Opera on the Couch

The San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis and San Francisco Opera invite you to selected performances of Rigoletto and Moby Dick.

Please join SFCP program co-chairs Dr. Steven Goldberg and Dr. Milton Schaefer and colleagues for a psychological perspective of the opera at our post-performance discussion, Opera on the Couch, immediately after the following performances: Rigoletto on Sunday, September 30, 2012 at 2 pm and Moby Dick on Sunday, October 21, 2012 at 2 pm. Opera on the Couch will meet at Book Inc. in the Opera Plaza around 5:00 pm.

There will be time for questions, and audience members may share their thoughts on our thought-provoking operas. This event is open to the public and complimentary refreshments will be included.

Rigoletto

Music by Giuseppe Verdi
Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave

War Memorial Opera House
401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco

One of opera's most vivid and compelling characters, a vengeful court jester, desperately tries to protect his daughter from disaster in this heart-wrenching tragedy. The first of two world-class casts led by Music Director Nicola Luisotti stars Željko Lučić, "whose vocal artistry is exceptional" (The New York Times); Aleksandra Kurzak, "a superstar in the making" (The Guardian, London); and, as the lecherous Duke, Francesco Demuro, "whose open, bright, superbly focused tone was reminiscent of Pavarotti" (Opera News). The equally impressive next cast stars Marco Vratogna, who, as the sinister Iago in Otello (2009), thrilled San Francisco Opera audiences with his "vocal power and theatrical electricity" (San Francisco Chronicle); Albina Shagimuratova, "a phenomenon that must be heard to be believed" (Opera News); and Merola Opera Program graduate Arturo Chacón-Cruz with his "clarion tone and piercingly clean top notes" (Washington Times).

Discussant: Reyna Cowan, L.C.S.W. and Lee Rather, Ph.D.
Moderator: Steven Goldberg, M.D.

Moby Dick

Music by Jake Heggie
Libretto by Gene Scheer
COMPANY PREMIERE

War Memorial Opera House
401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco

"Achingly beautiful, magnificently sung and gorgeously staged...the audience responded with an eight-minute standing ovation" (Associated Press). Composer Jake Heggie, in his "finest creation since Dead Man Walking," and librettist Gene Scheer adapt Herman Melville's meditation on man and the sea into "a vibrant, compelling piece of musical theater" (San Francisco Chronicle). Starring as the fierce, obsessive whaling-boat captain whose descent into madness puts his crew in mortal danger is Jay Hunter Morris, whose “fiery brilliance in his resplendent upper range captured both Ahab’s inner strength and demonic possession” (Kenneth Herman, sandiego.com). Mr. Morris recently also made headlines by taking over the title role of Wagner's Siegfried both at San Francisco Opera and the Metropolitan Opera. Principal Guest Conductor Patrick Summers, praised by The New York Times for his "lyrical flow and suitably stormy climaxes," conducts a cast of brilliant singing actors.

Discussant: Jeanne Harasemovitch, L.C.S.W. and Milton Schaefer, Ph.D.
Moderator: Steven Goldberg, M.D.