Opera Launches Podcasts

San Francisco Opera and MobileCast Media have formed a podcasting partnership, which will debut with an interview of soprano Deborah Voigt. David Gockley, the Opera's general director, conducted the interview with Voigt on the War Memorial Opera House stage in September. The initial launch will also include the Opera's 2006-2007 season preview, a synopsis of each opera narrated by Gockley. Access to these podcasts is available from http://podcast.sfopera.com, or from iTunes by searching for "San Francisco Opera Podcast."

MobileCast Media CEO John Houghton, an opera singer himself, is donating his company's participation, saying that "it’s the marriage of two of my life's passions. As a BRAVO!CLUB board member, I worked hard to bring new people to the art form. Then I realized that I could literally reach millions through podcasting, and this perfect marriage of my passion and my profession came about." Thanking Gockley for the company's support for "working through the new territory of emerging technologies," Houghton said, "I fell in love with opera as a young music student, and I cannot think of a better way to give back to the art form than by making it possible for opera lovers worldwide to access the programs and music of the legendary San Francisco Opera."

A test podcast, from a BRAVO!CLUB lecture called Opera 101 and featuring conductor Sara Jobin, is available at www.newmediaconversations.com/bravo or from iTunes by searching for "Bravo Club."

S.F. Choral Artists' Season

San Francisco Choral Artists announced its 22nd season on Monday, along with news of expanding outreach, the third season of the New Voices competition, and the appointment of Jerry Mueller as composer-in-residence.

This season, Choral Artists' 12th year under the artistic direction of Magen Solomon, will feature a program titled "From Darkness to Light," with music from Christian, Jewish, and pagan traditions. The performances will be on Dec. 10 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Oakland; Dec. 16 at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Palo Alto; and Dec. 17 at St. Gregory's Episcopal Church, San Francisco. The second series of concerts, "I Hear America Singing," will include shape note hymns and worksongs, jazz, parlor music, and a musical fireworks display, all on March 17 at St. Gregory's Episcopal Church, March 18 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, and March 31 at St. Mark's Episcopal Church. "Something Borrowed, Something Blue" offers 21st century views of traditional music on June 17 at St. Gregory's Episcopal Church, June 23 at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, and June 24 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. SFCA ticket prices are in the modest $18-$25 range.

SFCA's ninth composer-in-residence is Jerry Mueller, currently teaching music theory at City College of San Francisco, where he has organized an electronic music studio, an early music group, and a composers' collective consisting of CCSF composition class graduates. Mueller's compositions include art songs, choral works, piano and organ pieces, film soundtracks, and incidental music for dramatic productions.

SFCA performance excerpts are available on the organization's Web site, including choral pieces by Barber, Bernstein, Billings, Conte, Currie, and others.

Gabel to Berkeley Symphony

Succeeding Heli Roiha as operations manager of the Berkeley Symphony will be Teresa Gabel from the Napa Valley Symphony, San Francisco Classical Voice has learned. An announcement is expected next week. With James A. Kleinmann's appointment last week as the Symphony's executive director, artistic director Kent Nagano will have a functioning management team in place again.

Gabel was operations manager in Napa Valley until Tom Illgen's controversial removal as executive director of the Symphony. Although they are yet to meet face-to-face, Gabel and Nagano should be no strangers to each other: They were in the San Francisco State music department at the same time.

Wood Sings Amelia, Blogs to the World

The very model of a modern soprano, Erin Wood has Web presence. When she replaced the indisposed Deborah Voigt as Amelia in the San Francisco Opera's Sept. 26 performance of The Masked Ball, the event was chronicled in Wood's MySpace blog the next day, with responses arriving fast and furiously. An example: "LOL, I also have to let you know that my name is Erin as well, and I've always dreamed about singing in the San Francisco Opera. So when I read your bulletin announcement, it was sort of a surreal moment for me. ... Again, congrats!"

In case you don't get a chance to hear Wood's Isolde (Tristan und Isolde), Sieglinde (Die Walküre), or Elisabeth (Tannhäuser), look for her recordings on the same MySpace site.

Dance on Film

San Francisco Performances continues to mix media, instructively and entertainingly. The organization's upcoming "Dance/Screen" series offers ballet and dance documentaries and performances, in association with the S.F. Performing Arts Library and Museum (PALM). The shows, in the Yerba Buena Center Screening Room, are free to SFP subscribers and PALM and Yerba Buena Center members; otherwise, tickets cost $7. The programs:

• Contemporary Dance From Israel, Oct. 24: With Bay Area dance historian Joanna G. Harris on hand to host audience discussion, the films cover major Israeli choreographers, members of Batsheva (the company featured by SFP this month), the Inbal Pinto Dance Company, and more.
• Butoh: Dance of Darkness, Nov. 14: In anticipation of the San Francisco appearance of Japan's Sankai Juku, this documentary portrays Butoh, the indigenous contemporary Japanese performance form that arose in the turbulent era following World War II.
• Tania Pérez-Salas Compañia de Danza, Nov. 18: Short films demonstrating the lush visuals and complex metaphors of the choreographer's Mexican heritage. The company will perform live Nov. 18-19 at the Yerba Buena Theater.
• Stephen Petronio Dance Company, Feb. 6: The company with a long association with SFP, which is also a frequent collaborator with composer Michael Nyman, is coming for live performances Feb. 9-11.
• Paul Taylor Dance Company on Film, March 26: The showing coincides with the company's San Francisco residence, March 27-April 1.
• Innovative International Dance Films, May 22: A showcase of the best in dance film and video from around the world.

The Met, Siriusly

Once-haughty, aristocratic Metropolitan Opera is now catering to the masses feverisly, its corporate attitude changing swiftly and radically under General Manager Peter Gelb.

Taking a page from David Gockley's playbook in both Houston and San Francisco, Gelb is reaching out to the community with free telecasts, "meeting and greeting," and instructing staff and volunteers to be customer-friendly (see the last item in this column). Now he's also adding Sirius Satellite Radio (right along with — gulp! — Howard Stern) to the world-famous Met Saturday matinee broadcasts, for electronic distribution of operas.

In addition to last week's season opener and broadcasts of new productions, there will be archival performances from the Met's 75-year history on Sirius' 24/7 channel. (Gockley, who is trying hard to get S.F. Opera back on the air, says "not yet.") Also, beginning on December 30, the Met will transmit six of its performances live in high definition into U.S., Canadian, and European movie theaters that have been equipped with high-definition projection systems and satellite dishes.

The biggest obstacle to the popularization of opera is the inevitably high ticket cost (although standing-room is available for the price of a movie), and now the Met is suddenly offering a deal that's hard to refuse. Thanks to a $2 million donation from board member Agnes Varis and her husband, Karl Leichtman, 200 of the Met's 1,583 orchestra seats will be available for $20, instead of the regular $100-and-up price. The discounted tickets will be available at the box office starting two hours before curtain on the day of the performance, Mondays through Thursdays. Expect long lines.

A Gershwin Premiere

Tiny, brave, innovative 42nd Street Moon is introducing a less-than-little-known work by the Gershwin brothers, the 1930s musical comedy Pardon My English. The story is about a young British gentleman who, suffering from amnesia, is unaware that he has been leading a double life as a Dresden cabaret owner. Although you might never have heard of this rediscovered Gershwin work, chances are some of the music will sound familiar, including "The Lorelei," "Isn't It a Pity?" and "My Cousin in Milwaukee." No? All the more reason to become acquainted. Performances, in S.F.'s Eureka Theater, run from Oct. 19 through Nov. 5.

MTT and Mahler in Salonen's Career

When Esa-Pekka Salonen opened the Los Angeles Philharmonic's season last weekend, conducting Mahler's Third Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas' name got into the Los Angeles Times review. The Mahler work, said the writer, had a special role in Salonen's career, beginning as "Salonen first came to international acclaim in 1983, when he stepped in as a last-minute substitute for Michael Tilson Thomas after learning the score for it in a matter of days." The Third was also the first work Salonen conducted as music director of the Philharmonic in 1992, and the last he led at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in 2003 before the orchestra moved to the Walt Disney Concert Hall the following season.

Backstage at the War Memorial

San Francisco Opera audiences may be unaware of the many changes being made by David Gockley's administration, but the staff and volunteers know them all too well. As is usual in the case of any change, some are upset, some are wary, but most of those who talked to me appeared "up," and supportive of the general director. Certainly orchestra and chorus members, whose contracts have been negotiated swiftly and with surprisingly little conflict, appear in the pink, even if they have to work extra hard.

This weekend, for example, orchestra musicians had to do a turnaround that would tax athletes in the finest condition. Saturday night's Rigoletto had 62 of the orchestra's 69 musicians play until close to 11 p.m., all of them — plus the "resting" seven, and four extras — back in the pit at 1 p.m. on Sunday for a five-hour dress rehearsal of Tristan und Isolde. Can you imagine what it must be like for a violin player, for example, just to do the physical work (never mind the artistry) for eight hours within less than a 24-hour period? I cannot, but my admiration to all, especially considering the sterling quality heard at both events.

How often do you notice the "front of the house" staff, the paid and volunteer ushers? If Gockley has his way (as he is likely to do), chances are the audience may become more aware of these fine, helpful people. As a kind of "customer-friendly" campaign, ushers are now expected to (wait for it!) smile more.

As he did in Houston, Gockley is spreading the gospel of "customer service" at the War Memorial, making small but important changes. For example, ushers are wearing name tags (including the year they started at the Opera House) and are asked to be "proactive" in meeting patrons, passing out programs, and saying hello, rather than just showing up for work or for the opportunity to attend the opera. Instead of leading the exit at the end of the performance, ushers are now being asked to stay for a few minutes at the close of the performance to thank the "customers" for coming to the opera.

As a veteran opera-goer of several decades, I've been watching changes in house personnel over the years, from their military precision (and slight disdain) during the Kurt Herbert Adler era, to a more relaxed attitude under the next three general managers, to a certain degree of laxity by some in recent years. And, as always when the topic of ushers comes up, I remember Mrs. Beverly. She stood at the middle door in the back of the orchestra ... for 50 years. When I speak of military precision and lack of warmth, Mrs. Beverly comes to mind — she was a powerful professional, quite without any foibles. She was the master sergeant in Adler's battle to get patrons into their seats so that performances might start on time, and she led the troops in the struggle to keep latecomers in the standing-room area.

When I found out that her 50th anniversary was coming up, I interviewed her — and was amazed to find out that she didn't particularly care for opera. She told me some horror stories about "socialites assaulting my ushers when Mr. Adler told us not to allow anybody to be seated during the performance, and he did mean anybody." Opera fan or not, during 50 years of witnessing every performance in the house, did she see something that made an impression on her? Yes, said Mrs. Beverly, she remembered the time Maria Callas came to the War Memorial to give a recital. What was Callas singing that she liked? Oh, no, said Mrs. Beverly, I don't remember her singing. When she came up on stage, Callas took the end of her long scarf and threw it over her shoulder. That was so elegant and beautiful, said Mrs. Beverly, orchestra-level head usher, on her 50th anniversary.