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 [log in to unmask] *********************************************** The CLASSICAL mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's HDMail High Deliverability Mailer for reliable, lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html