Opera: FREE OPERA STREAMS IN AUGUST (San Francisco Opera)

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by Jim Allen on August 6, 2021

in Music,Theater-San Francisco / Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO OPERA’S FREE OPERA STREAMS IN AUGUST

Wagner’s  Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg  August 7–8
Donizetti’s  Roberto Devereux  August 14–15

San Francisco Opera is returning to the War Memorial Opera House stage for the opening of its 99th season, which begins with Puccini’s Tosca on August 21. In anticipation, the Company has added two weekly, free opera streams for the month of August: Richard Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg  (August 7–8) and Gaetano Donizetti’s  Roberto Devereux  (August 14–15).

Part of the Company’s  Opera is ON  initiative, free opera streams are viewable on demand with registration at  sfopera.com, beginning at 10 am (PT) on the first streaming date through 11:59 pm the following day.  Current San Francisco Opera subscribers and members (donors of $75 and up) retain access to opera titles after their window of public access through August 20.

This fall, San Francisco Opera will present a new live streaming option for select performances of Music Director Eun Sun Kim’s inaugural season. Offered for the first time in Company history, livestreams of San Francisco Opera’s new productions of Beethoven’s  Fidelio  on October 14, 17 and 20 and  Così fan tutte  on November 21, 23 and 27 will enable audiences from anywhere in the world to experience these live performances. Virtual tickets will be available for $25 this fall; for more information, visit  sfopera.com/online.  

DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÃœRNBERG  AUGUST 7–8  

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Scenes from  Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg  (2015). Photos: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

Conductor  Sir Mark Elder  makes his San Francisco Opera debut in  Sir David McVicar’s “enthralling” (San Francisco Chronicle) production of Richard Wagner’s 1868 opera,  Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Baritone  James Rutherford  takes on one of the most demanding roles in the operatic repertoire, Hans Sachs, the mastersinger and cobbler. Tenor  Brandon Jovanovich  adds the knight Walther von Stolzing to his list of Wagnerian leading roles. By way of a singing contest, Walther tries to win the love of Eva, portrayed by soprano  Rachel Willis-Sorensen.  Bass  Ain Anger  is her father, Veit Pogner, who promises her hand to the winner of the mastersinger’s contest. Baritone  Martin Gantner  is Walther’s rival, Sixtus Beckmesser, and tenor  Alek Shrader  is Hans Sach’s apprentice, David. Eva’s nurse, Magdalene, is performed by mezzo-soprano  Sasha Cooke,  and bass-baritone  Philip Horst  is fellow mastersinger Fritz Kothner.  Marie Lambert  and  Ian Rutherford  co-revive McVicar’s staging in this 2015 San Francisco Opera co-production with Lyric Opera of Chicago and Glyndebourne Festival Opera designed by  Vicki Mortimer.  Paule Constable  is the lighting designer with her associate  Jeremy Turnbull.  Colm Seery  restages  Andrew George’s choreography. San Francisco Opera’s Chorus Director  Ian Robertson  prepares the work’s numerous choral scenes.  Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg  is performed in German with English subtitles and has an approximate running time of 4 hours and 52 minutes.

ROBERTO DEVEREUX  AUGUST 14–15  

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Scenes from  Roberto Devereux  (2018). Photos: Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

After a 39-year absence from the War Memorial Opera House stage, Gaetano Donizetti’s  Roberto Devereux  returns with a cast led by soprano  Sondra Radvanovsky  in her final engagement as Elisabetta, Queen of England, before retiring the role from her stage repertoire.  Opera News  calls her showstopping performance of “Vivi, ingrato,” the opera’s final aria, “riveting.” As Roberto Devereux and Sara, the Duchess of Nottingham, tenor  Russell Thomas  and mezzo-soprano  Jamie Barton  reunite with Radvanovsky on stage, after their memorable performances in the Company’s 2014 production of  Norma.  Also starring are San Francisco Opera Adler Fellows baritone  Andrew Manea, as  the Duke of Nottingham and Devereux’s closest friend, and tenor  Amitai Pati, as Lord Cecil. Director  Stephen Lawless  uses London’s The Globe Theatre as the visual inspiration for this Canadian Opera Company production featuring sets by  Benoît Dugardyn, costumes by  Ingeborg Bernerth  and lighting by  Christopher Akerlind.  Italian conductor and Donizetti aficionado  Riccardo Frizza  leads the San Francisco Opera Orchestra with “insightful precision” (San Francisco Examiner).  Roberto Devereux  is performed in Italian with English subtitles and has an approximate total running time of 2 hours and 19 minutes.

For more information, visit  sfopera.com, and follow San Francisco Opera on  Facebook,  Instagram,  Twitter  and  Spotify.

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