Michael Cavanagh, who directed seven San Francisco Opera productions between 2012 and 2022, died on March 13, 2024. He was 62 and died of leptomeningeal cancer. This news didn't get a lot of attention in the Bay Area, because it dropped the day before the disastrous news that Esa-Pekka Salonen would be leaving the San Francisco Symphony.
Here's what Cavanagh directed at SFO:
John Adams’ NIXON IN CHINA (2011-12 season) – San Francisco Opera premiere
7 performances; opened June 8, 2012
Carlisle Floyd’s SUSANNAH (2014-15 season) – New Production
5 performances; opened September 6, 2014
Donizetti’s LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR (2015-16 season) – New Production
7 performances; opened October 8, 2015
Ana Sokolović’s SVADBA-WEDDING (2015-16 season) - SF Opera Lab premiere
7 performances; opened April 2, 2016
Mozart’s THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO (2019-20 season) – New Production, *Mozart-Da Ponte Trilogy
8 performances, opened October 11, 2019
Mozart’s COSI FAN TUTTE (2021-22 season) – New Production, *Mozart-Da Ponte Trilogy
5 performances; opened November 21, 2021
Mozart’s DON GIOVANNI (2021-22 season) – New Production, *Mozart-Da Ponte Trilogy
8 performances; opened June 4, 2022
I missed Susannah, because I had pneumonia that year, but I saw the rest. I thought that The Marriage of Figargo and Don Giovanni had significant flaws, but the other productions were all excellent, and Cosi was among the greatest productions I have ever seen, sly, human, very funny, and with the ambiguity the opera demands. RIP, Michael Cavanagh.
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