Joshua Kosman Reminds Us That He Foresaw This Day.

He says he was only joking when he wrote this in a 2001 review of La Traviata:

In what must be an operatic version of the actor's nightmare, Racette found herself surrounded by a cast and production that was almost entirely inadequate to the occasion. 

She didn't flinch. Instead, she offered a superb portrait of the consumptive courtesan Violetta Valery, marked by dramatic cogency and vocal splendor that outshone even her powerhouse turn in the title role of Verdi's "Luisa Miller" last September. 

For that matter, this may be the answer to the Opera's long-standing struggles to give Verdi's work its due in performance: Simply hire Racette for everything.

 Read the whole review here.

Also, for my part, h/t Parterre Box for the pointer to the changes in the SF Opera web site that presaged today's press release.