Oberon's Grove

Golden Gate Gala ~ 1997

Frederica von Stade (above) and a host of other stars gathered to celebrate the 75th anniversary of San Francisco Opera with a televised gala in 1997.

Watch and listen to highlights from the concert here.

60 Years Ago @ The Old Met

November 27th, 2023 - Sixty years ago this evening, I attended my first Metropolitan Opera performance: DON GIOVANNI, at the Old Met. I was in my fourth year of hardcore opera fandom, tuning in for every Met broadcast on Saturday afternoons, and building my record collection.

I'd been to some opera performances at the Cincinnati Zoo, at Syracuse, and even in Oswego, NY, just a few miles from home. But The Met was my goal, and on this late Autumn evening, just a few days after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, I finally found myself in the now rather dilapidated Hall that Milton Cross had described so many times over the airwaves; it was like a dream come true.

Read about my unforgettable experience here.

Lydia Johnson Dance @ Westbeth 2023 ~ Gallery

Above: Michael Miles and Laura DiOrio in CHAPTERS; photo by Steven Pisano

A gallery of performance photos by Steven Pisano from Lydia Johnson Dance's November 12th, 2023 matinee at Westbeth. Read about the afternoon here.

The following photos are from FOR ELI, a ballet dedicated to the memory of a young pianist:

Catherine Gurr

MaliQ Williams and Michael Miles

MaliQ and Michael

Michael and MaliQ

Emily Sarkissian and MaliQ Williams

The following images are from Lydia Johnson's newest work, CHAPTERS, having its premiere performances:

Laura DiOrio and Michael Miles

MinSeon Kim and Arieh Bates Vinueza 

Cara McManus and MaliQ Williams

Michael Miles and Arieh Bates-Vinueza

Cara McManus and MaliQ Williams

The program ended with a revival of Lydia's NIGHT OF THE FLYING HORSES (premiered in 2013):

MinSeon Kim and Quinton Guthier

MinSeon Kim and Cara McManus

~ All photos by Steven Pisano

Biancamaria Casoni ~ Dalila in Italian

Biancamaria Casoni sings Dalila's seduction aria from SAMSON & DALILA in Italian. Ms. Casoni was my first-ever Cherubino in NOZZE DI FIGARO when the Rome Opera came to the (then) New Met in 1968.

I love the subtleties in Ms. Casoni's interpretation; she makes Dalila's aria intimately persuasive. Her phrasing and the softness of her timbre are alluring, and her long line and vocal control are impressive...especially as it's a live performance.

Listen here. 

Montserrat Caballé ~ The Swan

Montserrat Caballé vocalizes to an arrangement of The Swan, from Camille Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals.

Watch and listen here.