The same energy and pizzazz that characterize San Francisco, its opera company, and Opera general manager Lotfi Mansouri were in curiously short supply tonight in the War Memorial. The gala concert honored Mansouri at the beginning of the Opera's 78th season, his 13th and last as general manager, before turning the company over to the Stuttgart Opera's Pamela Rosenberg. Considering that Mansouri, generally recognized as opera's premier showman, is also marking 37 years of continuous contributions as stage director in the War Memorial, the expectation was that the event would rock and roll the freshly quake-proofed building (whose renovation is one of Mansouri's great accomplishment). Well, the earth did not move. And, if the somber tone was aimed at marking a departure, rather than celebrating a career, it surely was not an Irish wake. The evening turned into a series of performances -- good, bad and indifferent -- before a respectful and/or somnolent audience, culminating in Mansouri *reading* a very long list of acknowledgments, saying thanks to everyone, from the carpenters to the company's public relations department. The ultimate art form it wasn't, nor one of those happy "San Francisco Treat" blowouts. The hero of the gala was Renee Fleming. With no other motivation than paying tribute to an old friend, she left summit-gridlocked New York (where she is in rehearsals at the Met) earlier today, flew to San Francisco, sang two of the finest performances of the evening (plus one that wasn't), and left in the intermission to catch an overnight flight back to New York. One can't help comparing the Fleming feat with Patricia Racette's cancellation of a single appearance, to sing "Un bel di," because she is in rehearsals *in San Francisco* for tomorrow night's "real" season-opener, with "Luisa Miller." Fleming's performances included a so-so "Depuis le jour," a superb, moving but unsentimental "I can smell the sea air" from "A Streetcar Named Desire" (Patrick Summers conducting), and a best-of-show "Hab' mir's gelobt" Trio from "Der Rosenkavalier," under Donald Runnicles' baton. With Susan Graham's Octavian and Anna Netrebko's Sophie, Fleming gave convincing proof that SFO's November "Rosenkavalier" will be an important event. (Fleming and Graham will sing the same roles as tonight, Juliana Banse will be Sophie, and Charles Mackerras will conduct.) The program reflected the strong points of the Mansouri years, including his advocacy of the Russian repertory and the many Kirov imports. Netrebko, discovered in the role of Lyudmila here at a very young age, reprised an Act 1 aria from the Rimsky-Korsakov opera, but -- going along with the nature of the concert -- she sang without the liveliness that made her first appearance here so special. Ruth Ann Swenson, who has a big season here this year (Semele and Baby Doe), was in excellent voice, singing "Ah, non credea mirarti" from "La Sonnambula," Richard Bonynge conducting in his customary lackadaisical manner. The evening, of course, was much enhanced by the appearance of Mrs. Bonynge, one of Mansouri's most frequent collaborators in both Toronto and San Francisco. Joan Sutherland, as she is also known, introduced a young soprano from the San Francisco Opera Center, Twyla Robinson, singing in a duet from one of her great roles in "Anna Bolena." Robinson did fine, but the wonderful veteran mezzo Judith Forst stole the show, without meaning to do it -- she just cannot help all eyes and ears focusssing on her, a star in everything but name. Carol Vaness had a great evening: in three different (and spectacular) gowns, she sang three very different roles, her voice in fine shape: the "Mira, d'acerbe lagrime" duet from "Il Trovatore" with Dmitri Hvorostovsky (a once-fabulous voice all muscle-bound and poorly projected), "Tu che le vanita" from "Don Carlo" (Runnicles doing his usual magic in the orchestra pit), and the Rossini "Cat Duet" with Forst. The Kirov gang was also represented by Olga Borodina (who started her U.S. career with a boring "Cenerentola" and tremendous, Mansouri-directed "Carmen"), giving a preview of her planned role here next year by singing Dalila's aria, "Mon coeur." She got the evening's only ovation, based perhaps on the quality of the voice -- it couldn't have been the lack of passion or the muddiest diction on this side of Sutherland that prompted the applause. She has the goods, but has a long-long way to go working on all aspects of a performance. Somebody with vast experience and knowledge, James Morris, sang "Die Frist ist um" from "The Flying Dutchman," lacking only what Borodina has: a voice. The great San Francisco Wotan (gee: that was 20 years ago!) and star of many productions here is making a wise career move by appearing in "The Ballad of Baby Doe," something as un-Wagnerish as a bass-baritone can go. This must have been the fourth local gala featuring Richard Margison's "Nessun dorma," and the second in which he didn't quite make the final notes. (Curiously enough, when he sang the full role here, not just the aria, he did just fine, performance after performance.) Also ran: Marcello Giordani, with "E lucevan le stelle" and Hvorostovsky, with "Largo al factotum." Kip Kranna acted as the smooth and unobtrusive host. The Elaine & Norman Campbell "Opera Is..." closed the program. Carol Burnett's filmed segments of the "Lotfi Saga" were the most fun of the gala -- excerpts from what Burnett called a lamentable and mercifully unknown 'Fifties Hollywood movie about Caruso were hysterical: Mansouri *was* Caruso in that film, doing a great job lip-syncing to Caruso's voice. More Mansuri-as-Caruso film segments and less dutiful singing could have turned the evening into something more entertaining and "San Francisco." [log in to unmask], SF Attachments to [log in to unmask]