San Francisco Opera (SFO) is the second largest opera company in North America after the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881-1953). The Opening Night Gala of the San Francisco Opera is widely considered to be one of the most memorable events of the year for opera patrons.
While the first performance of the San Francisco Opera was La bohème, with Queena Mario and Giovanni Martinelli, on September 26,...
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San Francisco Opera (SFO) is the second largest opera company in North America after the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881-1953). The Opening Night Gala of the San Francisco Opera is widely considered to be one of the most memorable events of the year for opera patrons.
While the first performance of the San Francisco Opera was La bohème, with Queena Mario and Giovanni Martinelli, on September 26, 1923, in the city's Civic Auditorium and conducted by Merola, his involvement in opera in the San Francisco Bay Area had been ongoing since his first visit in 1906.
Merola launched the company in 1922, convinced that the city could support a full-time opera organization and not depend upon visiting companies, which had been coming to the City since Gold Rush days. In fact, Merola's initial visits to the city were as conductor of some of these troupes, the first in 1909 with the International Opera Company of Montreal. Continued visits for the...
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