Opera in the Park

50th ANNIVERSARY | SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2026 | 1:30 P.M.
ROBIN WILLIAMS MEADOW, GOLDEN GATE PARK

10AM - Rehearsal for all singers and orchestra. Singers will be in casual clothes.

1:30PM - Concert begins

INTERMISSION

3:15PM - Finale “Libiamo”

approximately 86 minutes plus speeches, applause and intermission

View Program

• First Half

  National Anthem	San Francisco Opera Orchestra
  GLINKA: Rusian and Lyudmila
  Overture	San Francisco Opera Orchestra
  Glinka’s famous overture to his 1842 opera, Ruslan and Lyudmila, starts off at a breathless pace with a frenzied passage for strings before introducing a sweepingly lyrical melody for the cellos. Various themes then weave together, punctuated by the timpani, as the piece rushes to a roaring finish.
  LEONCAVALLO: Pagliacci
  Si può?!	Amartuvshin Enkhbat
  Tonio, one of a troupe of traveling commedia dell’arte players, steps in front of the curtain to begin the performance, explaining that the composer wishes to present a genuine “slice of life” and show that, despite their comic posturing, the actors onstage are flesh-and-blood beings with true human feelings.
  LEONCAVALLO: Pagliacci
  Nedda! . . . Silvio, a quest’ora	Toni Marie Palmertree and Thomas Mole
  In this dramatic and rapturous duet, Nedda’s young lover, Silvio, urges her to leave her husband and run away with him. At first she refuses, crying, “Do not tempt me!” But after his intense pleading (“Then why did you bewitch me?”), she gives in to his persuasion.
  BOITO: Mefistofele
  Ecco il mondo	Christian Van Horn
  On the Witches’ Sabbath surrounded by his devilish followers, the demon Mephistopheles sardonically holds up a glass globe of the Earth, sneering at the vain futility of the pathetic planet and the folly of the human creatures who inhabit it. At the aria’s climax he smashes the globe, shouting “Behold the Earth!”
  HANDEL: Alcina
  Tornami a vagheggiar	Sofia Gotch
  Morgana, sister of the sorceress Alcina, has fallen in love with the handsome, young “Ricciardo”—actually the woman Bradamante in disguise (it’s a long story…)—and in a lively and tuneful aria requiring great vocal agility, she begs “him” to return her love and remain faithful.
  WEBER: Der Freischütz
  Durch die Wälder	Christopher Sokolowski
  Max, the “Free-Shooter” of the opera’s title, is a huntsman who hopes to win the hand of his beloved Agathe in a marksmanship contest, but in his recent attempts, his shooting skills have failed him. In his aria, he recalls that he used to travel “through the forests, through the meadows” with a light heart, but now he succumbs to despair.
  DONIZETTI: Don Pasquale
  Quel guardo il cavaliere	Heidi Stober
  The sprightly Norina is reading aloud from a gushy romantic novel about a knight who was captivated by a lady's glance. With a laugh, she confidently declares that she, too, knows all the tricks to ensnare a man.

• Second Half

  LEONCAVALLO: Pagliacci
  Intermezzo	San Francisco Opera Orchestra
  Canio, head of a troupe of comedians, has just learned that his wife, Nedda, is unfaithful, but he has only a brief moment to voice his bitter grief before getting ready for the next show. The eloquent intermezzo provides a bridge between the “real world” and the supposedly comic scene to come, echoing stirring music from the Prologue which reminded us that actors are human beings who feel real sorrow and pain.
  PUCCINI: Madame Butterfly
  Un bel dì	Eleonora Buratto
  Though three years have passed, Butterfly assures her doubtful maid Suzuki that her husband, Pinkerton, will return to her “one fine day.” She imagines the joy that she will feel when she finally catches sight of him coming up the hill. Meanwhile, she resolutely exclaims, “I wait for him!”
  THOMAS: Hamlet
  O vin dissipe la tristesse	Thomas Mole
  Hamlet meets with the troupe of actors who will perform a play for the court. Perhaps feigning madness, he spurs them on by singing a feverish drinking song calling for wine and laughter to dispel his sadness.
  R. STRAUSS: Ariadne auf Naxos
  Es gibt ein Reich	Mary Hoskins
  In this opera within an opera, Ariadne has been abandoned by her lover Theseus and left heartbroken on a deserted island with nymphs as her only company. She mourns her lost love, longing to reach the realm of death, and exults in the joy of the ensuing afterlife.
  PUCCINI: Manon Lescaut
  Donna non vidi mai	Joshua Guerrero
  The Chevalier des Grieux has just met a young girl being set to a convent, who told him “My name is Manon Lescaut.” In love at first sight, Des Grieux rhapsodizes that he has never seen a woman like her and that he longs to tell her of his love.
  VERDI: Simon Boccanegra
  Orfanella il tetto umile	Eleonora Buratto and Amartuvshin Enkhbat
  Amelia is the adopted daughter of the wealthy Grimaldi family. Simon Boccanegra, the doge of Genoa, visits her hoping she will marry one of his courtiers. She tells him of her past and shows him a locket bearing a picture of her dead mother. Comparing Amelia’s picture with his own, Boccanegra realizes that she is his long-lost daughter. Finally reunited, they are overcome with joy
  ZANDONAI: Giulietta e Romeo
  Giulietta! Son io!	Christopher Sokowlowski
  In Riccardo Zandonai’s 1922 opera on the Romeo and Juliet story, Romeo arrives at Juliet’s tomb in grief, unaware of the sleeping potion that has only simulated her death. In his passionate aria he prepares to take poison, sorrowfully calling out, “How can I wake you? With what cry, what tears, what ardent kiss?”
  TCHAIKOVSKY: The Queen of Spades
  Ya vas lyublyu	Gabriel Natal-Báez
  Prince Yeletsky is engaged to Lisa, but she has become strangely distant and aloof. In his aria, he pours out his emotions to her, telling her that he loves her beyond measure and would do anything for her, though her remoteness torments him.
  LARA
  Granada	Joshua Guerrero
  The Mexican composer Agustín Lara’s popular song “Granada” dates from 1932 and celebrates the historic city of Granada in southern Spain, a place of bullfights, beautiful seductive eyes, and torrid love affairs. The song ends with the words “Granada, your land is full of lovely women, blood, and sun!