San Francisco Opera

Er-​mah-​gerd I freaking love the opera, and the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco is such a beautiful venue for it. I’ve seen a few operas there & I’m looking forward to my favorite, Carmen, this summer.
Try to get there early if you can and get some wine, appetizers, or coffee downstairs at the café. You can also take advantage of the buffet if price is not an issue. Just make sure you are back in your seats before the overture starts.
As far as seating goes, there are advantages to both. From the balcony you get a pretty good overhead view of the show and subtitles are easy to read. In Orchestra seating, of course your view of the stage is better, but reading the subtitles can be a pain because you constantly have to look up. But no seats are bad seats, so whichever section you end up, you’ll still have a great time!

Attended my first SF Opera last weekend for a performance of The Magic Flute. This was a fun experience. The entire performance was in English, with supertitles projected on a screen above the stage so the story was easy to follow. Really enjoyed the contemporary set design, which included lots of colorful art and constant scene and lighting changes. The cast was superb. We especially enjoyed listening to the sopranos hit their high notes and laughed often with several of the more comedic characters. We sat in the balcony section which had great acoustics! Bravo… we’ll be back for more opera!

I went and watch my first opera show last tuesday, and I liked it. The reason why I knock off a couple of stars is of the seats. I am 5’3 and my boyfriend is 6’3 and both of us were very uncomfortable with the seats. Also, DUUUUUSTY. Maybe I went on a night when they forgot to vacuum? But, holy… I wasn’t able to fully enjoy the opera was because I was too busy sneezing. If you’re even slightly allergic to dust, just don’t go. I was so embarrassed that I kept sneezing, I just left my seat, and watched from behind.

A friend gifted me with front row seats to the Magic Flute! It’s a comedic opera with lots of twists and turns and sets and costumes that Dr Suess might have designed. The show is very accessible for novice attendees since it’s done in English with subtitles projected high above the stage.
During a mid-​week performance, patrons were dressed casually-​nicely but not very dressed up. Parking was easy at the Performing Arts Garage.
There is a pre-​show talk to discuss the plot, things that make the opera special and interesting, and shed light on what was going on for Motzart while he was writing this work.
The setting is grand and beautiful, but doesn’t have to be pretentious. Staff were friendly and helpful.
I’d go back for a show anytime. Brava!

This place gives the classic historical grandness that San Francisco cherishes while embracing all of the technology and casualness of the Bay Area. There was everyone from jeans and t-​shirt, to full tuxedos, all enjoying a good night out at the opera.
The show we went to go see was Guiseppe Verdi’s Luisa Miller. While my score is usually based on the actual venue and it might not be fair to punish for one show, there is still the fact that they allowed such a mediocre performance. The vocal talents of the lead male, Rodolfo, was slaaaayed by Michael Fabiano, who gave a great performance. The lead female, Luisa, played by Leah Crocetto was great vocal skill with a stage presence that begged for a little more. The other actors weren’t so great themselves but I did enjoy the Nicola Luisotti pulling together an amazing orchestra. I hope to see more shows in the future!

An Incredibly Elegant And Acoustically Splendid Stage, At The San Francisco Opera House. The Only Drawback For Me Personally Is The Ventilation. Simply Put There Is None. But It’s Worth Being Uncomfortable For A Little While Anyway As The Performances Are Always Spectacular !

I was really impressed with Sf’s opera house. The opening to the stage is a bit small, but besides this I adore this place. The seats are really comfortable. I also appreciate the fast lines at the bar. I’m not such a fun of plastic wine glasses but that’s the state of this country. You do need to watch out for old people. They don’t say «exscuse me» before trying to walk through you. I am not a hologram! When we went to see Sweeney Todd this old guy spilled a drink all over me and kept walking. Apparently people in SF are not used to being confronted.

This review is not for the Opera’s performances, but for their incessant phone calls. I bought cheap tickets a few years ago, and since then, I receive probably 1 – 3 calls a week from the organization. At first I would pick up, and whoever called would beg me to buy tickets again. Obviously, opera tickets are not in my budget all the time.
Now that we’re several years in, I ignore any calls from 415 area codes I don’t know. They use several numbers, and it’s getting to be ridiculous and predatory. I would love to come back and see another opera, but I don’t feel like giving you guys any more money if this is what I have to put up with.

Love opera… being a member has its perks! Last minute grabbed dinner wasn’t too bad. but next time I would rather get a better meal outside.

50% off tickets with SIMFIG at
Magic Flute for only $ 54.50! What a steal.

Opening day performance of Summer 2015 «Marriage of Figaro» — loved the physicality of the actors: Susanna giving Figaro a judo shoulder throw? Never have seen a female lead execute a martial arts move — props!
To note, SF Opera will allow full-​time students to register for online student rush tickets: bring your student I.D., and current registration to War Memorial ticket office. They don’t always offer student rush if a show is selling out, so a good way to check the day of performance, with online student rush ticket sales — if offered — stopping three hours before performance.

This opera company is amazing. The venue is quite impressive: large yet even from my balcony seat, i could see everything. It’s also very well– kept and asthetically appealing, with lots of gold and sparkes. On the day I went, the house was packed and the audience responsive.
Right away the orchestra captures you and gets you super excited for the performance to come. They have amazing energy and the voices of the cast blend perfectly with them volume– wise and dynamic– wise.
I saw «The Marriage of Figaro», of which I’m not totally familiar with except for one duet from it. I missed the pre– opera talk, but the overhead captions allowed me to get the jist of the plot.
I wish that the titles of the songs were listed in the program, but I was impressed with Susana ’ s aria. Lisette Orepesa has literally perfect pitch! And I thought that her tone was incredibly pretty. Maybe I’m just biased towards soprano voices, but she stood out to me, although everyone in the cast was stellar. I think that all of the female principles were really strong and actually made the production shine, though!
The voices combined with the way the comic aspect of the opera was portrayed was right on point. It’s really quite a silly story, and the actors played it nicely but with warmth. They really made the whole audience super compelled. And you know, it’s really nice to see something with a happy ending sometimes…
Now I need to see more operas!

I’ve been here several times, it’s good to go at least once. Some shows are really boring (for me).

Came here to watch Cinderella but because of the timing I literally had to run to the opera house right after work. This meant that I was likely THE MOST underdressed person in attendance. However embarrassing it was though, the show was spectacular and the opera house itself is top notch. Staff was helpful with finding seats and you can grab some bubbly at intermission.
Great place to watch a show but make sure you dress appropriately! Now that I know the shame of not dressing up to par, it’ll definitely never let that happen again and would not want to imagine it any other way.

«It was so good, I almost pee’d myself!» Julia Roberts from Pretty Women.
That’s exactly how I felt when I was introduced to opera. I had no clue what the «hell» they were singing or talking about, but I was bursting into tears.
I saw two operas here that was just phenomenal. One was «Aida» with the legendary diva, Leontyne Price. The other was Madame Butterfly. I probably have seen Madame Butterfly more since I couldn’t get enough of «Un Bel Di!» Man, that song is way deep!
The San Francisco Opera is very beautiful. Love the decorative ceilings. If you have never been to an opera or at the San Francisco Opera, I highly recommend at least, trying it out once. It is magical.
Until then, Cheers! ~ :p

Well preserved Victorian décor with an up to date caption machine that is hung up above the stage for translation purposes during a foreign opera performance!
The seating is well situated and from all angles you can get a get view of the stage!
It’s a leisurely outing and great for special events!

Excellent opera and beautiful opera house. They obviously spent a ton of money on remodeling and restoring the place. However, they have not provided adequate ventilation for the top tiers of seating. In the balconies it is quite hot and stuffy. Be ready to unbutton some buttons.
The acoustics are wonderful and everything else was nice.

Opera house — ⁵⁄₅
«Show Boat» — ³⁄₅
The Opera House is beautiful, from the elegant ceiling to the soft red velvet seats.
However, the storyline to the «Show Boat» opera show was unfortunately merely average. In the beginning, the plot didn’t really have a clear direction. The end was a little disappointing, though the showboat singers were great. But for $ 100 for balcony, it just was not worth it. At least there was a projection screen to see the singers close up.
ATTIRE: Formal, majority of ladies in dresses
PRICE: Expensive, $ 100 for Balcony seats
OVERALL: I prefer musical much more over Opera, but this venue is gorgeous

I’m lucky to get to the Opera once a year. Taking an entire evening + night to attend a 3.5 hour opera is a luxury in my hectic work life. However! Everytime I go, I love it. Last night’s Traviata wasn’t my cup of operatic tea, but the sets, the beauty, the sounds, Operahouse itself and everything around it is stellar.
I particularly like that there are adequate women’s restrooms, and after years of going, I never even knew of two things: a basement area with a buffet, an ENORMOUS Beaux Arts Bar — I’ve never seen one larger. I went down to the basement as it was the closest women’s restroom to my seat. I had a horrible feeling in my stomach when I realized I left my stomach meds in the car! Oh gosh, on the way to the restroom, what amazing find? A «hospital» or first aid station complete with a City EMT. OMGosh! This saved my life, I got some OTC meds and was back in my seat in 5 minutes.
I love this place, only wish that seats were a little wider with a little more legroom since I think they built them when people were smaller in the 1800’s, but hey, it’s a treat!
~Ms. Ali

First time at the SF Opera and it was a grand ol’ time!
Saw the production of Cinderella and it was magnificently done =) The seats were quite comfortable but beware it gets quite warm inside with all those bodies packed so close together. There are a bunch of restrooms downstairs and also a café which was very busy before the show started at 8 PM. Definitely worth checking out, the interior, ceiling and stage curtains were all breathtaking!