Joshua Kosman February 9, 2021Updated: February 9, 2021, 1:23 pm
Cast members perform in the opening act of the San Francisco Opera’s production of Puccini’s “The Girl of the Golden West” in San Francisco in 2010. Photo: Paul Chinn , The Chronicle 2010
California and opera go back a long way together practically to the founding of the one, though not the other.
No sooner had the masses of Forty-Niners poured into the region in search of gold than an entire industry sprang up to keep them entertained with performances of Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” and Verdi’s “Ernani.”
As the author George Martin lays it out in superlative detail in his 1993 history “Verdi at the Golden Gate,” opera was central to San Francisco’s cultural economy during the Gold Rush. The divas were imported from Europe, but the entrepreneurs and patrons were decidedly homegrown.
12 pm ET: Mark Morris Dance Group presents
Dido and Aeneas. A screening of the 1995 film directed by Barbara Willis Sweete who recreated the
Dido and Aeneas set on a sound stage in Toronto and filmed it without the constraints of a proscenium stage and with Morris in his critically acclaimed role. The screening will be followed by a live Q&A with Morris and Sweete and launches a week of activities including talks with dancers and artistic collaborators. Dance with MMDG classes for all levels to learn excerpts of the work; Dance for PD classes appropriate for anyone with mobility concerns. View here and on demand for one week.
LISA KRISTOFF Tue, 12/29/2020 - 8:45am
With his two faces, the Roman god of change and beginnings, Janus, looked back to the past and forward toward the future. We become Janus-like on New Year’s Eve, reliving the happiest moments of the year about to end and speculating on what the new year will bring: plans we have for ourselves on a personal health level, work projects, vacations, etc.
COVID-19 is sure to be a big part of the looking back on a year that ushered in a pandemic that changed everything from work and finances to travel, not just vacations, but trips to see family out of state. It was a year that had us sheltering in place in early spring; suddenly we found ourselves wearing masks whenever we were outside our homes, particularly in stores. Due to the pandemic, annual events were canceled; some attractions never opened.
Verdi’s
Un Ballo in Maschera. Starring Aprile Millo, Harolyn Blackwell, Florence Quivar, Luciano Pavarotti, and Leo Nucci, conducted by James Levine. From January 26, 1991. View here and for 24 hours.
Wagner’s
Das Rheingold. Conductor: Adam Fischer, director: Sven-Eric Bechtolf. With Tomasz Konieczny, Norbert Ernst, Jochen Schmeckenbecher, Herwig Pecoraro, and Michaela Schuster. Production from January 2016. Register for free and view here.
Sunday, January 3 Handel’s
Semele. First streamed on OperaVision at its premiere in Berlin on May 12, 2018. Barrie Kosky’s production returns as part of the Komische Oper winter streaming festival. Konrad Junghänel conducts a cast including Philipp Meierhöfer, Nicole Chevalier, Katarina Bradic, Eric Jurenas, Allan Clayton, Ezgi Kutlu, and Nora Friedrichs. View here for one month.