loading image
“I have always been happy in San Francisco. The company is an excellent one, and the performances have been of very high order. The house itself is beautiful and an acoustical marvel, and the atmosphere has a reassuring quality all its own.” —Kirsten Flagstad, The Flagstad Manuscript, 1953 When San Francisco Opera presented German composer Wilhelm Richard Wagner’s* (1813–83) complete "Der Ring des Nibelungen" for the first time in 1935, it announced the company’s arrival as a world-renowned center for opera. The monumental four-part series known as the "Ring" cycle is an operatic feat that was rarely attempted in the United States outside of the Metropolitan Opera in New York. "Das Rheingold" opened the season on November 1. Three nights later in "Die Walküre," Norwegian soprano Kirsten Flagstad (1895–1962) introduced the company to Brünnhilde, a role she debuted at the Metropolitan earlier in the year. That week in November, Flagstad sang as Brünnhilde in "Siegfried" and "Götterdämmerung," the final two "Ring" operas, and was applauded by The Chronicle as “a kind of Nordic Winged Victory.” Learn more about San Francisco Opera’s history in our exhibition “San Francisco Opera: A Centennial Celebration” on display, post-security, in Harvey Milk Terminal 1 and online at: https://bit.ly/SFOperaCentennial
This image was posted on March 30, 2023.