Four chapters are devoted to the general directors that have led the company. Rather, the chapters are devoted to specific topics. The text of the book does not form a chronological history of the company. Also, the organization of the book lends itself to browsing, not to finding specific facts. Likewise, there is no single list of all of the operas performed by the SF Opera. With an index you could simply look up the information by the name of the singer or opera.
If you want to find out how many times Lily Pons sang the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor, or if she ever sang that role in San Francisco, you have to read through the listings for every year. While it is interesting to browse through the listings, its usefulness as a research tool is seriously undermined by the lack of an index. It does contain a listing of all performance from 1923 through the end of the 1996-97 season with dates and casts. For all of this book's strengths, it has some decided faults. Operas by 20th century composers such as Britten, Hanze, Orff, Poulenc, Ravel, Shostakovich, Tippett and Walton as well as operas by earlier composers such as Cherubini and Rossini were given their United States premieres on the stage of the War Memorial Opera House. The San Francisco Opera is indisputably one of the important opera companies of North America. It contains page after page of beautiful photographs with descriptions of performances by the likes of Lawrence Tibbett, Lauritz Melchior, Kirsten Flagstad, Beniamino Gigli, Leonard Warren, Leonie Rysanek, John Vickers, Ezio Pinza, Birgit Nilsson, and many many others. This oversized coffee table book was prepared and published as part of the 75th anniversary celebration of the San Francisco Opera in the fall of 1997. Gate to find out what's happening in Bay Area news, entertainment, sports, and more. Including a chronological list of every performance since 1922, this lavish celebration is a must-have for all opera fans and theater lovers. Many of the world's greatest voices, including Luciano Pavarotti, Leontyne Price, Birgit Nilsson, Renata Tibaldi, Placido Domingo, and Jose Carreras, are pictured in breathtaking photographs, along with spectacular reproductions of stage sets and original costume sketches from the Opera's archives. A spectacular chronicle of glamour, glory, and years of hard work, this book rediscovers the illustrious directors, the young singers, the brilliant costume and set designers, and, of course, the stars who have made the San Francisco Opera an institution. In the fall of 1997, the prestigious company returns to its original, newly renovated performance space, the War Memorial Opera House, and at the same time celebrates its seventy-fifth season. This richly illustrated retrospective profiles the lively history of the San Francisco Opera.
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