Michael Anthonio’s love affairs with classical music and opera started in primary school, when his parents bought him an organ and he began taking lessons. During high school and college, he gave private organ lessons to some of his parents’ friends’ kids (for pocket money) and he was church organist and later, choir conductor. In 1999 he moved to Singapore where he got involved with the classical music online website “flying inkpot.” His interest in opera became an obsession when he was transferred for work to US in 2008. In addition to enjoying world-class opera in SF, he indulges in opera tours in Europe. His favorite opera composer is Handel; at this point, Michael seen 24 of his operas , with hopefully three more coming next year.
The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (PBO) opened their 38th season this weekend with a series of concerts in Bay Area (and a single traversal to Costa Mesa to begin the Philharmonic Society of Orange County 65th season) called “Mozart Magnified”, featuring three of Mozart’s sacred works from his time in Salzburg. These concerts came right on the heels of the announcement that the PBO Music Director, Nicholas McGegan, would retire at the conclusion of 2019-20 season, by which he would have led PBO for 35 years. 
Excitement permeated in the air at the War Memorial Opera House on Wednesday night for the opening performance of Puccini’s perennial favorite Tosca. No, it wasn’t either for the fact that merely four years passed since the last revival (in Thierry Bosquet’s trusted old sets), or for the new (quite conventional) production by director Shawna Lucey and production designer Robert Innes Hopkins. 
Cher Public