Heroines and divas galore dominate the San Francisco Opera's 2014-2015 season, the company's 92nd, beginning Sept. 5.
Largely by coincidence, five of the fall season's seven titles are names of heroines: Bellini's Norma, Floyd's Susannah, Handel's Partenope, Puccini's Tosca, and Rossini's Cinderella. The other two — with heroines of their own — are Verdi's A Masked Ball and Puccini's La bohème.
Asked if there is something thematic going on here, SFO Director of Artistic and Music Planning Greg Henkel replied:
Opera is full of heroines, and this season in particular is evidence of that. When casting this season, we had to take into account the number of strong female leading roles that would be represented. Iconic roles as diverse as Norma and Ceneretola, Partenope, Tosca and Mimi require women who are unique, exceptional singers and gifted actresses. I personally am very pleased to be presenting so many of today’s generation of leading ladies on our stage.
Those leading ladies include Sondra Radvanovsky as Norma, Patricia Racette as Susannah, Julianna Di Giacomo (replacing Krassimira Stoyanova) as Amelia and Heidi Stober as Oscar in A Masked Ball, Danielle de Niese as Partenope, Lianna Haroutounian as Tosca, Karine Deshayes as Cinderella, and Alexia Voulgaridou and Leah Crocetto as Mimi in La bohème.
One way to prepare for the season is to attend SFO's Overture Workshops Monday nights in the Opera House's fifth floor Chorus Room:
- Sept. 8, Kip Cranna, "Opera is a Story: From Text to Dialogue to Music"
- Sept. 15, Zanda Švede, "Performing: What's It Like to be a Musician?"
- Sept. 22, Production Department staff members, "Production Elements: What Does It Look Like?"
- Sept. 29, Jose Maria Condemi, "Putting it All Together: The Director's Vision"