BRAVO PHOTO COLLAGE CAPTIONS:

Top row, from left to right: 

  • Enrico Caruso in his popular role as Don José in Bizet’s Carmen, which he performed in San Francisco on the evening of April 17, 1906. Lebrecht Music & Arts/Alamy Stock Photo
  • Top hats on shelves at San Francisco Opera. Courtesy of San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
  • Silvestrelli as Sparafucile in Rigoletto, 2016. Photo by Cory Weaver. Courtesy of San Francisco Opera Archive

Row Two, from left to right: 

  • Beniamino Gigli as Andrea Chénier, 1938. Photo by Lawrence B. Morton. Courtesy of San Francisco Opera Archive
  • Armando Agnini, San Francisco Opera Stage Director, 1938. Courtesy of San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
  • Fiorenza Cossotto as Amneris in Aida, 1977. Photo by Ron Scherl. Courtesy of San Francisco Opera Archive
  • Salvatore Baccaloni in the role of Don Iñigo in Maurice Ravel’s opera L’Heure Espagnole (The Spanish Hour) in 1945. Photo by Strohmeyer. Courtesy of San Francisco Opera Archive

Row Three, from left to right: 

  • The final scene from Tosca, Act III, 1997. Photo by Marty Sohl. Courtesy of San Francisco Opera Archive
  • Luciano Pavarotti performing at Opera in the Park at the Music Concourse Bandshell in Golden Gate Park, 1970s. Courtesy of San Francisco Opera Archive
  • Claudia Muzio as Violetta in Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata, 1932. Courtesy of San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
  • From left to right: Dino Borgioli (as Pinkerton), Maestro Gaetano Merola, and Alfredo Gandolfi (as Sharpless) on the set of Madama Butterfly, 1934. From the Historical Archive Collection of the Museo Italo Americano. Gift of Alessandro Baccari

Row Four, from left to right: 

  • Luisa Tetrazzini greeting the crowd at the dedication of the Giuseppe Verdi statue in Golden Gate Park on March 23, 1914. From the Historical Archive Collection of the Museo Italo Americano. Gift of Alessandro Baccari
  • Nicola Luisotti conducting, 2012. Photo by Cory Weaver. Courtesy of San Francisco Opera Archive
  • War Memorial Opera House, viewed from across Van Ness Avenue, circa 1932. Photographer Unknown. Jack Tillmany Collection. Courtesy of OpenSFHistory/wnp67.0060

Row Five, from left to right: 

  • Giorgio Tozzi playing the title role in Boris Godunov (sung in English), 1961. Photo by Carolyn Mason Jones. Courtesy of San Francisco Opera Archive
  • Veena Akama-Makia, Adia Evans, Sahel Salam, and Erin Wagner in Merola Opera Program’s 2022 production of Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute.) Photo by Kristen Loken. Courtesy of Merola Opera Program
  • Pictured from left to right: Gaetano Merola, San Francisco Mayor Angelo Rossi, Claudia Muzio, (Opera President) Wallace Alexander, Armando Agnini at the inauguration of War Memorial Opera House, 1932. Courtesy of Rose Marie Cleese
  • Portrait of Mario Del Monaco as Radames in Aida, 1950. Courtesy of San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library

Row Six, from left to right: 

  • Carmen Giannattasio in her San Francisco Opera and role debut as Tosca on October 3, 2018. Photo by Cory Weaver. Courtesy of San Francisco Opera Archive
  • Portrait of Ruggero Leoncavallo, composer of PagliacciCourtesy of Biblioteca della musica di Bologna
  • Merola Program alumna Delcina Stevenson smiles after winning an award at the Program’s competition in Los Angeles in 1965. She sang several mainstage roles with San Francisco Opera in 1966 and 1967. Photo by Maria-Jeanette. Courtesy of San Francisco Opera Archive

Row Seven, from left to right: 

  • Wagnerian soprano Kirsten Flagstad with conductor Gaetano Merola, appearing on The Standard Hour radio broadcast, 1949. Courtesy of San Francisco Opera Archive
  • Patrons in the box level of the War Memorial Opera House enjoying a performance. Photo by Drew Altizer. Courtesy of San Francisco Opera Archive
  • Tenor Tito Schipa as Des Grieux in Manon, 1927. Courtesy of San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
  • Soprano Licia Albanese in Madama Butterfly, 1941. Courtesy of San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library

Row Eight, from left to right: 

  • Giovanni Martinelli as Canio in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, 1922. Courtesy of San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
  • Soprano Mary Costa is assisted by Wig Master Stan Dufford, as she prepares to perform the role of Ninette in the world premiere of Norman Dello Joio’s Blood Moon, 1961. Photo by Carolyn Mason Jones. Courtesy of San Francisco Opera Archive
  •  Anna Caterina Antonacci (left) as Cesira in La Ciociara and Sarah Shafer as her daughter, Rosetta, 2014. Photo by Cory Weaver. Courtesy of San Francisco Opera Archive
  • Portrait of acclaimed opera singer and Bay Area native Ida Valerga, circa 1890s. From the Valerga Collection. Courtesy of the Museum of Performance + Design, San Francisco

Row Nine, from left to right: 

  • Adler Fellows in concert: The Future Is Now performance in Herbst Theatre, December 2022. Photo by Kristen Loken. Courtesy of San Francisco Opera Archive
  • Armando Agnini working on the stage set for Samson Et Dalila, 1933. Photo by Lawrence B. Morton. Courtesy of San Francisco Opera Archive
  • From left to right: Robert Orth as Harvey Milk, Juliana Gondek as Dianne Feinstein, and Gidon Saks as Mayor Moscone in Harvey Milk, 1996. Photo by Ron Scherl. Courtesy of San Francisco Opera Archive
  • Matthew Farruggio (standing, on right) coaching stage movement for Merola Opera Program participants Walter Hinton and Karl Woellhoff, 1959. Photo by Carolyn Mason Jones. Courtesy of Merola Opera Program

 

0