The ‘curtain’ (actually a set of four tall TV screens that slide back and forth to reveal the set behind them) was the façade, complete with the green fencing that has separated it from ongoing road work along Van Ness Avenue.
Ozawa was to have directed his own new production of Beethoven’s Fidelio before last fall’s season opener was canceled, and he found a way to repurpose a structure built for the Fidelio set into a facsimile of the War Memorial Opera House. The new storyline plays on the reality that we were all coming back for live opera for the first time in more than a year. rearrange the musical numbers and thread it together in a completely new way’. Stage director Ozawa wrote in the digital program: ‘In taking out some of the links of the story and then looking at what music remained, it became apparent to me that I needed to. Everything was cut except arias and ensembles, and the concision also did away with several secondary roles and the chorus. Running time was to be trimmed to 100 minutes with no intermission. The music reached the audience’s ears via FM radios in their cars. Per COVID-19 safety protocols, the cast stayed six feet apart (mostly), and the orchestra spaced itself out inside a tent behind the stage. San Francisco Opera’s The Barber of Seville at Marin County Center The setup allows for 200 cars plus another 200 in a separate area across the lagoon with a jumbo TV screen. They watched from their cars as the proceedings unfolded on a purpose-built stage. Opening night’s ‘crowd’ gathered in the parking lot of the Marin County Civic Center (about a half-hour’s drive from the War Memorial Opera House), a picturesque setting next to a lagoon. Everything has been virtual, and much of it outstanding. It was the company’s first try in front of a live audience since the pandemic shut things down before the 2020 spring performances could happen. San Francisco Opera returned to the stage for the first time since 2019 with an innovative, truncated, yet surprisingly enjoyable production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. (HS) Lucas Meachem delivers Figaro’s signature ariaįrom his War Memorial Opera House ‘dressing room’ (c) Stefan Cohen/SFO Marin County Civic Center, San Rafael, California. United States Rossini, The Barber of Seville: Soloists and Orchestra of San Francisco Opera / Roderick Cox (conductor).
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