San Francisco Opera Archives

Streaming the First Century features 25 audio artifacts from previous seasons to open a series of magical portals into the Company’s first 100 years, allowing us to experience, as if through time travel, the moments that touched the hearts of generations of audiences and continue to move us.

Four interactive sessions feature two complete San Francisco Opera performances (with synopses, rare photos, and original program articles), four excerpted operas (with text and translations), an array of archival artist interviews, and new conversations among San Francisco Opera artisans and administrators spanning the decades. Scholars, performers, and Company members introduce and provide insight into each audio document, allowing all to listen through their experienced ears.

Each session offers myriad pathways to stream your way through San Francisco Opera’s distinguished past. Expect to be surprised, thrilled, moved, and to marvel at the infinite agility and expressiveness of the human voice. Make your way down the rabbit hole and, with these legendary performances still ringing in your ears, we hope your journey with San Francisco Opera continues well into the next century.

In 2009, the SF Opera Archives began interviewing leading participants in, or well-placed witnesses to, major events in the development of the San Francisco Opera Association. Since then, 47 oral histories or “Memories” have been gathered. A selection of which have been collected and made available through the Streaming the First Century online portal.