San Francisco hits the big screen
San Francisco Opera is about to hop on the HD bandwagon, promising theater transmissions of six operas a year beginning in March 2008.Unlike the Met's simulcasts, though, San Francisco's appear likely to turn a profit almost immediately. The company can produce their telecasts for only about $75,000 per production since earlier this year they installed a $3.5 million Taube-Koret Media Suite. The Media Suite is the first permanent high definition, broadcast-standard production facility in an opera house.
"This is the big kahuna," said David Gockley, general director of San Francisco Opera. "It's the most effective revenue generating use of the suite."
The company aims for 150-200 screens the first season, which will feature La Rondine, Madama Butterfly, Samson et Dalila, The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, Lucia di Lammermoor and Appomattox, the new opera by Philip Glass and Christopher Hampton that premiered at San Francisco Opera in October 2007.
More details on the technology and SFO's plans can be found in an article from San Francisco Business Times.
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3:23 PM
19 Comments:
I love that many of the big opera houses are trying to do this now - when am I going to get a chance to attend La Scala or Covent Garden otherwise? Now I can go several times a year. I think it's great.
But I do wonder - why shell out $200 for a live performance in the house, when I can get a pretty darn good experience for $20 in a movie theater, and will the live theater audiences in the house start to dwindle because of this?
(And added benefits -- I don't have to get all dressed up, I can wear my sneakers, I can bring in a bag of M&Ms, or have a hot dog... what's not to love about this?)
The interviews with Gockley on the subject of the greatness of his conception, only vaguely nodding to the fact THAT THE MET DID IT FIRST is refreshing, continuing to show that his ego remains Hitler-size in it's modesty. It's amazing that after so many years in the business he still hasn't learned how to shut up. He's so eager to make his point that the broadcasting will finally be done correctly by San Francisco that he misses the point that some of the productions being offered are hardly of an international standard in terms of casting.
Frankly, I don't really see much difference between seeing what SF is offering and going out to buy a dvd, which will give me a much wider range of options as to production style and singer.
Also, although it is true that they can produce in house for only 75,000 per show, nonetheless that's a bit of sleight of hand in terms of accounting- you have to count the cost of building and maintaining the studio, a minimum of 4 million into the debit margin before you can legitimately call it a profit after all.
I'm an usher at the War Memorial, so this isn't a surprise to me. It is something that I've been looking foreward to for a while. With the exception of Samson (which was pretty dull, despite Borodina), the broadcasts give an opertunity to see some really fine productions; especially the two Puccini works. Racette and Gheorghiu were at there best this season. Don G has Mariusz K and that's all you need to know. The Magic Flute was frankly a little mediocure, but Christopher Maltman's Papageno was worth price of admission. Appomattox is for those who like Glass and Civil War fans, and not many else. I loved it, and the cast features some excellent work from the Adler Fellows, all of whom feature in Principle roles. Watch out for the tenor Noah Stewart, you'll be singing his praises ere long.
Thanks for the insider's peek, Baritenor. I am looking forward to these, esp Don G; I haven't heard Mariusz K. yet.
Did anybody out there see the La Scala broadcast of Aida a week or so ago?
I'm delighted with these broadcasts and am hoping the San Fransisco offerings get down here. We are getting Romeo & Juliet with Netrebko & Alagna, down here on December 29th. For most of us it is the only way we will see productions in other major houses. Don't know why the powers that be are trumpeting though- filming performances is not new- and one should really be asking "why has it taken so long?"
Well I think San Francisco Opera is a big old copy cat.
The reason this hasn't been done before is that both the technology didn't exist, and artist's unions are/were very old-fashioned and conservative, most of them dating back to the 1930s. Their understandable resistance to having their union members being exploited without pay often just gets in the way of sharing a live performance with a wider audience.
Also have to take issue with "[Gockley] misses the point that some of the productions being offered are hardly of an international standard in terms of casting." That's crap. The casts of the six operas are as good as any house in the world, and as baritenor wrote, the diva performances by Georghiu and Racette in "Rondine" and "Butterfly" respectively were of legendary stature. And I'd certainly put the San Francisco Opera Chorus over the Met Chorus just about any day of the week.
sfmike- I get your point on a technicality that these performances haven't been done like this before- but of course in the broader spectrum, it's just filming of a kind with superior/latest technology - it's not that revolutionary.
The best we can hope for is that beyond the technology the artists and the production are good, otherwise we'd still be better off playing our scratchy ol video tapes with Montsy, Joan et al.
ps: one of the ways opera companies are going to survive (and perhaps thrive) in the future- will be by using the technologies to capitalise on selling to wider audiences - and why not? There are plenty of us around the world happy to pay good money to see SFO and Met performances- and others.
Like all things, unions will have to embrace the change and opportunity or they will simply be swept away (into individual work agreements etc). They will not stop progress and progress it certainly is.
Gelb was on CNN this morning talking up the Met's simulcasts. CNN reported the R&J a success in terms of attendance, despite lousy weather in many big markets. One thing I liked: the Met is broadcasting the performances free to some schools in the NYC area. The schools are whomping it up with assigned seating, tickets, programs, ushers - using the performances as a sort of job training. The student comments were amusing. One hottie dude was attracted by the poster of Netrebko en peignoir with a come-hither look. NOW I see why the kicked of the series with R&J: Sex - draw the kids in with sex. Works for me. But I'm not sure how the children will react to Ghulegina in a nightie. Yucccch, it's like imagining my parents screwing!
PS. Having seen R&J, I can say that a theater broadcast is much more like being in the house than watching it at home. I've got a slick system, but the scale in the theater is of an entirely different order of magnitude. Now, if they will please stop already with the close ups.
Anyone else get the feeling that Gelb wants to run a Hollywood studio?
Knowledge of the LA scene from his days at Sony Classical - check
Getting tight with movie theater operators - check
Setting up On Demand agreements with the cable companies - check
Mass media packaging of HIS STARS - check
Wooing film directors to opera - check
Putting himself front and center in the press - check
His skills as a marketer are more than admirable, but I have a feeling some of this is self-promotion, and not just promotion of the Met. It'll be interesting to see if he makes himself a bigger part of the story as time goes on.
Not blaming him if that's what he wants - just an observation.
As for SFO, I agree - the movie house thing will run its course, sooner rather than later. I think LA has the right idea with its contract with HDNet and the Met with On Demand - people will want to the option of consuming the product in their homes more regularly.
And to dnitzer's first post - football and baseball owners used to worry about TV contracts killing attendance in the 60s. And yet people still love the live experience, and I think that will be the same for opera.
Point taken - new technologies don't necessarily replace the thrill of a live performance. I guess that's a relief. :-)
So did nobody see the La Scala Aida?
SFMike- my opinions are not crap- although I appreciate your hometown boosterism, I'd invite anyone who believes that SFO is currently casting at a level to match any theater in the world to go to the website and decide for themselves. I won't name names, but their are a lot of artists who are barely at the level of "B" casts in international companies (of which SFO has not truly been one budgetarily for several years, in case you haven't noticed).
This has hardly always been the case with San Francisco, which under Adler and McEwen frequently cast some magnificent singers that were underused under Bing and later, Levine, but one cannot reasonably pretend to be the case nowadays. SFO isn't a repertoire houe, so one should expect a higher level of casting for broadcasts than what one hears at the 888th revival of Boheme at the Met or Vienna.
As to the comparison of choruses, it's hardly a major factor in the standard of a theater, but the Met Chorus has gone through a long stint under extraordinarily weak direction, which is currently being upgraded, much to Chicago's loss, judging from the atrocious results coming out of there this season so far (I've never heard a more poorly prepared Boheme Act 2).
Okay, Obaysh, as an employee of the house, I kinda half to defend the company. B-list singers? Okay. Let's do a run down of the 2007 season, shall we?
Der Rosenkavalier: Solie Isokoski, Kristinn Sigmundsson and Joyce DiDonato in her first ever Octavian.
Iphigenie en Tauride: Susan Graham, Paul Groves and Bo Skhovus. Two-thirds of the principle cast at the Met and a great Baritone alongside them.
Don Giovanni: Mariusz Kweicien. Mariusz Kweicien, Mariusz Kweicien. plus Charles Castronovo, one of the fastest-rising tenors in America, Kristiann Sigmundsson and a spectular debut from Elza van der Heever. The rest of the cast wasn't nessecarily starry, but really, really solid.
Samson: Olga Borodina, fuhchrissakes, and the greatest baritone you've never heard of, Juha Uulsitalo. Clifton Forbis is dull, but if he's good enough for the Met. Plus, there was a phenominal young bass, Eric Jordan.
Tannhauser: A stinky production, but gloriously sung. Peter Seiffert and Petra-Maria Schnitzer basically own their roles today. Petra Lang wasn't half bad either, nor was the baritone, James Rutherford. And we had Eric Halfvarson to add some rock-solid low notes, even if he had nothing to do.
Appomattox: Dwayne Croft, Andrew Shore, and a group of Adler Fellows given the opertunity to show their stuff for once. Who could ask for anything more?
The Magic Flute: With the exception of two established singers, the cast was primarily rising singers. Said two stars, Christopher Maltmana and Erika Miklosa, were both stupendos. I didn't like her in the telecast last year, but Miklosa sounds amazing in the house. She does ome really amazing things with the coloratura, a lot of dimuendos and watching the dynamic markings. Really effective. Maltman's Papageno was another highlight...perfectly charming. The others were really quite good, though Dina Kuznetsova's Pamina had some awkward moments. Oh, and Greg Fedderly was doing his Fedderly thing as Monostatos.
La Rondine: Only one person matters in this opera, and that's the Soprano. And that soprano was Angela Gheorghiu, supported by two able tenors and the perky Anna Christy. I need say no more.
Macbeth: Okay...you got me. Apart from Thomas Hampson, who overcame a shitty production and did a really superb job, the cast was a B cast. Georgina Lukcas should not be singing Lady Macbeth, and the Macduff was shown up by the Adler fellow singing Malcolm (Noah Stewart). The Bass, Raymond Aceto, was good though.
The Rake's Progress: Wow was this well sung. William Burden is everything I want in a tenor. Very Musical, a great voice, and a magnetic stage presence. Laura Aiken was Anne this time, in a heartbreaking performance. And do I even have to say that James Morris was a great Shaddow? No, I don't. Denyce Graves had some diction issues, but she was very characticterful.
Madama Butterfly: RACETTE! RACETTE! RACETTE! Not to mention a really hot, talented Pinkerton (Brandon Jovanovitch, Turiddu this season for NYCO), and that chick who goes around the world singing Suzuki and nothing else. Rarely can you say Suzuki stood out, but it was so here. The second cast was obviously a second cast, but with Racette in the A-cast, I didn't care.
So how about that for counter-evidence of B-list casting?
As I said, I invite one to make your one views by reading the website, not by posting the website. And yes, by comparison with past standards, it's a pretty paltry list when we start pretending that Bill Burden is a mover and shaker on the tenor circuit. But anyway, aren't you the one a year or two back who was claiming that Lucy Schaufer was a world class singer, which I think speaks for the acuity of your ears, and inability to read music.
Nothing you've posted gives evidence of top level casting- particularly when you claim that Mrs. Sieffert "owns" the role of Elizabeth. It's not a secret that you have to hire her to get Seiffert nowadays, however Lucia Popp she's not. It's a shrill, unmusical singer who management accepts as the price of casting her husband. They're both lovely people, which is why companies accept the arrangement, but let's not pretend that she's going to knock Nina Stemme out of consideration.
Also, Racette, Racette, Racette is generally regarded as the Lucine Amara of our time, but I personally much prefer Amara, who actually could make some lovely sounds.
Being an usher is not traditionally what one considers "working" in the company- I think your fantasies are taking over reality.
you said it Obaysch - absolutely right on about Racette and the untalented half of the Tannhauser pair. She was sharp even in her video clip posted on SFO's site this fall. Bo "barking dog" Skovhus is a "great baritone"? But why continue - in defending SFO's season, Baritenor inadvertently makes the opposite point - with the exception of Borodina, Seiffert, Gheorghiu and Hampson, there was no one from the A-list in SF this season, and many from the D-list - MacBeth, Rondine and Tannheuser were particularly ill-served by their supporting casts this season.
You go, baritenor. Your defense of the San Francisco Opera casting was a little misspelled, but otherwise perfection.
As for those mean queens who we won't bother naming, here's a prediction, you silly fags: After the San Francisco Opera telecast of "Madama Butterfly" with Miss Patricia Racette at movie theaters all over the world, a serious new star is going to be born. This is one of the few things I know about the future with utter certainty.
I never claimed that Lucy Shaufer was a world class singer, I claimed that I loved her as Erika and Cherubino in LA, and wondered why she wasn't getting higher profile assignments. I stick to my guns, because I feel that major houses should be looking at her for bigger parts.
And how is being an usher...okay, "House staff" not working for the company? They pay me, don't they? Yes, it's a low-level part-time job, but I'm an employee.
I disagree with you about Mrs. S, but that's your right. Plus, I never claimed that Bill Burden was a "mover and shaker" on the Tenor Circit. I'm saying that, after the Tom Rakewell he did here, he deserves to be and probably will be ere long. Not to world-class status, surely, but people are starting to take notice.
And don't you DARE claim I can't read music. If that were the case, then I'd be wasting my time putting in all the hours I'm spending rehearsing Turn of the Screw right now.
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