Olivia Stapp

Giuseppe Verdi’s Otello is the final production of San Francisco Opera’s fall season. The opera might be more commonly performed, but it makes strenuous vocal demands on the protagonist and it's difficult to find singers who have mastered the role. Fortunately, Johan Botha, a South African dramatic tenor, is more than up to the job.

La traviata, which opens June 13 in San Francisco Opera’s summer-season run, is a daunting opera for the soprano performing the role of Violetta Valery.

Speaking to the famed mezzo-soprano “Flicka” — the endearing sobriquet for Frederica von Stade — I’m immediately infused with the warmth of her intrinsic humanity. She belies the usual caricature of the solipsistic prima donna: the only one for whom the entire world exists.

All the requisite glamour and excitement animated this year's opening night celebration at the San Francisco Opera. A superabundance of red and pink roses packed tightly into intricate patterns decorated both the foyer and the auditorium, which itself was festooned with rose-encrusted swags draped around the dress circle.