>From the operatic hinterland to the rarified air of the NYTimes (Tommasini,
7/1/04), there is a false dichotomy being propagated about what now has
turned out to be Pamela Rosenberg's one-term leadership of the San
Francisco Opera.
This report specifically addresses claims and intimations that Rosenberg
brought new music, new production values, excitement and real value into
the musical backwaters of the far-far West. As you will see from the
following *history*, there was *something* there there before. Kurt
Herbert Adler, Terence McEwen and Lotfi Mansouri each made their
contributions, so that life didn't really begin here in 2000.
(It's not the subject here, but I happen to disagree strongly with the
opposing side, which alleges that nothing but Terrible Things happened
during the past four years. From a radiant "Ariadne" to the current
wonderful "Vixen," there has been much on the plus side - about one-half
of my own reviews during the period acknowledged and endorsed SFO
productions. What I disliked vehemently was the "new" production values
of the 1950s East Berlin, superimposed on Mozart, Handel, and a few
other supposedly otherwise "static" and "boring" composers. Nonsense.
Shoe-sniffing and stage-rape don't substitute for great vocal and
orchestral performances to make music "relevant." But, again, that's not
the topic here.)
Here's some information about the alleged dark ages of the pre-Rosenberg
SF Opera.
U.S. premieres:
1930 - L'Enfant et les Sortileges
1954 - The Portuguese Inn
1954 - Joan of Arc at the Stake
1955 - Troilus and Cressida
1957 - Dialogues of the Carmelites
1958 - Medea (Cherubini)
1958 - Die Kluge
1958 - Carmina Burana
1959 - Die Frau ohne Schatten
1961 - A Midsummer Night's Dream
1964 - Katerina Ismailova
1966 - The Makropulos Case
1967 - The Visitation
1968 - Christopher Columbus
1968 - Royal Palace (Weill)
1971 - Maria Stuarda
1972 - The Visit of the Old Lady
1977 (SPOT) - Der Kaiser von Atlantis
1981 - Lear
1983 - The Midsummer Marriage
1988 - Maometto II
1991 - Das Verratene Meer
1992 - Ermione
World premieres:
1961 - Blood Moon
1976 - Angle of Repose
1976 (SPOT) - Meeting Mr. Ives
1994 - The Dangerous Liaisons
1998 - A Streetcar Named Desire
2000 - Dead Man Walking
2001 - Arshak II (orig. version)
San Francisco Opera - U.S. Debuts
Artists
Sofia Aksenova, 1997
Nassrin Azarmi, 1974
Sari Barabas, 1950
Elisabetta Barbato, 1949
Patricia Bardon, 1995
Judith Beckman, 1970
Margarethe Bence, 1961
Annamaria Bessel, 1963
Anna Lisa Bjoerling, 1951
Ingrid Bjoner, 1960
Rebecca Blankenship, 1990
Inge Borkh, 1953
Livia Budai, 1979
Rosanna Carteri, 1954
Floriana Cavalli, 1960
Sona Cervena, 1962
Clara Clairbert, 1930
Marie Collier, 1964
Etelka Csavlek, 1987
Giusy Devinu, 1997
Mattiwilda Dobbs, 1955
Helena Dose, 1982
Oralia Dominguez, 1956
Zdzislawa Donat, 1975
Helen Donath, 1971
Ruxandra Donose, 1996
Siw Ericsdotter, 1963
Brigitte Fassbaender, 1970
Mafalda Favero, 1938
Alida Ferrarini, 1984
Helen Gahagan, 1935
Leyla Gencer, 1956
Hermione Gingold, 1974
Gertrude Grob-Prandl, 1953
Hildegard Hillebrecht, 1964
Ava June, 1973
Sena Jurinac, 1959
Raina Kabaivanska, 1962
Margarete Klose, 1953
Teresa Kubiak, 1971
Edith Lang, 1959
Josella Ligi, 1975
Margarita Lilova, 1968
Pilar Lorengar, 1964
Georgina Lukacs, 1998
Carol Malone, 1974
Olga Markova-Mikhailenko, 1991
Janis Martin, 1960
Dorothy McGuire, 1954
Arlene McIntosh, 1951
Valerie Masterson, 1980
Silvana Mazzieri, 1973
Jolanda Meneguzzer, 1962
Janine Micheau, 1938
Nelly Miricioiu, 1983
Ljiljana Molnar-Talajiae, 1969
Alicia Nafe, 1984
Marita Napier, 1972
Izabella Nawe, 1973
Anna Netrebko, 1995
Birgit Nilsson, 1956
Jarmila Novotna, 1939
Maria Parazzini, 1977
Patricia Payne, 1977
Deborah Polaski, 1988
Claire Powell, 1990
Leontyne Price, 1957
Margaret Price, 1969
Eva Randova, 1974
Eugenia Ratti, 1958
Carmen Reppel, 1983
Mado Robin, 1954
Irina Rubtsova, 1997
Reinhild Runkel, 1983
Leonie Rysanek, 1956
Maria Sa Earp, 1946
Christine Schafer, 1993
Anny Schlemm, 1979
Gabriele Schnaut, 1991
Hanna Schwarz, 1977
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, 1955
Graziella Sciutti, 1961
Anja Silja, 1968
Giulietta Simionato, 1953
Maria Slatinaru, 1983
Ingrid Steger, 1973
Ebe Stignani, 1938
Rita Streich, 1957
Mollie Sugden, 1993
Rosalind Sutherland, 1997
Sharon Sweet, 1989
Enriqueta Tarres, 1966
Renata Tebaldi, 1950
Anita Terzian, 1975
Stefania Toczyska, 1979
Hertha Toepper, 1959
Ilona Tokody, 1983
Anna Tomowa-Sintow, 1974
Rosina Torri, 1925
Gabriella Tucci, 1959
Leontina Vaduva, 1996
Zvetelina Vassileva, 1994
Claire Watson, 1966
Erika Wien, 1964
Rachel Yakar, 1974
Mara Zampieri, 1987
Teresa Zylis-Gara, 1968
Claes H. Ahnsjo, 1976
John Mark Ainsley, 1995
Eddie Albert, 1982
Valery Alexeiev, 1991
Alfonso Antoniozzi, 1992
Francisco Araiza, 1982
Roberto Aronica, 1993
Vladimir Atlantov, 1990
Anson Austin, 1981
Gennaro Barra, 1928
Hermann Becht, 1982
Benito Di Bella, 1979
Gennadi Bezubenkov, 1991
Rolf Bjoerling, 1970
Sigurd Bjoerling, 1950
Toni Blankenheim, 1965
Hans Peter Blochwitz, 1989
Umberto Borghi, 1957
Garbis Boyagian, 1976
Roland Bracht, 1985
Aldo Bramante, 1977
Delme Bryn-Jones, 1967
Stuart Burrows, 1967
Georges Cathelat, 1938
Boris Christoff, 1956
Ulrik Cold, 1980
Sorin Coliban, 1997
Anselmo Colzani, 1956
Remy Corazza, 1977
Alberto Cupido, 1983
Cesare Curzi, 1948
Federico DaviB, 1966
Ryland Davies, 1970
Fernando De La Mora, 1987
Mario Del Monaco, 1950
Gregory Dempsey, 1966
Joszef Dene, 1977
Dale Duesing, 1976
Francis Egerton, 1978
Stefan Elenkov, 1979
Kieth Engen, 1961
Elfego Esparza, 1963
Geraint Evans, 1959
Sebastian Feiersinger, 1958
Alain Fondary, 1987
Tito Gobbi, 1948
Werner Gotz, 1979
Peter Gougaloff, 1975
Clifford Grant, 1966
Henri Gui, 1969
Julien Haas, 1963
Grier Hanedanyan, 1991
Franz Hawlata, 1993
Claude Heater, 1961
David Hobson, 1994
Frank Hoffmann, 1990
Josef Hopferwieser, 1971
Gottfried Hornik, 1981
Paul Hudson, 1978
Robert Ilosfalvy, 1964
Heinz Imdahl, 1965
Derek Jacobi, 1992
Wassily Janulako, 1974
Dalibor Jedlieka, 1993
Andre Jobin, 1965
Manfred Jungwirth, 1971
Stuart Kale, 1990
Matti Kastu, 1976
Simon Keenlyside, 1993
Roderick Kennedy, 1981
Sandor Konya, 1960
Anatoli Kotcherga, 1997
Kolos Kovats, 1976
Michael Kraus, 1991
Peter Lagger, 1969
Albert Lance, 1961
Michael Langdon, 1962
Sergei Larin, 1992
Vincenzo La Scola, 1991
Sergei Leiferkus, 1989
Richard Lewis, 1955
Max Lichtegg, 1948
Desire Ligeti, 1946
Juan Lloveras, 1975
Robert Lloyd, 1975
Gene Lockhart, 1942
Alexander Malta, 1976
Raymond Manton, 1955
Lee Marvin, 1954
Franz Mazura, 1968
Maurizio Mazzieri, 1973
Robleto Merolla, 1975
Peter Meven, 1975
Alastair Miles, 1993
Richard Miller, 1958
Robert Milne, 1991
Giuseppe Modesti, 1958
Alfred Muff, 1989
Alexandre Naoumenko, 1991
Franz Ferdinand Nentwig, 1977
Edward Novi, 1951
Vladimir Ognovenko, 1991
Helmut Pampuch, 1984
Rolando Panerai, 1958
Frantz Petri, 1969
Gotthelf Pistor, 1931
Patrick Power, 1987
TibPre Raffalli, 1983
Gianni Raimondi, 1957
Yordi Ramiro, 1979
Alberto Remedios, 1973
Dan Richardson, 1970
Marius Rintzler, 1972
Peter Rose, 1991
Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, 1951
Vladimir Ruzdak, 1961
Roberto SaccB, 1996
Roberto Scandiuzzi, 1992
Roberto Servile, 1994
Konstantin Sfiris, 1986
John Shaw, 1963
William Shimell, 1988
Bo Skovhus, 1997
Walter Slezak, 1973
Roger Soyer, 1970
Ludovic Spiess, 1968
Ludwig Suthaus, 1953
Set Svanholm, 1946
Miroslav Svejda, 1993
Yi-Kwei Sze, 1950
Giuseppe Taddei, 1957
Franco Tagliavini, 1964
Eric Tappy, 1975
David Thaw, 1961
Jess Thomas, 1957
Eugene Tobin, 1957
Nunzio Todisco, 1978
Michel Trempont, 1983
Fritz Uhl, 1961
Cesare Valletti, 1953
Peter Van der Bilt, 1963
Arnold Van Mill, 1958
Alain Vanzo, 1970
Jef Vermeersch, 1974
Gaetano Viviani, 1930
Otto von Rohr, 1961
Alexander Welitsch, 1954
Dieter Weller, 1974
Spas Wenkoff, 1978
Gosta Winbergh, 1974
Ingvar Wixell, 1967
Leonardo Wolovsky, 1963
Mino Yahia, 1959
Giuseppe Zampieri, 1959
Alessandro Ziliani, 1938
Conductors
Roberto Abbado, 1992
Alexander Anisimov, 1991
Stephen Barlow, 1990
Mario Bernardi, 1967
Michael Boder, 1997
Ivor Bolton, 1998
Bruno Campanella, 1992
Paul Ethuin, 1994
Oliviero de Fabritiis, 1956
Jean Fournet, 1958
Valery Gergiev, 1991
Bohumil Gregor, 1969
Jerome Kaltenbach, 1986
Emmanuel Joel, 1997
Friedemann Layer, 1985
Ferdinand Leitner, 1964
Jesus Lopez-Cobos, 1972
Leopold Ludwig, 1958
Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, 1957
Jean Perisson, 1966
Alexander Polianichko, 1994
Peter Schneider, 1990
Tiziano Severini, 1988
Georg Solti, 1953
Horst Stein, 1965
Markus Stenz, 1991
Otmar Suitner, 1969
Eugen Szenkar, 1954
Yuri Temirkanov, 1997
Christian Thielemann, 1991
Alexander Titov, 1995
Silvio Varviso, 1959
Stage Directors
Basil Coleman, 1961
Francis Ford Coppola, 1972
Renate Ebermann, 1968
Louis Erlo, 1966
Geraint Evans, 1970
August Everding, 1969
Piero Faggioni, 1971
Enrico Frigerio, 1958
Ghita Hager, 1968
Paul Hager, 1954
Harry Kupfer, 1991
Carlo Maestrini, 1956
Carlo Piccinato, 1952
Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, 1969
Charles Roubaud, 1990
Jerome Savary, 1991
Stephen Taylor, 1997
Yuri Temirkanov, 1997
Designers
Hans Aeberli, 1968
Leni Bauer-Ecsy, 1960
Paolo Bregni, 1971
Toni Businger, 1966
Gerard Howland, 1992
Igor Ivanov, 1997
Michel Lebois, 1991
Roberto Oswald, 1971
Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, 1958
Wolfram Skalicki, 1962
Alfred Siercke, 1963
Carl Toms, 1972
Paul Walter, 1971
Reinhart Zimmermann, 1991
Janos Gereben/SF
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