It is not surprising that many people assume Herman Melville wrote his classic novel Moby-Dick on Nantucket, a small island off the coast of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. It is, after all, the setting for much of the book, home port to the Pequod and home to many of the story’s most central characters. But in reality, Melville never set foot on the island before Moby-Dick was published in 1851. He wrote the book at a secluded farm in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, over 100 miles from the nearest large body of water.

An excerpt from the Berkshire Historical Society explains:

How many people does it takes to run a performance of Turandot? More than you might think!

My job at San Francisco Opera as video director is to work with the production team, the artists and the media team to direct the capture of each opera for television and theatrical distribution. I have been directing at the opera for 5 years. Rigoletto was my first plazacast to the civic center and it was very well received. David Gockley had the idea of building an HD suite on the 5^th floor of the opera house and I was fortunate to be hired as the resident video director. I have directed all of the AT&T Ballpark simulcasts and over 25 operas for OperaVision, television and theatrical distribution. Over the last five years, two other directors--Christine Strand and Bob Harnett—have also directed some of the operas.

Tenor Joseph Frank sings the role of Emperor Altoum in Turandot. Emperor Altoum is one million years old...and Joe Frank is not. It is makeup artist Timothy Santry's job to transform Joe before each performance of Turandot into a million-year-old Chinese emperor. But well before the first performance back in September, preparations were being made for this complicated transformation. Tim Santry started the look by creating a custom prosthetic face to be worn as a base for the look. We were there to capture photos of the process.

Last night my husband Jet and I went to see and hear the San Francisco Opera’s production of Giacomo Puccini’s “Turandot.” It was the late composer’s last musical work, brilliant, intense and complicated. What followed for us was both a revelation and an epiphany that made us shine a light on our own musicianship.