[Doing fun research into old memories of the San Francisco Opera, with
the aid of Kori Lockhart's wonderfully complete files.  Act I of this
thread was Mura's memory of "Frau ohne Schatten" and Tito Gobbi in SF
(in separate performances, of course) and apparently my 1960 and 1964
cast information didn't hit the target.  The story continues...]

   From: "Mura Kievman"
   Sent: Sunday, December 29, 2002 6:22 AM
   Subject: Re:  Poking into Memory Lane

   Dear Janos,

   It was rather earlier than that!  By 1960 I was a freshman at
   Mills College (majoring in guess what) -- I remember ushering
   at a few performances of the opera during my student years there.
   One was Nabucco, but what were the others?  I think there was a
   Faust as well ...  The head usher was a tyrant who hated us
   students who got in for free if we'd just show some people to
   their seats.  She also hated the students because we -- usually
   in the balcony -- would just sit on the steps during the opera.
   And there were always patrons who wanted to give us THEIR seats!

   If I was truly 12 (which is my recollection) it would have been
   around 1954 or 1955 ...  and I saw the SF Opera at that horrible
   barn, the Shrine, in L.A.  They were on tour, of course ...

First of all, about the Tyrant Usher.  That would be Mrs. Beverly,
head usher, but only on the orchestra level by the time I came around
(Johnny was *the* head usher, the best in the business).  Mrs. Beverly
(born without a first name, apparently) started when the War Memorial
was built, ushered at the opening "Tosca," and then put the fear of God
into generations of audiences for more than a half a century.  I interviewed
her when she reached her 50th anniversary and asked what impressed her
the most in all that time - knowing that a.  she always stood guard at
her post through every performance, and b.  she didn't care for opera
at all.

Her greatest single experience, Mrs. Beverly told me, was the moment
when Maria Callas appeared on the stage (in one of those disastrous
recitals late in her career).  What did she sing?  Oh, it wasn't the
singing, Mrs. Beverly said, "she had a long scarf and she held the end
in one hand and tossed it over her shoulder." And?  "That was it."

And the worst memory?  "When Mr. Adler told us we cannot let anybody
in after the curtain went up and people at first couldn't believe that
they cannot just come and go.  There was some fighting going on." Fighting?
"Yes, some drunken socialite pinched and twisted my usher's breast."
What did Adler say?  "He told us to fight back if necessary." But these
were big-time contributors.  "Mr. Adler said the rule applies to
everybody." Yep, that would be Mr. Adler.

As to the original question, "Frau" with Dalis and "Schicchi" and
"Otello" with Gobbi all in one week and in LA in the '50s ...  nothing
in the 1954-55 period, but in 1959, Dalis was the Nurse, with Edith Lang,
Marianne Schech, Sebastian Feiersinger and Mino Yahia (?!); but the
"Otello" Iago was Mario Zanasi (Tucci, Del Monaco); and no "Schicchi,"
sorry.

"Nabucco" was produced in 1961, with Lucille Udovick, Margarethe Bence,
Cornell MacNeil, Giorgio Tozzi and Giuseppe Zampieri; the "Faust" in
that period would be 1961, with Mary Costa, Kerstin Meyer, Albert Lance,
Thomas Stewart and Tozzi.

Janos Gereben/SF
www.sfcv.org
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