San Francisco Opera Announced Upcoming 'Opera Is ON' Streaming Performances

San Francisco Opera's streamed performances continue through Opera is ON with Vincenzo Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi (The Capulets and the Montagues) on Saturday, May 16. Each streamed opera, captured live in high-definition at the War Memorial Opera House, will be viewable on demand at sfopera.com on the streaming date starting at 10 am and expiring at 11:59 pm the following day.

The Capulets and the Montagues - May 16

Vincenzo Bellini's The Capulets and the Montagues returned to the War Memorial Opera House stage in 2012 in a new co-production with the Bavarian State Opera by Vincent Boussard with sets designed by Vincent Lemaire, costumes by fashion designer Christian Lacroix and lighting by Guido Levi. Bellini's 1830 opera features rousing choruses for Romeo and Juliet's feuding families and lyric flights for the principal singers, including Giulietta's famous aria, "O quante volte," and a series of brilliant duets. Multiple Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato portrayed Romeo and 2005 Cardiff Singer of the World competition winner Nicole Cabell made her role debut as Giulietta. The cast also featured tenor Saimir Pirgu as Tebaldo, bass-baritone Eric Owens as Capellio and Ao Li as Lorenzo. Italian maestro Riccardo Frizza, a leading exponent of the Bel Canto repertory, conducted the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus. The Capulets and the Montagues is performed in Italian with English subtitles and has an approximate running time of 2 hours, 14 minutes.

Moby-Dick - May 23

Bay Area composer Jake Heggie, whose operatic credits include Dead Man Walking, and librettist Gene Scheer's "audacious, brilliant" Moby-Dick was proclaimed a "stirring triumph" (San Francisco Chronicle) at its 2012 Company premiere. Based on Herman Melville's seafaring novel, the opera was presented in the acclaimed production by Leonard Foglia with sets designed by Robert Brill, costumes by Jane Greenwood, lighting by Gavan Swift and projections by Elaine J. McCarthy and Shawn E. Boyle. The cast was headed by heldentenor Jay Hunter Morris as Captain Ahab, Stephen Costello as Greenhorn, Jonathan Lemalu as Queequeg, Morgan Smith as Starbuck, Talise Trevigne as Pip, Matthew O'Neill as Flask and the late Robert Orth as Stubb. Maestro Patrick Summers led the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and the men of the Company's Opera Chorus who were prepared by Chorus Director Ian Robertson. Moby-Dick is performed in English with English subtitles and has an approximate running time of 2 hours, 22 minutes.

Lucrezia Borgia - May 30

Lucrezia Borgia, Gaetano Donizetti's 1833 opera of treachery amid the historic Borgia family, had its San Francisco Opera premiere in 2011 in a production directed and designed by John Pascoe with lighting design by Jeff Bruckerhoff. Current Music Director of the Donizetti Festival in Bergamo, Riccardo Frizza, made his Company debut leading the San Francisco Opera and Chorus. Soprano Renée Fleming's portrayal of the title role-"history's most notorious poisoner"-was praised by the Mercury News as "sumptuous and long-lined, airy and ravishingly rich; the Bel Canto equivalent of Sarah Vaughan." In his first engagement with the Company, tenor Michael Fabiano was Gennaro, bass Vitalij Kowaljow was Duke Alfonso and mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong was Maffio Orsini. Lucrezia Borgia is performed in Italian with English subtitles and has an approximate running time of 2 hours, 5 minutes.

In response to the global pandemic, San Francisco Opera launched Opera is ON in April 2020 to engage with its audience and build new connections in the community. The streaming of past San Francisco Opera performances began on May 9 with the 2013 production of Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele. Current and 2020-21 San Francisco Opera subscribers and members (donors of $75 and up) retain access to the streamed titles after their window of public access. For more information, visit sfopera.com/operaison, and follow San Francisco Opera on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Spotify.