A man’s obsession with his dead wife threatens his sanity in Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s intense psychological study—a harrowing mix of hallucinatory fantasy and painful reality that has been compared to Hitchcock’s Vertigo. This emotionally gripping, visually arresting trip into the dark side of a troubled psyche features a voluptuous, colorful score reminiscent of both Puccini and Richard Strauss. Critics called director Willy Decker’s production “magical and intriguing...Decker brilliantly succeeds in blending reality and the dream world.” Donald Runnicles conducts the San Francisco Opera premiere of the renowned film composer and two-time Academy Award winner’s greatest work for the stage.

• Approximate running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes including one intermission
• Sung in German with English supertitles


• San Francisco Opera Premiere
• Co-production of the Vienna State Opera and the 2004 Salzburg Festival
• This production is made possible, in part, by The Bernard Osher Endowment Fund.
• Production photo: Axel Zeininger, courtesy of Wiener Staatsoper GMBH
• Cast, program and schedule are subject to change

Performances

• Tue Sep 23 2008   8 pm
• Fri Sep 26 2008   8 pm
• Wed Oct 1 2008   7:30 pm High-definition video projection screens will be featured on the balcony level for this performance.

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• Sat Oct 4 2008   8 pm High-definition video projection screens will be featured on the balcony level for this performance.

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• Thu Oct 9 2008   7:30 pm High-definition video projection screens will be featured on the balcony level for this performance.

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• Sun Oct 12 2008   2 pm

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Cast

Production