kim, the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and stars from the 2024-25 Fall Season.

Thanks to everyone who joined us!

⬇️ What was your favorite part? Let us know in the comments.

📸 Kristen Loken

Margaret Atwood herself agrees: The Handmaid's Tale is a "wow!"

Catch The Handmaid's Tale from anywhere in the world when the opera is livestreamed this Friday, September 20 at 7:30PM PT. The livestream will then be available on demand for 48 hours beginning Sept 23 at 10AM PT.

🔗 Get your livestream pass at https://www.sfopera.com/operas/handmaids-tale/livestream/ for just $27.50

📸 Cory Weaver

"American mezzo-soprano Irene Roberts is the big star of this show, giving a courageous, vulnerable and gorgeously sung performance as the Handmaid Offred." —

The "must-see production" (The Chronicle) continues tonight.

💻 Can't make it to the Opera House? The Handmaid's Tale will be livestreamed on Friday, September 20 at 7:30PM PT. Livestream passes are just $27.50!

🔗 Tickets at sfopera.com

📸 Cory Weaver Photographer

The reviews are in. The Handmaid's Tale is a "must-see."

The "harrowing and brilliant adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel" (SSan Francisco Chronicle continues tomorrow, Tuesday, September 17. Tickets at sfopera.com.

🔗 Full review: https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/handmaids-tale-sfopera-19757916.php

✍️ Lisa Hirsch

📸 Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

Review: ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ at S.F. Opera is a harrowing, must-see production Poul Ruders’ opera, based on Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel, receives its West Coast premiere in San Francisco — and not a moment too soon.

This afternoon's performance of Un Ballo in Maschera will be livestreamed! “Any production this well sung and well directed deserves the largest possible audience.” (SF Chronicle). Attend A Masked Ball from anywhere in the world!

Livestream passes are just $27.50. Livestream begins at 2:00PM PDT. A replay of the performance will be available for 48 hours beginning September 16 at 10AM PDT.

🔗Purchase livestream passes at https://www.sfopera.com/operas/un-ballo-in-maschera/livestream/

📸 Cory Weaver Photographer

The long-awaited West Coast Premiere of The Handmaid's Tale opens TONIGHT!

It's not too late to get tickets, visit sfopera.com to join us for this eagerly anticipated production.

📸 Cory Weaver Photographer

"Composers in the 19th century churned out operas like B movies, and they could cause riots. Many think of opera now as rather staid, but that is not its origin. It delights me that The Handmaid’s Tale opera has brought back some of that boundary-pushing." —Margaret Atwood

San Francisco Opera General Director Matthew Shilvock conducted a written interview with Margaret Atwood in preparation for the West Coast premiere of The Handmaid’s Tale this Saturday. Ms. Atwood is the author of the landmark literary masterpiece, The Handmaid’s Tale, on which the opera is based.

⬇️Have you read any novels by Margaret Atwood? Which other titles would you like to see adapted into an opera? Let us know in the comments!

🔗 Read more in "Notes from the Author: An Interview with Margaret Atwood" at https://www.sfopera.com/blog/2024/09/interview-with-margaret-atwood/

Scenes from ✨ Opera Ball 2024 ✨

📸 Drew Altizer

📖 Journey to the West is the second of the great Chinese literary classics commissioned by San Francisco Opera to be adapted into a World Premiere, the first being Dream of the Red Chamber, which premiered in 2016. The Monkey King 美猴王 represents an episode for Journey to the West, wherein Sun Wukong (the monkey king of the title) wreaks havoc on the heavens in a bid for immortality.

The Monkey King character and his supernatural abilities have influenced pop culture for generations. There are countless iterations of the Monkey King story and figure, but American audiences may be most familiar with Goku in Dragon Ball whose monkey tail and staff are a direct reference to the wily hero.

Set to premiere at San Francisco Opera in the fall of 2025, The Monkey King 美猴王 will feature music by Huang Ruo and a libretto by David Henry Wang. Award-winning Director Diane Paulus will collaborate with scenic designer and puppeteer Basil twist in bringing the world of The Monkey King from page to stage.

⬇️ Which version of The Monkey King 美猴王 is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!

Over the past few months, we’ve highlighted some of the iconic literary adaptations that have made their way onto the stage of the War Memorial Opera House in anticipation for the West Coast premiere of The Handmaid’s Tale, opening this Saturday, September 14.

🔗 Read more at https://www.sfopera.com/blog/2024/07/from-page-to-stage/

📸
1: Huang Ruo (composer)
2: David Henry Hwang (librettist)
3: Diane Paulus (director)
4: Basil Twist (scenic design and puppetry)

"I tell, therefore you are..."

Listen to Offred's story in the West Coast premiere of The Handmaid's Tale, based on the novel by Margaret Atwood. On stage beginning this Saturday, September 14, through October 1.

🔗 Tickets at sfopera.com

📸 Cory Weaver Photographer

Following the Sunday, September 15 matinee of Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera, San Francisco Opera Music Director Eun Sun Kim will participate in a post-performance talkback in the auditorium.

Ticketholders are invited to gather after the performance for a live Q&A with the maestro to learn about the behind-the-scenes work that goes into producing Verdi’s opera.

🔗 Get your tickets at sfopera.com

📸 Stefan Cohen, Kristen Loken

"A voice called places over the backstage intercom. As the final audience members took their seats, the San Francisco Opera Chorus stood, waiting to go on. With so many toi toi tois, any spirits were surely vanquished as the house lights went down."

Anybody can tell you that opening night is one of the most special evenings of the year, and this season was no different. Congratulations to everyone involved on a spectacular start to 102.

🔗 Read the full article at https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/sf-opera-backstage-behind-scenes-19745531.php

✍️ Tony Bravo

📸 Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

Masks, mezzos and magic: Behind the scenes at San Francisco Opera’s opening night From chorus rehearsals to final checks of the score, here’s what’s going on backstage during the ball.

Tenor Alek Shrader got a chance to sit down with Gasia Mikaelian over at KTVU to discuss this year's Opera in the Park.

🔗 Watch the full interview at https://www.ktvu.com/video/1512561

Make sure to catch Alek singing "Maria" from West Side Story tomorrow, Sunday, September 8, as part of the beloved Bay Area tradition of Opera in the Park. The concert begins at 1:30PM in Robin Williams Meadow at Golden Gate Park. FREE and open to all! Learn more at sfopera.com

See you there 😉

SF Opera returns this Fall Season with Opera in the Park The tradition continues Sunday as world class artists perform on an open air stage for free at Robin Williams Meadow in San Francisco. We welcome San Francisco Opera tenor Alex Schrader to The Nine as we look ahead to Sunday and the season.

Tonight is the night! Tonight, the curtain raises on 102 extraordinary years of San Francisco Opera. And we cannot wait to celebrate this momentous occasion with you, our beloved audience.

Join us for Verdi's A Masked Ball, featuring some of the most impressive singing you will ever hear. Tickets are still available starting at just $35.

⬇️ What mask are you wearing? Let us know in the comments!

🔗 Learn more and buy tickets at sfopera.com

📸 Cory Weaver Photographer

What are you packing in your picnic for this year's Opera in the Park?

We can't wait to celebrate our beloved Bay Area tradition with you this Sunday! FREE and open to all, this event is presented in partnership with San Francisco Chronicle and our radio partner Classical KDFC

Join us this Sunday, September 8, at 1:30PM in Robin Williams Meadow at Golden Gate Park.

🔗 Learn more at sfopera.com

📸 Cory Weaver Photographer

📖 The famous tale of captain Ahab and his obsession with the white whale, Moby-Dick was originally commissioned as a second operatic collaboration between composer Jake Heggie and librettist Terrence McNally after the success of Dead Man Walking. McNally ultimately withdrew from the work due to health issues and Heggie went on to collaborate with librettist Gene Scheer and director Leonard Foglia.

Sheer told the New York Times “Wherever I could use Melville’s language, I did. Probably 50 percent of the libretto is taken directly from the book. But the voice of the narrator is gone. That’s in the music.”

Moby-Dick had its world premiere at Dallas Opera in 2010, and came to San Francisco in 2012. The San Francisco Chronicle described it as “a masterpiece of clarity and intensity, with a score that is at once thematically compact and richly inventive.” The San Francisco Opera production was filmed for television and later released on DVD.

⬇️ Were you in the audience for the San Francisco production, or have you seen the filmed version? Let us know in the comments!

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be highlighting some of the iconic literary adaptations that have made their way onto the stage of the War Memorial Opera House in anticipation for the West Coast premiere of The Handmaid’s Tale.

🔗 Read more at https://www.sfopera.com/blog/2024/07/from-page-to-stage/

📸 Cory Weaver Photographer

In just 6 days, the 2024-25 Season opens with Verdi's thrilling drama, Un Ballo in Maschera.

Fighting against fate, can King Gustav III forge a path to his beloved Amelia before his court falls apart? Verdi’s sumptuous, emotionally charged music weaves a tale of fate, betrayal, and forbidden desire amidst an opulent masquerade.

⬇️ Will we see you there? Let us know in the comments!

🔗 Learn more and buy tickets at https://www.sfopera.com/operas/un-ballo-in-maschera/

📸 Cory Weaver Photographer

2024-25 livestreams are on sale now! Join us in the opera house from the comfort of your own home for just $27.50.

The day after livestream performances, when available, you are able to access the livestream for 48 hours starting at 10AM PT. Please review each opera for exceptions to this on-demand cadence.

🔗 Get your livestream passes at sfopera.com

📸 John Boatwright

📖 In 1982, Sister Helen Prejean became a spiritual advisor to a convicted murderer sentenced to the death penalty. Her 1993 bestselling memoir Dead Man Walking, chronicles her experience gaining an intimate perspective into the many lives irrevocably altered by a violent crime and a lawfully mandated ex*****on.

When San Francisco Opera approached award-winning playwright Terrence McNally with an opera commission, McNally proposed Dead Man Walking as a potential title to his new collaborator, the then unknown Jake Heggie. The idea immediately generated creative sparks, and the operatic adaptation of Dead Man Walking began.

Dead Man Walking premiered at San Francisco Opera on October 7, 2000. Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle remarked, “The commissioned score, the maiden effort of composer Jake Heggie and librettist Terrence McNally, must be reckoned something of a masterpiece -- a gripping, enormously skillful marriage of words and music to tell a story of love, suffering and spiritual redemption.”

⬇️ Were you at the world premiere? Let us know in the comments!

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be highlighting some of the iconic literary adaptations that have made their way onto the stage of the War Memorial Opera House in preparation for the West Coast premiere of The Handmaid’s Tale.

🔗 Read more at https://www.sfopera.com/blog/2024/07/from-page-to-stage/

📸 Ken Friedman

Have you been wondering what BRAVO! Club is all about? Here's a glimpse of what an event with the next generation of opera lovers is like! From knowledgeable speakers to delicious wine, the BRAVO! Club knows how to have a good time 😎

🔗 Learn more at https://www.sfopera.com/bravo
📸 Reneff Olson, Emma Saperstein

In just over two short weeks, we cannot wait to raise the curtain on 102 years of San Francisco Opera. We want you to be a part of it, a part of something that brings us together in a shared sense of humanity. Join us for the 2024-25 Fall Season.

⬇️ What production are you looking forward to most? Let us know in the comments!

🔗 Tickets start at $28. Get yours at https://www.sfopera.com/buy-tickets/

If you are a San Francisco Opera regular, you will likely recognize the designs of Japanese-born American artist Jun Kaneko. Kaneko is iconic, known for his large scale ceramic sculptures, and of course, his masterful foray into the operatic world of costume and production design. Kaneko’s costumes and sets have been seen at San Francisco Opera in Puccini’s Madame Butterfly and Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, two productions beloved by our audience.

Of his own opera design, Kaneko writes, “integrating all of the synchronous connecting elements in an opera is the most difficult challenge in its design. My challenge is to find a way to shrink the distance between the music and the visual elements and to conceive visuals that fuse the music and design as one experience.”

⬇️ Did you see Kaneko’s Madame Butterfly or Die Zauberflöte at SF Opera? Let us know in the comments!

We’ll be exploring some of the iconic fashions and designers who have been a part of San Francisco Opera's History as we look ahead to Opera Ball and Un Ballo in Maschera.

🔗 Learn more and buy tickets at https://www.sfopera.com/operas/un-ballo-in-maschera/

📸 Cory Weaver: Die Zauberflöte (2012), Madame Butterfly (2014)

Sketches by Jun Kaneko

Grab your group and come to the opera with friends! Groups of 10 or more can save up to 30% on select performances and seating sections. Restrictions may apply. Please see sfopera.com/groups for details. Call (415) 621-4403 or email [email protected] for more information!

🔗 Learn more at https://www.sfopera.com/contact/box-office/group-sales/

📸 Drew Altizer, Kristen Loken, Reneff Olsen

There are some works onstage that resonate in our consciousness for weeks, months, even a lifetime. I have a feeling that Innocence will be one such piece for many of us. It was a defining moment on our stage, and an affirmation of this community’s embrace of art that pushes boundaries and explores the complexity of the human experience.

As with other works that have made their American premiere (and often the only American performances) in San Francisco—I think of Reimann’s Lear, Messiaen’s Saint François d’Assise, Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre—Innocence expanded the musical lexicon, took us into new sonorities and textures, and pushed the definition of opera. That pushing of boundaries was seen most acutely in two characters—The Teacher and the murdered daughter, Markéta—and I had a chance to sit down with the singers who have played those roles in every theater so far, Lucy Shelton and Vilma Jää.

🔗 Read "Backstage with Matthew: The unique, and ancient, vocal techniques of Innocence" at https://www.sfopera.com/blog/backstage-with-matthew/2024/backstage-with-matthew-vocal-techniques-of-innocence/

📸 Jean-Louis Fernandez