http://www.sfcv.org/2007/12/18/music-news-39/
San Francisco Opera General Manager David Gockley had his
pioneering, open-air, free simulcasts years ago, when he
was heading Houston Opera. Twelve long years ago, still
in the last century, Gockley oversaw a free live video
simulcast of Rossini's /La Cenerentola/, starring Cecilia
Bartoli, to an audience in the plaza outside the Wortham
Theater Center --- a first in the U.S.
When Gockley came to San Francisco, two years ago, he
introduced multiple free simulcasts from the War Memorial
(including a first-ever event in the Giants' ballpark),
and restored radio broadcasts that were on hiatus for many
years. Then came the Metropolitan Opera's high-definition
simulcasts to theaters (see next column item), and Milan's
La Scala <http://opera.screenvision.com/> getting into the
act, and the "electrification" of opera busting out all
over.
Today, Gockley is back in the lead, with yet another first:
a four-year contract for worldwide distribution of San
Francisco Opera productions in "Hollywood feature film
quality digital cinema format." Partners in the venture are
The Bigger Picture <http://www.thebiggerpicture.us/> and
AccessIT <http://www.accessitx.com/>. Shows will be sent
by satellite, stored in the theaters, and then screened.
Initially, close to 200 screens are expected to be used,
in markets where theaters have installed the digital cinema
systems.
The initial Digital Cinema Program will feature four showings
each of the company's 2007 productions of Puccini's /La
Rondine/, Saint-Saens' /Samson and Delilah/; Mozart's /The
Magic Flute/; Mozart's /Don Giovanni/; /Appomattox/, a new
opera by Philip Glass and Christopher Hampton that premiered
in October; and Puccini's /Madama Butterfly/. ...
Janos Gereben
www.sfcv.org
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