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Diese Vorstellung war Sir Mark Elders Debüt mit der Kompanie und von der Ouvertüre an bot er seine individuelle Lesart der Partitur, mit einer enormen dynamischen Bandbreite und je nach den emotionalen Werten jeder Szene stark variierenden Tempi.

Yuri Possokhov’s reimagining of the classic based on Alexander Pushkin’s iconic 19th century novel, succeeds brilliantly in a masterful season opener and world premiere for the San Francisco Ballet.

Seeing Frankenstein in its 2025 incarnation feels worthy and redemptive. It’s as vivid and cinematic as ballet gets.

Sir Kenneth MacMillan's Manon is an unforgettable, stunning production – a classic well worth seeing.

An excellent cast and smart, engaged direction make for an auspicious season launch in San Francisco Opera’s production of one of Verdi’s most sophisticated creations.  

John Fulljames directs a new production of Poul Ruders' uncompromising operatic take on Margaret Atwood’s celebrated novel. 

Annabel Lopez Ochoa's Broken Wings is a ballet you’ll want to see again and again, one that illuminates, empowers and soars.

Mere Mortals, an immersive sensory-experience ballet that merges dance, lights, visuals and sound, is clever.

There’s much to love in Helgi Tomasson’s production of Romeo & Juliet, starting with Prokofiev’s sumptuous score.

The ballet’s second act, following Giselle’s death, is set in a spooky, mystical realm, precisely the kind of thing that so intrigued its 19th century audiences and made this ballet an instant classic.

This irresistible Nutcracker is a reliable delight in an increasingly unreliable world.

Great vocal performances from Amina Edris and Gerald Finley grace John Adams' new opera, which opens San Francisco Opera’s centennial season.

Swan Lake is the last program of the San Francisco Ballet’s season and of the 37-year tenure of retiring artistic director Helgi Tomasson.

Helgi Tomasson and Yuri Possokhov's restaging of the 1869 Petipa classic brings a sunny smile to faces in San Francisco. 

With Tchaikovsky’s dear, familiar overture, the reassuring sameness of Wendall K Harrington’s slide show projecting 1915 San Francisco scenes onto the curtains, we were all, most decisively, back. 

The ballet culminates with fouettés, bravura leaps from the oversized ensemble and a rousing finish with all 44 dancers onstage. It was an exuberant end to an intelligent, satisfying production, both of thought and movement.

“Your love affair with ballet, your time with ballet, is short,” explains Welsh about his ballet Bespoke, “Eventually you lay down, and dance keeps moving. It’s a bittersweet thing.”

Wheeldon’s Cinderella is the kind of production that so enthralls, you immediately want to make plans to see it again.

In Helgi Tomasson's production, Michael Yeargan’s scenic design and the late Martin Pakledinaz’ sumptuous costumes create a scene so charming, you just want to climb inside and stay in that world all evening and beyond.

Both vocally and instrumentally the performance  was a high-class one

The evening’s most revelatory performance came from the young countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen as Medoro. 

Ulrich Birkkjaer presented an affecting portrait of a tormented Shostakovich, as he paced, leapt, slumped, was propped back to standing, and relentlessly propelled forward.

There is a kind of purity to Your Flesh Shall Be a Great Poem, and a very human sense of longing and loss.

In this era that venerates the contemporary, it’s rewarding to see the classics faring so well, and San Francisco Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty is a winner for all.

San Francisco Ballet's Don Quixote is ultimately a winning production with surprising warmth and heart.

Among the standouts at the San Francisco Ballet gala evening performance were Ana Sophia Scheller in Rubies, Sasha De Sola in Études, Benjamin Freemantle in Agon, and Misa Kuranaga and Angelo Greco in Handel-A Celebration.

San Francisco Ballet returns to the War Memorial Opera House with the beloved holiday classic that had its North American debut here.

A wonderfully realized production at San Francisco Opera of Jake Heggie's operatic version of a holiday classic. 

Tenor-turned-director José Cura transplants the action from southern Italy to Buenos Aires. 

The world is gloriously redeemed in the gripping final installment of San Francisco Opera's Ring cycle.

Both the technical effects and the singing impress in San Francisco Opera's dark Siegfried.

San Francisco Opera's Die Walküre overcame a disappointing first act, winning the audience over with excellent singing and playing and impressive stage effects.

At San Francisco Opera, conductor Donald Runnicles and a top-notch cast deliver a delicious Rheingold in Francesca Zambello's colorful production.

Most of the pieces were choreographed at a similarly demanding level, with speed, precision and immaculate timing as necessities.

Benjamin Freemantle danced the opening solo, gorgeously, in the role of the grandfather as a dreamy young Adonis. 

Unbound by restrictions, they’ve been given free rein to create, implement and demonstrate to the world what contemporary ballet looks like. Hint: it looks great.

Sneakers gave even the most challenging of balletic steps a freer, looser quality, as if the dancers were about to step into flight.

Neumeier has a real talent for stepping easily between the interior world of individual fantasy and the exterior world of reality.

San Francisco Ballet delivers the distinct and the relevant in a mixed-bill program of choreographic works that includes Ghosts in the Machine.

From the ethereal to the galavanting, the program offered a spectrun of emotions delivered with precise technique and abandoned energy. 

Watching this ballet, one is offered a glimpse of a past world and aesthetic, beautifully preserved.

San Francisco Ballet gives a rousing account of Justin Peck's ground-breaking Rodeo, newcomers Ana Sophia Scheller and Ulrik Birkkjær make waves, and Carlo DiLanno wins my vote for MVP at this season's gala. 

Wednesday night at the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco Ballet’s opening night, offered a deeply comforting, festive return to a sparkling production that never fails to delight.

Despite a strong vocal and orchestral performance, David Hockney's sets are still the main draw for San Francisco Opera's Turandot. 

Adams and Peter Sellars demand that the audience take a cold, hard look at the Gold Rush and the founding history of California.

A thought-provoking production and killer cast make San Francisco Opera's Elektra top-notch music drama.

San Francisco Opera's Turandot is a feast for the eyes and ears, but the drama falls flat.

Dangling and turning like shards of a giant overhead chandelier in Don Giovanni’s banquet hall, this is an evocative multimedia production that tantalizes the senses while shining new light on Mozart's genius. 

If you love Verdi's inventive music, enjoy fabulous male voices in particular, and appreciate great opera conducting with exquisitely sensitive orchestral playing – then this Rigoletto is a must.