SF Giants sponsor magic on the field – and a surprise score!
One often hears speculation on the relevance of opera in our modern day, an age of information overload and plummeting literacy. According to 26,000 fans at San Francisco’s AT&T Park on Saturday night, July 5, opera is indeed relevant.
The San Francisco Opera broadcast a live telecast from their stage to the Giant’s stadium, where people lined up for hours for a chance to hear free opera and to stream onto the playing field and watch Verdi under the stars. Now in its seventh year, “Opera at the Ballpark” combined the joy of profound music with a carnival atmosphere – a rather civil carnival.
That festive feeling began when all stood for the Star Spangled Banner sung by a statuesque “Vanessa” Bousay in a sexy red dress and ringing bass-baritone voice. Apparently ready to party, the fans screamed their approval of “her” long-held high notes. We then settled in with blankets and garlic fries for a tale of great love and great tragedy.
Giuseppe Verdi opens his La Traviata with ethereal violin harmonies, condensing into Italian lyricism, as expressive as a gondolier’s song. Conductor Giuseppe Finzi led with strength and sensitivity, and the excellent SF Opera Orchestra stayed on point for the entire two hours. The huge speakers at the ballpark had a surprisingly focused sound, and if one sat near home plate, there was little overlap or echo, rendering a faithful sound, particularly in the soprano register.
And what a soprano we had! Ailyn Pérez was a graceful Violeta, seen close-up on the ballpark’s big screen, and her voice was lush, full and fluid even in the demanding high sections. Her star-crossed lover – and real-life husband! – was Stephen Costello, a tenor whose pure sound was backdrop and touchstone to Pérez’ heart-felt singing.
Completing the dramatic triangle was Hawaiian baritone Quinn Kelsey, a big guy with a big sound and lots of emotional heft. As the forbidding father he was pretty scary, but two hours later, as Violeta sank into tubercular exhaustion, his tears were duplicated by families and young people all around us.
Yes, families! Who can afford to bring the whole family to the opera? Children dotted the blankets, along with an entire twenty-something generation, spellbound by big passions on a forbidden field.
After the first short act, with its famous drinking song, the ballpark lights were turned off, and it was magical to see the stadium in the dark. Stars and a quarter moon were suddenly visible, and seagulls swooped and then circled, expecting to see an abandoned park littered with goodies.
A cold wind off the Bay came up, and many huddled or burrowed into blankets, but most fans toughed it out.
Then, for a “seventh-inning stretch,” soprano Tammy Nelson from Beach Blanket Babylon had us singing, “Take me out to the Opera,” with the lyrics posted on the big screen. This curious presentation, equal parts high culture and populism, took us back to the roots of Italian opera, with AT&T Park as a worthy recreation of the Roman Coliseum.
And more free stuff…
This was a generous gesture, and not limited to the SF Opera. Two days earlier, on July 3, the Oakland East Bay Symphony played to a capacity crowd at Richmond’s Craneway Pavilion. Warming up their fans before the fireworks, which were set off awesomely close, they played John Philip Sousa marches and a sing-along to The Sound of Music.
It was clear that community is dear to the heart of conductor Michael Morgan, who arranges this free popular concert every year. The musicians were also readily approachable, arrayed in low stands surrounded by a narrow walkway. I took a five-year-old for a close-up stroll, and first cellist Dan Reiter waved enthusiastically back. “The cellist is waving at you,” I whispered to him. He nodded and waved back, and asked me if he was going to play Ariel again. I was surprised that he remembered the music last year when he was just four. “I think they’re going to do Frozen.” His eyes got big.
Accessibility, accessibility, accessibility.
—Adam Broner
Photos, from top: Ailyn Pérez and Stephen Costello star in La Traviata, photo by Kristen Loken; two stalwarts of the SF Opera tech team and the ballpark field at dusk; both photos by Adam Broner.