San Francisco Opera Cast Change: Rigoletto

Yongzhao Yu. Photo: Jeffrey Larson

Courtesy of San Francisco Opera

Tenor Giovanni Sala has withdrawn from the fall performances of Rigoletto, in which he would have sung the Duke of Mantua. Yongzhao Yu, pictured above, replaces him. 

Press release:

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (June 30, 2025) — San Francisco Opera announced a casting update for the opening opera of its 2025–26 Season, which opens Friday, September 5 with seven additional performances through September 27. The role of The Duke of Mantua in Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto will be performed by Chinese tenor Yongzhao Yu, who makes his Company debut. Yu replaces Giovanni Sala who has withdrawn from the production for personal reasons. 

Praised by Opera News for his “gleaming, powerful voice” and “thrilling top notes,” Yongzhao Yu made an acclaimed debut as the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto with English National Opera earlier this season. His 2024–25 Season also featured a return to the Metropolitan Opera where he appeared as Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème and the Messenger in Verdi’s Aida, the latter witnessed globally as part of The Met: Live in HD simulcast series. He has performed the Duke with Seattle Opera and, immediately after San Francisco Opera, will perform the role for his Canadian debut with Vancouver Opera. This summer he is scheduled to portray Cavaradossi in a new production of Puccini’s Tosca at the Glimmerglass Festival with soprano Michelle Bradley and bass-baritone Greer Grimsley and reprise the role with Pacific Opera Victoria.
 
San Francisco Opera’s 2025–26 Season kicks off on Friday, September 5 with the annual Opera Ball, co-presented with San Francisco Opera Guild, and Verdi’s Rigoletto under the baton of Eun Sun Kim and starring Amartuvshin Enkhbat in the title role, Adela Zaharia as Gilda and Yongzhao Yu as the Duke of Mantua. Keystones of the Company’s 103rd season are the world premiere of The Monkey King (November 14–30) by composer Huang Ruo and librettist David Henry Hwang, and Maestro Kim conducting a new production of Richard Wagner’s Parsifal (October 25–November 13). This fall San Francisco Opera also commemorates its legacy of commissioning and presenting new operas with a 25th-anniversary presentation of Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally’s Dead Man Walking (September 14–28), the most widely performed new opera of the last 25 years which was introduced in 2000 at the War Memorial Opera House.

SF Opera: La Bohème Casting Update

Lucas Meachem as Marcello

Photo: Cory Weaver, courtesy of San Francisco Opera

Lucas Meachem will be singing Marcello in all performances of La Bohème, joining the alternate cast in place of Will Liverman, who was to make his SFO debut. Liverman has withdrawn for "personal reasons." I was looking forward to hearing Liverman, whom I've liked elsewhere. Meachem is a wonderful Marcello, though!

Here's the press release:

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (June 12, 2025) — San Francisco Opera announced today a casting update for its 2025 Summer Season production of Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème. Baritone Lucas Meachem, who is currently performing Marcello in La Bohème, will now sing the role in all remaining performances, replacing Will Liverman who was scheduled to perform Marcello on June 13, 18 and 21. Mr. Liverman has withdrawn from the production for personal reasons.

 

Meachem made his San Francisco Opera debut in 2004 and has performed a wide repertoire in his 13 seasons with the Company. His gallery of portrayals on the War Memorial Opera House stage includes the title roles in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville), Frank/Fritz in Korngold’s Die tote Stadt, Count Almaviva in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Dr. Malatesta in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, Mercutio in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, Sharpless in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and Marcello in La Bohème. The American baritone and former San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow was also a featured soloist in Opera Ball: The Centennial Celebration and The 100th Anniversary Concert during San Francisco Opera’s 2022–23 Centennial Season and has appeared in the Company’s annual Opera in the Park concerts on five occasions.

 

The performances of La Bohéme on June 13, 18 and 21 introduce three new cast members in leading roles with Evan LeRoy Johnson as Rodolfo, Nicole Car as Mimì and Brittany Renee as Musetta.

 

San Francisco Opera’s 2025 Summer Season opened June 3 and continues through June 27. The season features La Bohéme (June 3–21), Mozart’s early masterpiece Idomeneo (June 14–25) in a new-to-San Francisco Opera production by Lindy Hume conducted by Caroline H. Hume Music Director Eun Sun Kim, and a special Pride Concert and dance party which closes the mainstage season on Friday, June 27.

San Francisco Symphony: Change of Program

Davies Symphony Hall

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

When the San Francisco Symphony's 2024-25 season was announced, the first concert (not the gala, which isn't until next week, don't ask, I have no idea) was just the Verdi Requiem. Then three works for chorus and orchestra by Gordon Getty appeared, to be performed before intermission: St. Christopher; the Intermezzo from Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Getty’s 2021 opera based on James Hilton’s classic novella; and The Old Man in the Snow, featuring a poem by Getty. 

The program has been updated yet again. The Getty works have been postponed to a later date, and this week's concerts will be the Verdi Requiem only.

 

SFS: Eric Owens Withdraws from Verdi Requiem

Davies Symphony Hall

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

Bass Eric Owens has withdrawn, for personal reasons, from September's performances of the Verdi Requiem at San Francisco Symphony. He'll be replaced by Peixin Chen. The other soloists are soprano Leah Hawkins, mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill, and tenor Mario Chang, The program opens with three works for chorus and orchestra by Gordon Getty, conducted by Symphony Chorus Director Jenny Wong.

Opera San José Cast Change

Something apparently didn't work as expected in Opera San José's upcoming production of Florencia en el Amazonas, because Elizabeth Caballero is singing the title role and Marlen Nahhas is not.

If you've been around a while, you'll remember Caballero as an exciting soprano, with an extremely beautiful voice, in the Adler Fellowship program at SF Opera. She withdrew partway through the fellowship to launch her career, perhaps before she was a fully mature artist. She's been singing all over the U.S. since then. I'm so interested to hear what she sounds like now.

This is all very last minute; the production opens on April 20, less than two weeks from today. Here's the top of the press release:

SAN JOSÉ, CA (8 April 2024) — In a last-minute change, internationally acclaimed soprano Elizabeth Caballero will take over the title role in the Bay Area premiere of Daniel Catán’s captivating opera, Florencia en el Amazonas presented by Opera San José. The singer, whose work has been described as “a thrilling balance of pearly tone, exacting technique, and brazen physicality” (The New York Times) and “a find: her opulent soprano rings freely and lyrically throughout her range” (The Wall Street Journal) is stepping in to replace the originally announced soprano Marlen Nahhas. Said Opera San José General Director/CEO Shawna Lucey, “We wish Marlen all the best and we are profoundly grateful for Elizabeth, who is leaping to our aid to take on this important role for a historic moment for Opera San José as we present the first Spanish language opera on our mainstage.” Caballero, who has been seen at opera houses around the world including frequent starring roles at The Metropolitan Opera, is fortunately familiar with the role of Florencia. She has given critically acclaimed performances in Florencia en el Amazonas at Madison Opera, Nashville Opera, and New York City Opera where she was hailed as “stunning, singing with beautiful passion” (New York Classical Review) and “plush-toned, expressive” (The New York Times). Florencia en el Amazonas will be presented April 20 - May 5, 2024 (performance dates/times below) at the California Theatre, 345 South First Street, San José.  For more information or to purchase tickets ($55–$195), the public can visit operasj.org or call 408-437-4450 (open Monday through Friday, 9:00am–5:00pm).   

West Edge Opera Festival Schedule Change

Oakland Scottish Rite Center

July, 2022

West Edge Opera has announced that they're delaying their production of Charpentier's David and Jonathan to 2025, swapping in Luna Pearl Woolf and Royce Vavrek's Jacqueline in 2024. The latter will star soprano Marnie Breckenridge and cellist Matt Haimovitz. From the press release:

Jacqueline dives into the real-life struggle between celebrity virtuosic cellist Jacqueline du Pré and the multiple sclerosis that ravaged her body, mind, and talent, robbing her of her identity, her breathtaking musical gift, and her life. This intimate piece for soprano and cello brings two contemporary virtuosi to the stage: celebrated soprano Marnie Breckenridge as Jacqueline, and renowned cellist (and former du Pré protégé) Matt Haimovitz as du Pré’s only constant companion, her cello.
 
Inspired by the structure and emotional landscape of Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto, composer Luna Pearl Woolf and Pulitzer Prize winning librettist Royce Vavrek chart the development of great prodigy and ultimately, great tragedy. Jacqueline references Haimovitz’s personal recollections of du Pré herself, from when he was a young prodigy under her wing. Colorful and at times fractured, the form of the work echoes du Pré’s iconic interpretation of the Elgar, using the concerto’s four-movement structure to navigate a prismatic and passionate, if all too short, life in music.

I've liked everything of Woolf's that I have heard, so I expect that this will be good. 

Also in the press release is the cast for Legend of the Ring, which looks very good:

Tracy Cox (Brunnhilde), Philip Skinner (Wotan), Alex Boyer (Sigmund/Siegfried), Mary Evelyn Hangley (Freia/Sieglinde), Stephanie Sanchez (Fricka), Kyle Bielfield (Loge/Mime), Peter Morgan (Alberich/Fasolt), Matt Lovell (Fafner/Hundig). Conducted by Jonathan Khuner, Directed by Sam Helfrich.

 

Blomstedt Withdraws From SFS and Other Programs

Herbert Blomstedt

San Francisco Symphony Condutor Laureate

Photo courtesy of San Francisco Symphony

Herbert Blomstedt, 96-year-old Conductor Laureate of the San Francisco Symphony, has withdrawn on doctors' recommendations from a number of upcoming conducting engagements, following a fall that has put him in the hospital. At SFS, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, chief conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic, will conduct the February 2-4 concerts at Davies Symphony Hall; he'll lead the same works that Blomstedt scheduled.

Falls are dangerous at any age and especially trying for a person of HB's age. Best wishes to Herbert Blomstedt for a swift and complete recovery!

Here's the press release:

CONDUCTOR JUKKA-PEKKA SARASTE REPLACES HERBERT BLOMSTEDT IN SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY PERFORMANCES OF BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY NO. 7 AND SCHUBERT SYMPHONY NO. 6 AT DAVIES SYMPHONY HALL, FEBRUARY 2–4  Maestro Blomstedt is currently being treated in hospital after a fall and has been advised by his doctors to cancel his concert engagements until further notice

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—Conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste will step in for San Francisco Symphony Conductor Laureate Herbert Blomstedt for the Orchestra’s upcoming February 2–4 program featuring Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 and Schubert’s Symphony No. 6. Maestro Blomstedt is currently being treated in hospital after a fall and has been advised by his doctors to cancel his concert engagements until further notice.    Patrons who already purchased tickets for the February 2–4 concerts do not need to do anything; tickets and seat location will be honored. For assistance with tickets, patrons can contact the Box Office by phone at 415.864.6000, email at patronservices@sfsymphony.org, or in person at the Davies Symphony Hall Box Office, on Grove Street between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin Street in San Francisco.

 

SF Performances Announces Postponement of Stephen Hough; Castalian String Quartet

Veterans Building, with Herbst Theater, in the distance; War Memorial Opera House, foreground

Vintage post card, collection of Lisa Hirsch

San Francisco Performance sent out a press release this afternoon with postponements of two upcoming concerts:

Stephen Hough: was November 14, 20223, 7:30 pm; new date TBA

Castalian String Quartet: was November 15, 2023, 7:30 pm; new date TBA

Both concerts were at Herbst Theater. "Travel difficulties" is the reason for both postponements.

I was going to get a ticket to see the Castalian; they played a tremendous concert earlier this year at Cal Performances (Haydn, Saariaho, Schubert) and I was very much looking forward to the planned SFP program (Janacek, Beethoven, Turnage). Ah, well; later in the season, I hope.

Harding Out, Chan In

Elim Chan

(Photo not credited in SFS press release)

Daniel Harding has withdrawn from his scheduled San Francisco Symphony appearance next month; he will be conducting the Cleveland Orchestra on their tour of Israel. Franz Welser-Möst has withdrawn from that tour for medical reasons.

Elim Chan, chief conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, will conduct these concerts, retaining Holst's The Planets and substituting Britten's Les Illuminations (with tenor Andrew Staples) for Ralph Vaughn Williams's On Wenlock Edge.

The dates are October 26-28, 2023.

Mark Almond to Chicago Symphony Orchestra

A press release from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra brings the news that San Francisco Symphony's associate principal horn, Mark Almond, is the new principal horn of the CSO.

We still don't know the results of the June auditions for SFS principal horn or who will be playing trial weeks. Keep your eyes open for the first few weeks of the season.

Adès (and His Program) are Out at SFS

Well, this is a bummer: Thomas Adès has withdrawn from his scheduled San Francisco Symphony programs. One was conducting the orchestra in an unusually tasty program, the other was a SoundBox appearance. The symphony program was this:

• Nørgård, Symphony No. 2
• Adès, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra with Kirill Gerstein
• Sibelius, Symphony No. 4,

Gerstein is also off the program.

Here's the reason:

Adès’s opera The Exterminating Angel will be presented at the Paris Opera in February 2024, and he respectfully asked the San Francisco Symphony to be released from his upcoming Symphony programs to revise the piece and conduct this new production. 

 

 

Not Eating My Hat

Here's the most predictable cast change announcement since Bryan Hymel's run of cancellations around 2015-2019. The article title is because I told several people that I would eat an article of clothing if Anita Rachvelishvili sang these performances. I had even perused the schedules of a few prominent mezzos in June or July, but Semenchuk's wasn't one of them. She is a tremendous singer and was superb in the 2019 Paris Les Troyens, so I am happy.

Mezzo-Soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk to Sing Azucena in All Performances, Replacing Anita Rachvelishvili

 

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (August 23, 2023) — San Francisco Opera announced today a cast change for Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore, which opens Tuesday, September 12 and is the first opera of the Company’s 101st season. Mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk will perform the role of Azucena in all performances, replacing Anita Rachvelishvili who has withdrawn for personal reasons.

 

Semenchuk made her San Francisco Opera debut on the opening night of the 2015–16 Season as Federica in Verdi’s Luisa Miller, returning the following season as Amneris in a new production of the composer’s Aida. Her most recent appearance with the Company was as Santuzza in Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, which opened the 2018-19 Season as part of a double bill with Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci. The San Francisco Chronicle said of her Santuzza: “Semenchuk has been a vibrant presence in her two prior San Francisco appearances (Luisa Miller in 2015, Aida the following year), and to the vocal power and sheen of those performances she now added a vein of impeccably controlled wildness that contributed to the portrait of a woman on the verge of despair.”

 

Among today’s leading mezzo-sopranos, Semenchuk’s portrayals of Verdi heroines, including Lady Macbeth, Amneris, Ulrica in Un Ballo in Maschera and Azucena have won acclaim at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, the Arena di Verona, the Bavarian State Opera and, in this country, with San Francisco Opera, the Metropolitan Opera and LA Opera. Semenchuk joins San Francisco Opera’s international cast for Il Trovatore, headed by Angel Blue as Leonora, Arturo Chacón-Cruz as Manrico and George Petean as Count di Luna under the baton of San Francisco Opera’s Caroline H. Hume Music Director Eun Sun Kim in the acclaimed production by Sir David McVicar.

 

The six performances of Il Trovatore are scheduled for September 12 (7:30 p.m.), 17 (2 p.m.), 20 (7:30 p.m.), 23 (7:30 p.m.), 29 (7:30 p.m.); October 1 (2 p.m.), 2023. The third performance, on September 20 at 7:30 p.m., will be available as a livestream.

Cast Change Announcement, Tanglewood Edition

Also COVID-19 edition. Received from the BSO:

With great regret, after testing positive for COVID-19, cellist Yo-Yo Ma must withdraw from this week’s scheduled Tanglewood appearances: today’s 2 p.m. Open Cello Workshop at Ozawa Hall as well as the open rehearsal and concert with the Boston Symphony in the Shed on Saturday, August 12, and Sunday, August 13, respectively.

Soprano Renée Fleming has graciously agreed to step in to join the BSO on Sunday, performing songs by Richard Strauss in place of the Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1 that was originally scheduled to be performed with Mr. Ma. The remainder of the program, under the direction of BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons, is unchanged. Saturday’s 10:30 a.m. open rehearsal will proceed with Ms. Fleming, Maestro Nelsons, and the BSO.

Click here for photos and bio of Renée Fleming

UPDATED PROGRAM DETAILS

 

Saturday, August 12, 2023

10:30 a.m., Shed

Open Rehearsal, BSO Sunday, August 13 program

 

Sunday, August 13, 2023
2:30 p.m., Shed
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons, conductor
Renée Fleming, soprano
Julia ADOLPHE, Makeshift Castle

Richard STRAUSS, Songs with orchestra

STRAVINSKY, Petrushka (1947 version)

Best wishes to Mr. Ma for a swift and complete recovery. That's a nice program and the kind of thing Fleming is very good at.

Santa Fe Opera: A Further Cast Change

Received earlier today:

Santa Fe, NM —  The Santa Fe Opera announces soprano Leah Hawkins will sing all remaining performances of Tosca, which opened the 2023 Season on June 30 and runs for 11 performances through August 26. This comes as a result of the withdrawal of Angel Blue, who was most recently scheduled for four performances: July 14, 21, August 1 and 7. Blue has stepped down owing to an unexpected family emergency and has also withdrawn from all other upcoming engagements in the month of July.

Writes Ms. Blue, “I am deeply saddened to confirm that, due to an unexpected family emergency, I will be canceling all of my professional engagements in the month of July and therefore will be unable to sing the role of Tosca at Santa Fe Opera. I am heartbroken not to be performing this season, as Santa Fe Opera is truly a highlight for any opera singer, but I am confident that the audiences on those nights will be astonished by Leah Hawkins’ phenomenal talent and brilliant interpretation of the title character. I would like to extend my heartfelt apologies for the sudden change, as I know that I would not be the Tosca that Santa Fe Opera deserves while managing this personal matter. Thank you for your understanding.” The Santa Fe Opera wishes Angel Blue and her family well during this difficult time.

On June 30 rising soprano Leah Hawkins made her Santa Fe Opera debut in the titular role; early critical acclaim for her performance includes: 

“Her opening night performance was riveting throughout, but her Act 2 aria “Vissi d’arte,” in which the character entreats God wondering what she has done to deserve such a fate when she only lived for love and for art, was a showstopper… those of us who saw Hawkins in the role will someday boast of catching her early in her career.”
— Julia Goldberg, Santa Fe Reporter 

“In the title role, Leah Hawkins provided tonal and dynamic variety vocally, along with beautiful tone…”
—Mark Tiarks, Santa Fe New Mexican

“Hawkins truly has a splendid voice: powerful, with a golden medium range and clear‑cut high notes.”
—Christian Dalzon, Concertonet.com

About Leah Hawkins
Leah Hawkins is a graduate of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at
The Metropolitan Opera, 2021 winner of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Women in Classical Music Career Advancement Award and 2022 Richard Tucker Career Grant recipient. Her Santa Fe Opera debut as Tosca is her second journey into the opera world’s beloved diva. When asked for three fun facts about herself, Hawkins shared:

• I started piano lessons at 9, voice lessons at 12 and I have performed 25+ operatic roles, including 5 that I premiered/created.
• I love costume jewelry. One-of-a-kind, funky, geometric pieces make me happy!
• I also collect magnets. They are usually from places I have visited or worked.

****

Best wishes to Angel Blue and her family; toi toi toi to Leah Hawkins!

All of the Openings at San Francisco Symphony, Filled or Not

 

Davies Symphony Hall

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

San Francisco Symphony has had an enormous number of openings for the last couple of years. Here's a list of all of the openings I've noted, including Robert Ward's upcoming retirement, and who filled those openings that have been filled:

1. Principal flute 
2. Associate principal flute 
3. Associate principal clarinet/Eb clarinet (was Louis Baez, now Matthew Griffith)
4. Clarinet 
5. Bassoon
6. Contrabassoon
7. Principal horn
8. Assistant Principal and Third Horn
9. Bass trombone
10. Section percussion
11. Associate concertmaster
12. Section violin (4) (two of the four filled by Katarzyna Bryla-Weiss and Leonid Plashinov-Johnson)
13. Section viola (3)
14. Principal cello (was Michael Grebanier, now Rainer Eudeikis)
15. Section cello (3)
16. Section bass (2)
17. Principal harp
18. Assistant principal librarian

That's a total of 26 openings since the beginning of 2020, of which it looks as though....four (4) have been filled. Not included in the above: I've seen no signs that they're planning to hire full-time replacements for Ragnar Bohlin, the former chorus director, or the late Robin Sutherland, principal keyboard. So maybe....there have been 28 openings.

It's possible that one of the principal flute finalists will be hired; there have also been auditions recently for associate concertmaster and principal horn, so we'll see what happens there. But this is very worrisome: SFS has not been hiring one-year substitutes, so there have been a lot of substitutes floating in and out on an as-needed basis. This reduces financial costs - you don't have to pay benefits or accrue pension credit when you're paying on a per-service basis - but there's a musical cost to such inconsistency. 

And, you know, how long will it take to fill the remaining openings? It's a complicated and time consuming process, and Esa-Pekka Salonen isn't in SF all the time. At the current rate, it is going to take years to fill the vacancies. MTT spent 25 years building this orchestra and making a lot of great hires; it is really sad to see the gaps and know that Salonen is having to do so much rebuilding.

Also, note Mr. CKDH's post at All is Yar, which implies that associate principal horn Mark Almond and principal viola Jonathan Vinocour are looking around. Could the lack of a contract have something to do with this? I bet it could, and I think it is shameful that the musicians have had to work since last November without a contract that at least starts to get them back to pre-pandemic salaries.

San Francisco Symphony: Retirements and Other Departures

 

Davies Symphony Hall

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

A press release from SFS updates the personnel list with several retirements and two additional departures.

Retired:

• Wayne Roden, viola, after 49 years in the orchestra
• Caroline McIntosh, cello, after 42 years
• Anne Pinsker, cello, after 41 years
• John Campbell, assistant librarian, after 32 years
• Bruce Roberts, assistant principal and third horn, after 35 years

Left for other reasons:

• Helen Kim, violin, is now the associate concertmaster of the Seattle Symphony
• Eliot Lev, violin, who is now a mental health professional. He was the first openly transgender member of a major U.S. orchestra. From his web site: I'm Eliot (he/him) a multicultural, sexually and gender-expansive mental health therapist dedicated to supporting diverse LGBTQ+ people through integrative, anti-oppressive and evidence-based mental health practices.
  

SFS "War Requiem": Paterson Out, Mulligan In

Davies Symphony Hall

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

Received from San Francisco Symphony. We're not the EU, so presumably this isn't Brexit-related....:

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—Baritone Brian Mulligan replaces Iain Paterson in the San Francisco Symphony’s performances of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem, May 18–20. Paterson has regretfully withdrawn from this program due to visa difficulties.  

Cast Change Announcement, San Francisco Symphony Edition

Davies Symphony Hall, SF

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

Hilary Hahn is unwell and has withdrawn from this week's programs with Rafael Payare at San Francisco Symphony. She was to play the Brahms violin concerto.

Replacing her on the program is pianist Bruce Liu, who will be playing Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto. Toi toi toi to Liu, and best wishes for a swift recovery to Hahn.

Cast Change Announcement: NY Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra

Conductor Karina Canellakis has withdrawn from some of her upcoming programs because she's expecting a child in May. Here are notes about the conductors who will leading those programs.

• Jonathon Heyward, New York Philharmonic, April 27-29. The program is as originally scheduled:  Brahms’s Violin Concerto, with Christian Tetzlaff, Zosha Di Castri’s Lineage, and Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra

• Osmo Vänskä, Philadelphia Orchestra, April 20-22. Perry Study for Orchestra, Mozart Piano Concerto No. 24 with Inon Barnatan, Beethoven Symphony No. 3 (“Eroica”)  

Best wishes to Canellakis for the easiest possible childbirth.

Déjà Vu All Over Again, Orfeo ed Euridice Edition

War Memorial Opera House and Veterans Building

Probably around 1932

Hand-colored postcard, Lisa Hirsch collection

First it was Julia Bullock, now it's Christina Gansch:

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (September 21, 2022) — San Francisco Opera announced today a cast change for its upcoming new production of Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice (Orfeo ed Euridice), opening November 15. Soprano Meigui Zhang will make her role debut as Eurydice, replacing Christina Gansch who is expecting her second child and has withdrawn from the production.

 

Meigui Zhang made her Company debut this past summer as Dai Yu (“sung with brightly quivering intensity,” San Francisco Chronicle) in Bright Sheng and David Henry Hwang’s Dream of the Red Chamber. The fast-rising soprano is featured in San Francisco Opera’s award-winning video portrait series, In Song. Released in June 2022, In Song: Meigui Zhang features Zhang reconnecting with her family in Chengdu, China and performing Eva Dell'Acqua's "Villanelle," Mozart’s “Das Veilchen” (“The Violet”) and the Kazakh folk song "A Lovely Rose."

 

Though Zhang’s journey as an opera singer began in Chengdu and continued in Shanghai, she also has a strong foundation in San Francisco, where she was a Merola Opera Program participant in 2018. After Merola, Zhang was selected to join the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artists Development Program. This spring, she reprised Barbarina in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro at the Met and appeared as Thibault in that company’s new production of Verdi’s Don Carlos. Other recent credits include Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at the Verbier Festival, concert appearances with the Sichuan Symphony Orchestra on tour throughout China and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts.

 

Zhang joins the cast for Orpheus and Eurydice, which features countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński in his highly anticipated Company debut as Orpheus and soprano Nicole Heaston as Love (Amore).

 

San Francisco Opera’s new production of Gluck’s setting of the Orpheus myth presents the work in its original 1762 Viennese edition for the first time in Company history. Director Matthew Ozawa heads the creative team of set and projection designer Alexander V. Nichols, costume designer Jessica Jahn, lighting designer Yuki Nakase Link and choreographer Rena Butler in a production which traces Orpheus’ passage through the stages of grief at losing his beloved Eurydice. Artistic Director of the Irish Baroque Orchestra and founding Artistic Director of Ensemble Marsyas Peter Whelan makes his American operatic debut leading Gluck’s revolutionary score. Chorus Director John Keene prepares the Opera Chorus for the work’s exuberant and lamenting choruses.

 

The five performances of Orpheus and Eurydice are scheduled for November 15 (7:30 p.m.), 18 (7:30 p.m.), 20 (2 p.m.), 26 (7:30 p.m.); December 1 (7:30 p.m.), 2022.