2020–21 Season

Der Zwerg

MUSIC BY ALEXANDER ZEMLINSKY

A BELIEF IN THE PUREST LOVE. A HEARTBREAKING REALITY.

Shimmering with evocative and sensuous music, Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg adapts Oscar Wilde’s poignant tale of an outsider whose earnest affection for a princess leads to a fatal rebuke. Suppressed by German authorities before World War II, this rarely performed masterpiece receives its Company premiere in a sumptuous production inspired by the paintings of Velázquez.

Production new to San Francisco Opera

Meet the Cast

Libretto by Georg Klaren

Sung in German with English supertitles

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RUNNING TIME

Approximately 1 hours and 30 minutes, with no intermission

WHO SHOULD SEE IT

Fans of author Oscar Wilde; the tragic love of Beauty and the Beast and The Hunchback of Notre Dame; and the magic of Dvořák’s Rusalka and Pan’s Labyrinth.

FOUND IN SERIES

A, D, G, J, M, B, E, H, K, N

INVITE A FRIEND

Tuesday	04/27/21	7:30PM
Friday	04/30/21	7:30PM
Wednesday	05/05/21	7:30PM
Sunday	05/09/21	2:00PM
Saturday	05/15/21	7:30PM

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THE BUZZ

Soprano Heidi Stober’s “lustrous voice sounds custom-made for almost everything she sings—and she sings almost everything.”
—Opera News

Tenor “Clay Hilley brought vocal heft, clarion sound and stamina to the role.”
—The New York Times

“In the pit, [conductor Henrik] Nánási spurred the Opera Orchestra to acts of fleetness and rhythmic vivacity.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

SYNOPSIS

He's presented to the Infanta of Spain as a gift, a novelty. But when he falls in love, his humanity comes into sharp relief — as does her lack thereof.

READ COMPLETE SYNOPSIS

Cast and Creative

CAST

The Dwarf	Clay Hilley ^*
Donna Clara, Infanta of Spain	Heidi Stober
Ghita	Sarah Cambidge

PERFORMANCES

April 27 and 30; May 5, 9, and 15, 2021

CREATIVE

Conductor	Henrik Nánási
Director	Darko Tresnjak ^*
Set Designer	Ralph Funicello
Costume Designer	Linda Cho
Lighting Designer	David Weiner
Chorus Director	Ian Robertson

* San Francisco Opera debut

A production of LA Opera.

MADE POSSIBLE BY

Bernard and Barbro Osher; Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem; and Joan and David Traitel.

Photos by Robert Millard.