Stacey Tappan

Opera San José's opulent staging of Alma Deutscher's Cinderella will be made available for free viewing beginning July 22.

 Opera San José, in association with the Packard Humanities Institute, will host the international operatic conducting debut of prodigy composer/musician Alma Deutscher, who will take the podium for a lavish production of her landmark opera, Cinderella. Based on the classic fairytale, this family-friendly work is reset at an opera company run by a scheming stepmother, in which the title character is a brilliant composer laboring as a lowly copyist.

Opera San José will host the international operatic conducting debut of prodigy composer/musician Alma Deutscher, who will take the podium for a lavish production of her landmark opera, Cinderella.

The University of Chicago and Folks Operetta have announced the Korngold Festival, celebrating and exploring the life and music of one of the 20th century’s most successful yet underrecognized composers, Erich Wolfgang Korngold.

On March 20, 2021, San Francisco Opera presented a free stream of Richard Wagner’s opera Siegfried as part of Francesca Zambello’s 2017-2018 American Ring. Forest projections set the mood for Runnicles and Zambello’s nature-friendly, quasi-impressionistic rendering of the opera. Lighting Designer Mark McCullough illuminated the opening scene as though it was  a dream.

On Saturday, March 6, 2021, San Francisco Opera did a wonderful thing. The company put the opening opera of Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelungen online, free to  the world of opera lovers and the universe of the curious. Anyone with access to the Internet can see the entire Ring on weekends in March, and I, for one, am extremely grateful. 

The LA Opera and the Metropolitan Opera join forces to co-produce the world premiere of EURYDICE from the creative minds of composer/conductor Matthew Aucoin and librettist Sarah Ruhl; beginning February 1, 2020 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Based on Sarah's 2003 play EURYDICE, this Greek myth unfolds from the heroine's perspective. Mary Zimmerman directs a talented cast that includes: Danielle de Niese, Rod Gilfry, Joshua Hopkins, John Holiday, Barry Banks, Stacey Tappan, Raehann Bryce-Davis and Kevin Ray. Sarah graciously took time out to answer a few of my inquisitive queries.

LA Opera begins the new year with a new opera: the world premiere of Eurydice  by composer Matthew Aucoin and librettist Sarah Ruhl, based on her 2003 play of the same name. Directed by Mary Zimmerman, Eurydice opens on February 1, 2020.

LA Opera begins the new year with a new opera: the world premiere of Eurydice  by composer Matthew Aucoin and librettist Sarah Ruhl, based on her 2003 play of the same name. Directed by Mary Zimmerman, Eurydice opens on February 1, 2020.

Folks Operetta continues its Reclaimed Voices Series with Paul Ábraham's exotic jazz operetta, The Flower of Hawaii featuring soprano and former Ms. Illinois Marisa Bucheit (2014) as Princess Laya/Suzanne. 

San Francisco Opera's presentation of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) opens tonight with the first of three complete cycles, each presented over the course of one week as the composer originally intended, from June 12 through July 1 at the War Memorial Opera House. Encompassing four operas-Das Rheingold, Die Walkure, Siegfried and Gotterdammerung-and more than 17 hours, Wagner's Ring is one of the most ambitious works of music, theater and stagecraft ever created.

San Francisco Opera presents Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) in three complete cycles, each presented over the course of one week as the composer originally intended, from June 12 through July 1 at the War Memorial Opera House. Encompassing four operas-Das Rheingold, Die Walkure, Siegfried and Gotterdammerung-and more than 17 hours, the story and music of Wagner's Ring are the acme of the operatic artform and one of the most ambitious works of music, theater and stagecraft ever created. In anticipation of the performances, San Francisco Opera today announced a schedule for its Ring Festival events designed to provide the public, from first-timers to experienced Ring-goers, with enriching activities including lectures, symposia, film screenings, musical programs, public discussions and a Ring Community Day for families.

Chicago Opera Theater (COT) presents 'Elizabeth Cree,' a suspenseful and thrilling tale set in Victorian London, based on the novel 'The Trial of Elizabeth Cree' by Peter Ackroyd.

LA Opera Music Director James Conlon's world premiere recording of composer John Corigliano and librettist William M. Hoffman's The Ghosts of Versailles, released on the PentaTone label, today won two 2017 Grammy® Awards for Best Opera Recording and Best Engineered Album, Classical.

The Ghosts of Versailles features Patricia Racette in the leading role of Marie Antoinette and Broadway legend Patti LuPone as the Turkish entertainer Samira.

LA Opera Music Director James Conlon's world premiere recording of composer John Corigliano and librettist William M. Hoffman's The Ghosts of Versailles, released on the PentaTone label, today won two 2017 Grammy® Awards for Best Opera Recording and Best Engineered Album, Classical.

San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas, James Conlon, and Wu Man were nominated for Best Orchestral Performance today.

General Director Plácido Domingo has announced final casting information for LA Opera's new production of Akhnaten by Philip Glass. A co-production with English National Opera, Akhnaten is conducted by Artist in Residence Matthew Aucoin and staged by British director Phelim McDermott.  Check out a sneak peek below!

General Director Placido Domingo has announced final casting information for LA Opera's new production of Akhnaten by Philip Glass. A co-production with English National Opera, Akhnaten will be conducted by Artist in Residence Matthew Aucoin and staged by British director Phelim McDermott.

San Francisco Opera General Director Matthew Shilvock today announced the casting and schedule for the Company's summer 2018 presentations of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). The four-opera cycle of Das Rheingold,Die Walkure, Siegfried and Gotterdammerung-widely considered the greatest and most ambitious work ever conceived for the lyric stage-will be presented in three complete cycles from June 12 through July 1, 2018.