San Francisco Opera Announces Fall 2016 KDFC Radio Broadcast Schedule

San Francisco Opera's partnership with the Bay Area's Classical KDFC continues with a fall season of opera radio broadcasts beginning August 7 with the star-studded, June 16, 2016 gala concert celebrating San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley. The Company's highly acclaimed 2016 Summer Season productions of Bizet's Carmen, Verdi's Don Carlo and Janácek's Jenufa, along with a special 1982 "From the Archives" broadcast of Handel's Julius Caesar, will air each month through December 4. All performances were recorded live at the War Memorial Opera House and feature the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and San Francisco Opera Chorus.

The San Francisco Opera broadcasts air on Classical KDFC on the first Sunday of each month at 8 p.m. (7 p.m. for Don Carlo) and are hosted by radio announcer Dianne Nicolini. The performances are also available at kdfc.com for streaming on demand for four weeks after each initial broadcast.

The fall 2016 schedule opens August 7 with a broadcast of the gala concert honoring David Gockley's remarkable career as General Director of the Houston Grand Opera and San Francisco Opera. Hosted by mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade and baritone Thomas Hampson, the three-hour celebration features an all-star line-up of vocal soloists including sopranos Julie Adams, Renée Fleming, Ana María Martínez, Karita Mattila, Patricia Racette, Nadine Sierra, Heidi Stober; mezzo-sopranos Catherine Cook, Sasha Cooke, Daniela Mack, Dolora Zajick; tenors Michael Fabiano, Brian Jagde, Simon O'Neill, Pene Pati; baritone Edward Nelson; bass-baritone Eric Owens; basses René Pape and Anthony Reed. San Francisco Opera Music Director Nicola Luisotti, Company Principal Guest Conductor Patrick Summers, Ji?í B?lohlávek and John DeMain conduct the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, Chorus and soloists in selections by Gershwin, Mozart, Puccini, Verdi, Wagner and others, including living composers John Adams, Carlisle Floyd, André Previn and Marco Tutino.

San Francisco Opera's 1982 production of Handel's Julius Caesar, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras and starring mezzo-soprano Tatiana Troyanos in the title role, will be broadcast on September 4. Known for her artistry in an astonishingly wide repertory, from early works by Monteverdi and Handel to Richard Strauss and Philip Glass, Troyanos was a beloved artist who died in 1993 at the age of 54. This "From the Archives" performance, sung in English, also features Valerie Masterson as Cleopatra, Sarah Walker as Cornelia and Delia Wallis as Sextus.

On October 4, Bizet's Carmen starring Irene Roberts in the title role and Brian Jagde as Don José, will be the featured broadcast. Exploring the opera's realism and violence in a production by Calixto Bieito, this San Francisco Opera Carmen was hailed as "an evening of powerful, illuminating theater" (Los Angeles Times). The potent cast also included soprano Ellie Dehn as Micaëla, "whose rendition of the heartfelt Act 3 aria was a small miracle of expressive majesty" (San Francisco Chronicle), baritone Zachary Nelson as the bullfighter Escamillo and Carlo Montanaro, in his Company debut, conducting a "forceful, vibrant performance of Bizet's score" (East Bay Times).

Presented in the five-act, Italian version, Verdi's Don Carlo will air on November 6 at an earlier start time of 7 p.m. San Francisco Opera Music Director Nicola Luisotti led Verdi's dark and majestic masterpiece with "emotional fervor and inexorable pacing" (Mercury News). American tenor Michael Fabiano brought "bright-voiced, manic energy" (Wall Street Journal) to his highly-anticipated role debut as Carlo, the prince torn between love and duty. As Rodrigo, baritone Mariusz Kwiecie? was "outstanding ... his big, buttery voice filled the house with smooth phrasing and a lustrous timbre" (San Francisco Examiner). The "vocally triumphant" (San Francisco Chronicle) cast also featured soprano Ana María Martínez as Elisabetta, mezzo-soprano Nadia Krasteva in her San Francisco Opera debut as Princess Eboli, bass René Pape as Philip II and Andrea Silvestrelli as The Grand Inquisitor.

Leoš Janá?ek's Jen?fa concludes the fall broadcast schedule on December 4. Last presented at San Francisco Opera in 2001, the June 2016 production of this gripping tale of a young woman's coming of age and the morally conflicted stepmother who attempts to protect her honor was proclaimed "a success of magnificent proportions" (San Francisco Chronicle). The cast featured Malin Bystr?m, in her San Francisco Opera and role debut as Jen?fa, veteran soprano Karita Mattila as Kostelni?ka, tenor William Burden as Laca, and Scott Quinn as Števa. Accomplished singing actresses relish the role of the stepmother, or Kostelni?ka, in Jen?fa for its extreme emotional range and dramatic possibilities. In her long-awaited staged role debut as Kostelni?ka, Mattila, an acclaimed Jen?fa earlier in her career, brought "dramatic power and vocal authority" (Mercury News) to her arresting portrayal. Czech conductor Ji?í B?lohlávek led a performance that "abounded in rhythmic drive" (Financial Times).

San Francisco Opera broadcasts are also distributed nationally and internationally over the WFMT Radio Network in Chicago. For further details and broadcast information, visit http://sfopera.com/discover-opera/tv-and-radio-broadcasts

Photo Credit: Ron Scherl/San Francisco Opera

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