SAN DIEGO OPERA CELEBRATES ITS 60TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON WITH THREE MAINSTAGE PRODUCTIONS

by STEPHANIE SAAD

Like the doomed chevalier Cavaradossi in the final act of Giacomo Puccini’s opera, Tosca, San Diego Opera faced a death sentence 10 years ago. The outfit’s then-General Director made the shocking move to shut down the company. Thankfully, unlike Mario Cavaradossi, San Diego Opera lived to sing another day, in large part because of a valiant coalition of dedicated supporters and determined staffers. Now, preparing to celebrate the company’s 60th anniversary season, General Director David Bennett says he takes nothing for granted.

“A lot of people in San Diego want opera to be here. This season is selling very well,” Bennett says. “We’ve proven opera is alive and flourishing in San Diego, as it is in many places in the country post-Covid. There’s a sense of optimism we are seeing coming out of last season and continuing with this season. We’re very confi-dent about where the company is right now, and that’s a terrific place to be as we’re entering our 60th season.”

San Diego Opera (SDO) launched as a company in 1965; its first production at the new Civic Theatre was the beloved Puccini opera La bohème—a tragic love story between the poor seamstress Mimì and the broke poet Rodolfo—set amid scenes of bohemian life in early 19th-century Paris. After that, it became a tradition for the outfit to produce La bohème every five years. In 2020, SDO became the first in the U.S. to perform before a live audience during the pandemic shutdown, with an innovative drive-in opera production of La bohème. The musicians and singers were distanced from each other, and the audience listened in from their cars, which were parked in the Pechanga Arena parking lot. Projections helped bring the production to life. With some adjustments, it returns to open this season, Nov. 1-3. Scenic Designer Tim Wallace employs a mix of projections and set pieces, including the panels from the drive-in production.

Stage Director Keturah Stickann, who directed the drive-in La bohème and returns for the 60th anniversary production, says the restrictions of performing [during the pandemic] shaped her ideas for the opera. “The concepts grew out of the artists not being able to touch each other, hav-ing to stay 20 feet away from each other, which is a real issue when you’re dealing with a love story like La bohème,” she says. “My idea is that Rodolfo is remembering his past, in the role of storyteller, reliving these scenes while writing his memoirs 10 to 15 years into the future. We see everyone as a memory except for Mimì, who is a ghost who haunts him for the evening.”

Stickann continues, “Now that we can all be close to each other again and get into each other’s singing space, we’re updating the production to take place in 1939—with Rodolfo in his apartment in the early ‘50s. We have more leeway into how we tell the story and how deeply he can dive into some of his memories.”

Conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya in her San Diego Opera debut, La bohème will see three per-formances over one week-end, with different singers in the roles of Mimì and Rodolfo on consecutive performances. On the Friday and Sunday, Mimì will be sung by soprano Kathleen O’Mara, who recently won both First Prize and the Birgit Nilsson Prize at Plácido Domingo’s prestigious international Operalia competition. In the role of Rodolfo will be tenor Joshua Blue, whom Bennett calls a young sing-er making a big name for himself singing this role in many places. Saturday’s Mimì is soprano Sarah Tucker, known to San Diego Opera audiences from past performances as Micaela in Carmen and Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte; while Rodolfo will be César Delgado, a rising Mexican tenor.

La bohème is such a mainstay of opera stages worldwide that in every audience there are bound to be those who have seen it many times before; as well as those seeing it for the very first time. Stickann says it’s no wonder the opera has remained a favorite of opera audiences for more than a century. “It’s so theatrical, the characters are so well drawn and so thoroughly fleshed out in the way they deal with each other and themselves that you can’t help but be drawn into their stories,” she says. “It has humor, but it’s also tragic—it has both sides of what opera can offer, the highs and lows, in a highly theatrical space. Puccini was an actors’ composer; his storytelling feels like a play that just happens to be sung. For someone new to opera, it’s the perfect way in. The characters are recognizable and relatable for anyone on any level.

“This season we’re using scenic elements that are less heavy, scenery, lighting and costumes, but also using technology to aid us.”— David Bennett

“At the same time, musically, it’s so tune-ful,” she continues. “The arias are gorgeous; the duets soar. It goes from one musical triumph to another.”

Bennett agrees. “La bohème is a beautifully crafted opera. The mecha-nism we are employing in this production of telling the story through memory distills it, so that the dra-matic intensity is actually greater,” he says. “People who have seen it before will find that a new and fresh approach. At the same time, what we all want to hear are beautiful voices singing these time-less tunes.”

In addition to La bohème, Bennett has programmed two other well-known operas for the 60th anniversary season, both also at the Civic Theatre. Save the dates for Richard Strauss’ Salome, March 21-23, 2025; and Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata, April 25-27, 2025, considered one of the most beloved operas of all time.

“This season we’re using scenic elements that are less heavy, scenery, lighting and costumes but also using technology to aid us,” says Bennett. “Every production will use projections and video to help with the storytelling. We saw the success of this sort of production with our recent Madama Butterfly. It allows artists to move more and have space, but we will still fill the Civic Theatre stage.”

In addition, the San Diego Opera Chorus will be showcased for the first time in a holiday concert, “Making Merry,” on Dec. 7 at Balboa Theatre. It will feature soprano Alisa Jordheim and San Diego’s civic organist, Raúl Prieto Ramírez, playing the the-ater’s historical organ.

Another San Diego Opera tradition that will be upheld with this pro-duction of La bohème will be the company’s track record of discovering and nurturing young talent.

“We’ve been known since the beginning as a place where very important singers come early in their careers,” Bennett says. “This season is no excep-tion. You will see some very young but very up-and-coming singers who have not appeared here before; as well as directors like Keturah who worked with us very early in their careers as assistants.”

In fact, Stickann made her debut with SDO onstage, as a dancer. After performing in 2004’s The Pearl Fishers and Turandot operas, she retired from dancing and got to know opera in another capacity, as a choreographer and assistant director. In 2014, she directed SDO’s Don Quixote, and has returned regularly to lead produc-tions since then.

“It means a lot to be directing this milestone opera in the 60th anni-versary season,” says Stickann, who now lives in Knoxville, Tenn., but previously made her home in San Diego for 10 years. “San Diego feels like home, and working at SDO feels like a home-coming every single time. It’s both humbling and a pleasure.”

For more details on San Diego Opera’s milestone season and for tickets, please visit sdopera.org

SDO’s La bohème “drive-in” in 2020; Luciano Pavarotti in La bohème circa 1980.