KDFC is the radio home of the San Francisco Opera, with a full-length production, recorded live at the War Memorial Opera House, on the first Sunday of every month at 8pm. Dianne Nicolini hosts.
Giacomo Puccini's final masterpiece,Turandot is the story of an ice princess who has denounced love and the Prince who must solve her three riddles or face the executioner. Set in ancient Peking, Turandot contains some of Puccini's most memorable music including the world's favorite tenor aria, Nessun Dorma. Starring Swedish soprano, Irene Theorin and tenor Marco Berti. Adler Fellow Leah Crocetto is an unforgettable Liu. SF Opera music director Nicola Luisotti conducts.
American baritone Thomas Hampson creates the role of Rick Rescorla in this world premiere opera by Christopher Theofanides. Conceived as a memorial to the tenth anniversary of 9/11, Heart of a Soldier tells a story of great courage and love. Also featuring soprano Melody Moore and tenor William Burden. Directed by Francesca Zambello and conducted by Patrick Summers.
Superstar soprano Renee Fleming returns to SF Opera as Donizetti's tragic anti-heroine Lucrezia Borgia. The infamous femme fatale takes no prisoners but has a soft spot for her long-lost son, Gennaro, sung by rising American tenor, Michael Fabbiano. Lead by internationally-acclaimed opera conductor, Riccardo Frizza.
Mozart's version of the Don Juan myth boasts incredibly beautiful music and a sexy bad-boy leading man. This brand new production for SF Opera was praised for its theatricality and nuance. Baritone Lucas Meacham stars as Giovanni pursued by his many enemies including soprano Ellie Dehn as Donna Anna and Serena Farnocchia as Donna Elvira. The Don is relunctantly aided and abetted (abedded?) by his faithful servant Leporello played with great comic flair by bass Marco Vinco. Nicola Luisotti conducts.
The surprise hit of the 2011 Fall Season, SF Opera's production of Handel's Xerxes is a feast of beautiful singing and great comic acting. Mezzo-soprano Susan Graham takes on the title role and the astonishing counter-tenor David Daniels is Arsamenes.The plot of Xerxes concerns the Persian king and the convoluted romantic machinations of his court.
For our New Year's Day SF Opera broadcast (at 8pm) we've asked David Gockley to select a personal favorite. He has chosen the SFO production of La Traviata from June of 2009 starring the stunning Russian soprano, Anna Netrebko as the tragic Violetta. Some of Verdi's most memorable moments come from this heartbreaking story based on Dumas, fils' Lady of the Camelias about a beautiful courtesan who is faced with making the ultimate sacrifice for love.
Click the link below to listen to SF Opera's David Gockley discuss Anna Netrebko, the Merola Program, and the "uh" roles.
The cycle reaches its transcendent climax with this world-premiere production, a suspenseful tale of bravery and sacrifice, treachery and betrayal, destruction and renewal. The sacred union of Siegfried and Brünnhilde is threatened by three scheming siblings, one of whom was sired by Alberich to take possession of the ring. Driven by greed, their actions inevitably lead to chaos and destruction, until Brünnhilde—wise, pure of heart, heroic—steps forward to return the universe to its natural order in an act of self-sacrifice.
Leading a 2007 concert performance of this towering masterpiece, conductor Donald Runnicles proved he is “clearly among the most insightful, potent Wagnerians of his day” (Sunday Times of London). “His account was of spectacular brilliance and high, churning intensity.” London's The Independent called Runnicles “a seasoned Wagnerite” whose “sense of pace, paragraphing and climax was nigh on perfect.” English tenor Ian Storey, who triumphed as Tristan in Tristan and Isolde at La Scala, makes his Company debut and role debut as Siegfried. When Storey "opens his mouth, you remember what makes opera tick" (Times, London). Sunday night at 8.
Sep 26 2011 4:43PM
Posted 131 days 12 hrs 16 mins ago
Click on the audio player to hear our Dianne Nicolini chat with SF Opera's General Director David Gockley about his quest to convince Nina Stemme to play the role of Brünnhilde in this Summer's production of Wagner's Ring Cycle.
The third Ring opera is, at heart, a coming-of-age story in which a fearless young hero discovers his destiny. Wotan's hope for recovery of the ring now rests with his grandson Siegfried, who must reject his adoptive father, forge a magical sword and slay a fearsome dragon to prove himself worthy of its mighty power—and the extraordinary woman who awaits him. London's Financial Times called soprano Nina Stemme "a Brünnhilde of tremendous subtlety and intensity, building her musical lines with calm intelligence." "A veteran of the country's major opera houses," tenor Jay Hunter Morris sings the role of Siegfried "easily and fervently" (San Francisco Chronicle).
Francesca Zambello's "eerily resonant" production (The New York Times), which evokes a natural world ravaged by greed and neglect, is "one of the best Siegfrieds I've ever experienced," raved the Washington Post. A "sensitive interpretation that, far from imposing an artificial concept on Wagner's work, delivered new insight into the characters." Sunday night at 8.
A wounded deity comes to realize the limits of his power in the heartbreaking second installment of the cycle. Wotan, king of the gods, strives to undo the curse of the ring by fathering a pure-of-heart hero by a mortal woman. But he finds himself torn as events spin out of control and his offspring defy his will. Wotan’s deeply loving but disobedient daughter is sung by soprano Nina Stemme, who makes her cycle debut. Stemme is a performer of "fearless emotional intensity," said The New York Times. Following her performance in Die Walküre (June 2010), the San Francisco Chronicle praised Stemme as "a superb Brünnhilde, bringing buoyancy and verve to the role."
Soprano Anja Kampe "sang with prodigious grace and power" (Associated Press) as Sieglinde at Washington National Opera, and she joins tenor Brandon Jovanovich in his role debut as Siegmund. Sunday night at 8.
The epic story begins on the banks of the Rhine, where three maidens guard the sacred river's magical gold. The cunning dwarf Alberich, angered by the Rhinemaidens’ scorn, steals the precious metal and forges a ring that gives its bearer unimaginable power. The struggle for its possession drives this fantastic drama, in which the stakes—control of the entire world—could not be higher.
Francesca Zambello's production colorfully evokes the California Gold Rush era, drawing provocative parallels between Wagner's mythical kingdom of gods and goddesses and the Industrial Revolution's entrepreneurs and tycoons. Conducted by Donald Runnicles, the world-class cast is headed by internationally acclaimed baritone Mark Delavan, praised by London’s Financial Times for his "extraordinary power, clarity and intelligence" and, after his June 2010 performance in Die Walküre, hailed by the San Francisco Examiner as "both majestic and heartbreakingly human. A great new Wotan has arrived.Sunday night at 8.
You asked for it, you got it. This year's Listeners' Choice broadcast on KDFC is Puccini's beloved story of starving artists falling in and out of love in 19th-century Paris. La Boheme is a seamless mix of romantic passion, poignant tragedy and high-spirited fun. The superb cast is headed by Romanian soprano superstar Angela Gheorghiu, who has wowed critics and audiences with both the beauty of her voice and the depth of her characterizations, also featuring Polish tenor Piotr Beczala. Sunday night at 8.
Celebrated Finnish soprano Karita Mattila makes her role debut in one of Janáček’s most intriguing operas as the mysterious Emilia Marty. Tenor Miro Dvorsky returns to the Company as Albert Gregor and bass-baritone Gerd Grochowski makes his San Francisco Opera debut as Baron Jaroslav Prus. Czech conductor and Janáček expert Jiří Bĕlohlávek makes his Company debut leading the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus; Olivier Tambosi, director. Learn more
[Recorded Fall 2010]
Legendary tenor Plácido Domingo makes his long-awaited return to San Francisco Opera portraying one of the noblest characters ever to grace the stage. For more than a century, audiences have been moved by the story of the swordsman-poet with an enormous heart and an even larger nose. Don't miss Domingo as Cyrano, the hottest ticket of 2010. Learn more
[Recorded Fall 2010]
Puccini’s tragic love story stars soprano Svetla Vassileva as the geisha Cio-Cio-San opposite tenor Stefano Secco as Lieutenant B. F. Pinkerton. The cast also features mezzo-soprano Daveda Karanas (Suzuki), baritone Quinn Kelsey (Sharpless), tenor Thomas Glenn (Goro) and bass-baritone Christian Van Horn (The Bonze). San Francisco Opera Music Director Nicola Luisotti conducts; Jose Maria Condemi, director. Learn more
[Recorded Fall 2010]
Mozart’s sparkling comedy stars a dazzling young cast headlined by bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni as Figaro and soprano Danielle de Niese as Susanna. The cast also features soprano Ellie Dehn (Countess Almaviva), mezzo-soprano Michèle Losier (Cherubino), baritone Lucas Meachem (Count Almaviva), mezzo-soprano Catherine Cook (Marcellina), tenor Greg Fedderly (Don Basilio) and bass-baritone John Del Carlo (Doctor Bartolo). San Francisco Opera Music Director Nicola Luisotti, conductor; John Copley, director. Learn more
[Recorded Fall 2010]
Listen to David Gockley share his take on casting for The Marriage of Figaro:
Mar 25 2011 11:35AM
Posted 316 days 17 hrs 24 mins ago
Sunday, March 6, at 8PM
General Director’s Choice
In celebration of the start of his sixth year as general director of San Francisco Opera, David Gockley will select a radio broadcast from the past five years that has been particularly meaningful to him. Our own Dianne Nicolini will announce the selection soon in an interview with David.
