Opera Alfresco in Downtown San Diego

Shoppers and downtown workers on their lunch break Thursday (Jan. 29) were startled to hear strains of “Bess, you is my woman now” from Gershwin’s opera “Porgy and Bess” floating across the wide plaza in front of San Diego Civic Theatre . . .

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Baritone Morgan Smith on Opera: Don’t Leave the Messages to Western Union

The last time San Diegans encountered baritone Morgan Smith, he was riveting their attention in the role of Starbuck in San Diego Opera’s production of Jake Heggie’s “Moby-Dick,” one of the few contemporary operas that have found favor with opera’s notoriously conservative audience. Back in town for the first opera of San Diego’s 2015 season, Smith shares his insights and inspirations . . .

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Last Knight at the Opera

Following the lead of bass superstars from the great Russian Fyodor Chaliapin to the American Samuel Ramey, Italian basso Ferruccio Furlanetto counts the title role of Jules Massenet’s Don Quixote as one of his signature roles, which he reprised for San Diego Opera Saturday (March 5) to thunderous, well-deserved acclaim . . .

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San Diego Opera’s Requiem?

From its first performance in Milan’s church of San Marco in 1874, Guiseppe Verdi’s Requiem Mass catapulted its listeners from the solemn cadence of the Roman Catholic liturgy to the raw emotional drama of the opera stage. So it was entirely appropriate for San Diego Opera to present a concert performance of this Requiem on the company’s usual opera stage on March 20 . . .

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