Photo by Terrence McCarthy, used with permission of San Francisco Opera
SAN FRANCISCO (January 17, 2012)—San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley today announced the Company’s 2012–13 repertory season, guest artists and performance schedule, in addition to three world premiere commissions slated for 2013 by Nolan Gasser and Carey Harrison (The Secret Garden), Mark Adamo (The Gospel of Mary Magdalene), and Tobias Picker and J.D. McClatchy (Dolores Claiborne). Gockley also announced the extension of his contract to lead San Francisco Opera through the 2015–16 Season along with the extension of contracts for the artistic leadership team of Music Director Nicola Luisotti, Principal Guest Conductor Patrick Summers and Resident Conductor Giuseppe Finzi.
The Company’s 90th season opens Friday, September 7, 2012 with a gala performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto. Maestro Luisotti leads an international cast of singers, including acclaimed Serbian baritone and Verdi specialist Željko Lu?i? in the title role, and the Company debuts of Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak as Gilda and Italian tenor Francesco Demuro as the Duke of Mantua. Opera Ball, the Company’s celebrated signature benefit event, co-produced with the San Francisco Opera Guild in support of the San Francisco Opera and Opera Guild education programs, will precede the opening night performance at the historic War Memorial Opera House.
In addition to Rigoletto, which features two international casts of singers, San Francisco Opera’s 2012–13 Season offers Vincenzo Bellini’s bel canto gem I Capuleti e i Montecchi (The Capulets and the Montagues); the Bay Area premiere of Jake Heggie’s Moby-Dick, commissioned and produced by San Francisco Opera, The Dallas Opera, San Diego Opera, Calgary Opera and the State Opera of South Australia; Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin; Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca, interpreted by two casts of widely acclaimed singers; Jacques Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann); Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Così fan tutte; the world premiere of Mark Adamo’s The Gospel of Mary Magdalene; and the world premiere of Nolan Gasser and Carey Harrison’s The Secret Garden, a co-production with Cal Performances.
