ajones' » San Francisco, CA

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The early September opening of the San Francisco Opera season sits at the top of the city’s social calendar. Hairdressers and make-up artists get booked months in advance. Designer gowns and jewels make beautiful women including Danielle Steele, look even more glamorous. It’s the night to see and be seen. People line up outside of the Opera House for hours, awaiting the arrivals at the evening’s pre-performance dinners. Some of the bystanders have tickets for the balcony seats, or standing-room tickets. They rush in the moment the door opens to claim the best spots. And then, there is the performance onstage. The country’s second largest opera company offers a fall season of typically 10 operas, as well as a shorter summer season. Of course, you’ll hear Verdi, Puccini, Mozart, Strauss and Wagner, but within the last few years San Francisco Opera has become famous for its contemporary fare. New commissions included “Dead Man Walking,” based on Sister Helen Prejean’s book; “A Streetcar Named Desire,” after Tennessee Williams’ play; and “Dr., Atomic,” focused on physicist Robert Oppenheimer. San Francisco Opera has a new director, David Gockley, known for his affinity for contemporary opera. It should be interesting.

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