...in which I learn to love opera and write about what it felt like, 1988-1996 I didn't record details after the Anchorage Opera performance of Lucia di Lammermoor that started my infatuation with opera, but since then I've made diary entries after most of the operas I've seen -- memories of the sounds and singers and experiences that keep me coming back to the opera. Aida by Giuseppe Verdi, Sacramento Opera Association, date unknown, 1997. Community Center Theater, Sacramento Andrea Chenier by Umberto Giordano, Metropolitan Opera, 9 April 1997, Metropolitan Opera House Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Saville) by Gioachino Rossini, San Francisco Opera, 13 June 1992 War Memorial Opera House Billy Budd by Benjamin Britten, Metropolitan Opera, 4 April 1992 Metropolitan Opera House La Boheme by Giacomo Puccini, Metropolitian Opera, NYC 27 February 1989 La Boheme by Giacomo Puccini, (in English) Touring company from Milan, 23 February 1993, The Corn Exchange, Cambridge La Boheme by Giacomo Puccini, Anchorage Opera,1 and 5 Feb 1994, Discovery Theater (Anchorage, Alaska) Carmen by Georges Bizet, Anchorage Opera, 10 Nov 1988, Discovery Theater (Anchorage, Alaska) Les Contes d'Hoffman (Tales of Hoffman) by Jacques Offenbach, San Francisco Opera, 26 November 1997, Bill Graham Civic Center Cosi Fan Tutti by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, English Touring Opera, 17 April 1993, The Corn Exchange, Cambridge Dialogues of the Carmelites by Francis Poulenc, 28 Feb 1994, Metropolitan Opera Elektra by Richard Strauss, Metropolitan Opera, 3 Apr 1992 L'Elisir d'Amore (Elixir of Love) by Gaetano Donizetti, Metropolitan Opera, Feb 1988 Die Entfuhrung aus de Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Royal Opera, Covent Garden 17 Sept 1988 (opening night) Eugene Onegin by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovosky, San Francisco Opera, 7 December 1997, War Memorial Opera House Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi, English Touring Opera, 16 Apr 1993 The Corn Exchange, Cambridge La Fanciulla del West (Girl of the Golden West) by Giacomo Puccini, Metropolitan Opera, 1 Apr 1992 Metropolitan Opera House Fiery Angel by Sergei Prokofiev, San Francisco Opera, 27 Oct 1994 War Memorial Opera House La Fille du Régiment (Daughter of the Regiment) by Gaetano Donizetti, San Francisco Opera, 18 September 1993 Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss, At the Met, NYC, 13 Jan 1990 Die Fledermaus, by Johann Strauss Anchorage Opera, 30 Jan 1990 (Discovery Theater) Der Fliegende Hollander, by Richard Wagner, San Francisco Opera, 12 Oct 1997, War Memorial Opera House La Gioconda by Amilcare Ponchielli, at the Met, NYC, 15 Jan 1990 Guillaume Tell by Gioachino Rossini, (in French) San Francisco Opera, 14 June 1992, War Memorial Opera House Guillaume Tell by Gioachino Rossini, San Francisco Opera, 2 Nov 1997, War Memorial Opera House Hamlet by Thomas Ambroise, San Francisco Opera, 22 Sept 1996, Orpheus Theater (SF) Idomeneo by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Metropolitan Opera, NY, 28 Feb 1989 Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin, San Francisco Opera, 23 Sept 1996, Bill Graham Civic Center L'Italiana in Algeri (Italian Girl in Algers) by Gioachino Rossini, San Francisco Opera, 12 Jun 1992, War Memorial Opera House Khovanschina by Modest Mussorgsky, Metropolitan Opera, New York, Feb 1988 (opening night) Lohengrin by Richard Wagner, Seattle Opera, 7 August 1994, Seattle Opera House Lohengrin by Richard Wagner, San Francisco Opera, 1 Oct 1996 Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti, Seattle Opera, 28 Mar 1992, Seattle Opera House (gold cast) Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini, Vancouver Opera, 27 Apr 1991, Queen Elizabeth Theater (Vancouver, B.C.) Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini, Anchorage Opera, Discovery Theater (Anchorage, Alaska) The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflote) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Anchorage Opera, 24 Mar 1988, Fourth Avenue Theater The Makropulos Case by Leos Janácek, San Francisco Opera, 30 Oct 1993 , War Memorial Opera House Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg by Richard Wagner, San Francisco Opera, 31 Oct 1993, War Memorial Opera House Merry Wives of Windsor by Otto Nicolai Anchorage Opera, (Anchorage, Alaska) The Mikado by Gilbert & Sullivan, Anchorage Opera, 16 Mar 1989, Discovery Theater (Anchorage, Alaska) Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Metropolitan Opera, 2 April 1992, Metropolitan Opera House Le Nozze di Figaro(The Marriage of Figaro) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, San Francisco Opera, 19 October 1997, War Memorial Opera House Otello by Gioachino Rossini, San Francisco Opera, 28 Oct 1994, War Memorial Opera House Pagliacci by Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Sacramento Opera, Community Theater, Sacramento Queen of Spades by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovosky, English National Opera, 22 April 1993, London Coliseum Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi, Anchorage Opera, dress rehearsal, 21 Sept 1989, Discovery Theater (Anchorage, Alaska) Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi, San Francisco Opera, 5 Oct 1997, War Memorial Opera House Der Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner, Seattle Opera, 3,4,6,8 Aug 1991, Seattle Opera House Der Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner, Seattle Opera, 14-19 Aug 1995; Seattle Opera House Romeo et Juliette by Charles Gounod, Anchorage Opera, 25 Sept 1990, Discovery Theater (Anchorage, Alaska) Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss, 7 Mar1995, Metropolitan Opera, NYC Rusulka by Anton Dvorak, San Francisco Opera, 6 Dec 1995, War Memorial Opera House Salome by Richard Strauss, Metropolitian Opera, NYC, 1 Mar 89 Salome by Richard Strauss, San Francisco Opera, 1 Feb 1997, War Memorial Opera House Simon Boccanegra by Guiseppe Verdi, 6 Mar 1995, Metropolitan Opera Tannhaüser Richard Wagner, San Francisco Opera, 29 Oct 1994, War Memorial Opera House La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi, San Francisco Opera, 14 Sept 1991 War Memorial Opera House La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi, Sacramento Opera, 17 November 1995, Sacramento Community Center Theater (Sacramento, CA) Il Trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi, Seattle Opera, 23 Sept 1989 (gold cast); Seattle Opera House Tosca by Giacomo Puccini, English National Opera, Sept 1988, London Coliseum Tosca Giacomo Puccini, (in English) Cambridge International Opera, 2 Oct 1992 The Corn Exchange, Cambridge Tosca Giacomo Puccini, San Francisco Opera, 21 Sept, 1997, War Memorial Opera House Tristan und Isolde Richard Wagner, Welsh National Opera, 6 Mar 1993, New Theater (Cardiff, Wales) Turnadot Giacomo Puccini, Royal Opera, 20 Feb 1993 Royal Opera House, Covent Garden Turandot by Giacomo Puccini, San Francisco Opera, 29 Oct 1993, War Memorial Opera House The Voyage by Philip Glass, Metropolitan Opera, 9 April 1997, Metropolitan Opera House Die Walküre by Richard Wagner, San Francisco Opera, 29 Nov 1995 War Memorial Opera House Die Walküre by Richard Wagner, Metroplitan Opera, 4 April 1997, Metropolitan Opera House