On this, my 25th consecutive San Francisco Opera opening night, I was
facing a win-win situation.

If tonight's "Un Ballo in Maschera" turned out to be less than thrilling,
I could have taken a walk down nostalgia lane:  even before my regular
attendance, there was Luciano Pavarotti's 1971 Gustavo; then Kathleen
Battle's 1977 Oscar; Monserrat Caballe's 1982 Amelia (when she showed up);
Carlo Bergonzi's 1985 Gustavo (under Pritchard's baton); and Deborah
Voigt's 1990 Amelia.

Or, as it happened, I could just enjoy the here-and-now, and witness an
excellent performance, considerably beyond expectations.

Donald Runnicles pulled it all together, not at his best -- missing
his sustained "inner rhythm," as he usually keeps everything taut and
all-of-one-piece -- but successfully urging the orchestra to come through
in climactic moments.  The great Wagnerite and tremendous Debussy conductor
tonight gave us a routine-to-good Verdi.  Ian Robertson's chorus provided
major support

I don't know why the opera world in general doesn't recognize Richard
Margison for the outstanding tenor that he is.  Everything he has done in
San Francisco has been of the highest quality, but his Gustavo is beyond
all that -- it's the perfect role for him and, except for a so-so Act 3
aria, he *was* perfect.  His voice and the role match exactly, in range,
timbre, coloring.  Except for Pavarotti's first (1971) performance, this
was the finest Gustavo in the War Memorial that I have heard.  (Couldn't
make it for Martinelli's 1931 and 1937 performances, not even for Bjoerling
in 1940.  Bergonzi, whom I know to be the most elegant tenor who ever sang,
gave a "historic" performance here at an age when just showing up was an
accomplishment.)

Carol Vaness' Amelia came as a relief after her disappointing Norma last
season.  She sang well all evening long, didn't push too much, came through
in her big moments, with only a couple of dry patches.

Local favorite Elena Zaremba sang a fabulous Ulrica, overcoming somebody's
stupid idea of a blonde Gypsy in an elegant gown -- how did that go by
stage director Roman Terleckyj (who seemed to stay out of the way
otherwise) or whoever supervised John Conklin's production design?

Dahl's Oscar was even better than nine years ago.  The voice fits the role
perfectly, her singing and stage presence combine for a definitive Oscar.

What to say of Sergei Leiferkus' Renato? I am yet to hear him in anything
outside the Russian literature when he didn't rankle -- most famously with
his awful Escamillo.  He sang OK tonight, but almost as if he didn't care.
Alone in the cast, Leiferkus did not exceed expectations.

Still, at my 50th opening, if it will be "Ballo," chances are I will make
a big deal about "remember when," and "back then in 1999," when Armando
Gama, John Ames and John Relyea -- all in their 20s -- sang small roles...
and sang so well.  They provided some advance nostalgia tonight.

Janos Gereben/SF
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