Santa Fe Opera has always exerted a powerful pull on opera lovers from the Bay Area and beyond, and this year was no exception. With five productions offered throughout July and August in the company’s 2,200-seat, open-air theater, the 2009 season — Charles MacKay’s first as general director — offered myriad musical rewards in a congenial setting.
“It’s a wonderful, intimate setting. The musicians and programs are fabulous.” 
The biggest and best summer festival of classical music is in session, and available — free — to everyone with a computer. (Or, in the U.K.
It might be possible to look at the newest arrivals at a company like San Francisco Opera as beginners of a sort, perched on the bottom rung on a most accomplished ladder.
