At the San Francisco Opera's season-announcement press conference today,
music director Donald Runnicles confirmed that his work with the company
has "the priority...  and anything else remains subordinate to that."

The conductor, whose contract here runs through the end of 2006, has been
appearing with increasing frequency and to rave reviews around the world,
led six of the current season's nine productions in the War Memorial,
and will be on the podium for the next season's opening gala with Renee
Fleming and four of nine productions - "Billy Budd," "Tosca," "The Flying
Dutchman" and "The Queen of Spades."

Besides dozens of guest-conducting appearances elsewhere, Runnicles is
also principal conductor of the Orchestra of St. Luke's and principal
guest conductor of the Atlanta Symphony.

Asked specifically about his participation in the BBC Proms (where,
according to frequent rumors, he may be in line to head the series),
Runnicles said "it can only happen once I really have cleared it up here;
my commitment remains in San Francisco."

The season announced by general director Pamela Rosenberg matches
the lineup published in the SF Classical Voice two weeks ago
(http://www.sfcv.org/arts_revs/music_news_12_30_03.php) exactly,
with the addition of dates, which are available at
http://sfopera.com/os_ourseason.asp.

During the roundtable meeting, Rosenberg also addressed the subject of
changes made in her long-range "Animating Opera" plan, announced when
she succeeded Lotfi Mansouri, in 2001, and forced to be modified as the
result of the company's financial problems.

Berlioz had a special place in the plan, and today, Rosenberg spoke
several times, with palpable regret, about the postponement of "Les
Troyens" from 2005.  Asked if it's an "open-ended" postponement, Rosenberg
said - for the first time - that she plans the production for the 2007-'08
season.

(In 2001, when asked about long-range plans, she said: "I have a five-year
contract, and I find it a bit dicey for plans and contracts to be laid
and made beyond that point.  Who knows?  I may not want to stay longer
or the board may not want me to stay longer.  I could lay out a 10-year
plan... but it's difficult because there are so many opera houses now
that plan way out in advance.")

The plan to produce "Benvenuto Cellini" is apparently dead, Rosenberg
referring to it as only a vague possibility.  She confirmed that the
plan to revive next January Jake Heggie's "Dead Man Walking," with the
original San Francisco cast, has been cancelled, along with Janacek's
"From the House of the Dead."

Rosenberg, however, gave a "written-in-concrete" confirmation of the world
premiere, in 2005, of John Adams' "Dr. Atomic."

Additional details of today's press conference will be published in the
next edition of www.sfcv.org.

Janos Gereben/SF
www.sfcv.org
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