The San Francisco Opera on KDFC
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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.
 KDFC's National Anthem Contest: Kara-Opera-oke
The fans, the cheers, the smell of garlic fries… and you singing the National Anthem at AT+T Park. Not for a Giants game, but for the San Francisco Opera, simulcast live at the ballpark on Saturday, September 19. Do you have the pipes to lead the stadium crowd in the Star Spangled banner? Let’s hear it!
Check back here soon for your chance to post your video here, and we’ll all vote on who gets to sing live at the ballpark to kick off another free simulcast with the SF Opera!
JULY 5
The Elixir of Love
Donizetti's charming comedy is a celebration of innocence, so what setting could be better than a small Italian-American community in the Napa Valley, circa 1915? In this ingenious update, the naïve Nemorino believes that a love potion will win him Adina's heart. Blossoming from a shy Italian immigrant to a plucky entrepreneur, he captures both his sweetheart and the American dream over the course of this delightful opera buffa. Tenor Ramón Vargas superbly embodies the role of the lovesick Nemorino, "which he sang with ardent lyricism and affecting poignancy" at the Met, according to The New York Times. The beautiful Adina is sung by the stunning Inva Mula, whose "agile voice" The New York Times praised for its "lovely timbre and a natural fluidity."
AUGUST 2
Idomeneo
Mozart's first operatic masterpiece, which premiered two days before his 25th birthday, is a thrilling mix of florid vocal writing and eloquent orchestral episodes. The great Mozartean tenor Kurt Streit returns to San Francisco in one of his signature roles: a powerful king who, in the aftermath of the Trojan War, makes a pact that he comes to regret. Vienna critics raved, "Kurt Streit masters the monster role of Idomeneo with confidence," and "his tenor radiates power, brilliance, grandeur." The superb cast, conducted by Donald Runnicles, also includes the acclaimed British mezzo-soprano Alice Coote and notable artist debuts.
SEPTEMBER 6
Tosca
An idealistic artist, a celebrated singer and a corrupt police chief engage in a fierce battle of wills in this tempestuous tale of cruelty and deception. With its themes of political intrigue, sexual intimidation and official hypocrisy, Puccini’s great melodrama set in 1800 is anything but dated. Canadian soprano Adrianne Pieczonka, praised by The New York Times for her “lushly beautiful sound and poignant vulnerability,” makes her Company debut in the title role. Baritone Lado Ataneli (Scarpia) has been praised by the Los Angeles Times as possessing “one of the healthiest, roundest, most mellifluous voices on the planet.” Honey-voiced Italian tenor Roberto Aronica makes up the third side of this fatal love triangle.
OCTOBER 4
Opera in the Park Concert
NOVEMBER 1
Porgy and Bess
George Gershwin miraculously melded classical music, popular song, jazz, blues and spirituals in this quintessentially American masterpiece that tells the poignant story of a crippled beggar, the headstrong woman he loves, and the community that sustains them both. General Director David Gockley, whose association with Porgy and Bess has restored it to a mainstay of the operatic repertoire, presents director Francesca Zambello's critically acclaimed production. Alan Rich of LA Weekly calls her staging "by some distance, the finest and most enjoyable of the couple of dozen productions I have attended of Porgy and Bess."
DECEMBER 6
La Traviata
A time of excess and excitement, of living for the moment and flaunting newfound freedoms, the Jazz Age makes an unexpected but perfect setting for La Traviata. Verdi's eternally popular opera tells the tale of a conflicted courtesan, her devoted lover and his disapproving father. Donald Runnicles conducts a remarkable cast headed by superstar soprano Anna Netrebko, praised by Time magazine for her "voice of astonishing richness and power." She is joined by tenor Charles Castronovo and baritone Dwayne Croft, lauded for his "richly colored singing" by the San Francisco Chronicle.
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