LA FORZA DEL DESTINO (“The Force of Destiny”), Giuseppe Verdi
Overture................San Francisco Opera Orchestra

AIDA, Giuseppe Verdi
“Celeste Aida”................Marco Berti
Radames hopes to be made commander of the Egyptian Army so that he can return in triumph to his beloved, “celestial” Aida, an enslaved Ethiopian princess, and restore her to her homeland and her throne.

LA FAVORITA (“The Favorite”), Gaetano Donizetti
“O mio Fernando”................Daveda Karanas
The king has given Leonora in marriage to her true love, Fernando. Realizing she will bring him dishonor when he learns she has been the king’s “favorite,” or mistress, she resolves to tell Fernando the truth, though it will destroy her happiness.

LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST (“The Girl of the Golden West”), Giacomo Puccini
“Ch’ella mi creda libero”................Marco Berti
The bandit Dick Johnson is about to executed for his crimes. He passionately pleads that Minnie, with whom he is deeply in love, not be told of his death but be allowed to believe he was freed and has gone far away, never to return.

UN BALLO IN MASCHERA (“A Masked Ball”), Giuseppe Verdi
“Morrò, ma prima in grazia”................Heidi Melton
Amelia’s husband Renato has threatened to kill her to atone for her elicit love of the king. In her emotional plea, she begs her husband to let her see her young son one last time before she dies.

LA WALLY, Alfredo Catalani
“Ebben? Ne andrò lontana”................Tamara Wapinsky
Wally (pronounced “Vah-LEE”), a young woman of the Tyrolean Alps, is defiant when ordered by her father to marry a man she doesn’t love. Alone in the wintry twilight, she voices her determination to leave on a solitary journey for a distant land.

MADAMA BUTTERFLY, Giacomo Puccini
“Bimba dagli occhi pieni di malia”................Leah Crocetto and Marco Berti
The American naval officer Lt. Pinkerton has married a young Japanese geisha, and she has been ostracized by her family. In their duet, she innocently pleads with him to love her. He reassures her and calms her fears as they gaze at the stars and rapturously declare their love.

– INTERMISSION –

TOSCA, Giacomo Puccini
“Mario! Mario! Mario! . . . Ah, quegli occhi”................Tamara Wapinsky and Marco Berti
Mario is painting a picture of Saint Mary Magdalene. His passionate lover Tosca recognizes the likeness and jealously imagines he is having an affair with the beautiful, blue-eyed model. He lovingly declares that no woman’s eyes could compare to hers and she is assuaged, but she insists he paint the saint’s eyes dark, like her own.

ERNANI, Giuseppe Verdi
“Ernani, involami . . . Tutto sprezzo che d’Ernani”................Leah Crocetto
Elvira, who is in love with Ernani but being forced to marry Silva, longs for Ernani to come and steal her away. Offered gifts from Silva, she declares that nothing can please her that does not remind her of Ernani.

CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA (“Rustic Chivalry”), Pietro Mascagni
“Voi lo sapete”................Heidi Melton
After seducing Santuzza, Turiddu has returned to romancing his former love Lola, now a married woman. In her anguished aria, Santuzza tells Turiddu’s mother all that has happened and confesses that she still loves him.

TOSCA, Giacomo Puccini
“Vissi d’arte”................Tamara Wapinsky
Tosca must either yield to the lecherous advances of the ruthless Baron Scarpia, head of the secret police, or see her lover Mario executed. Faced with the dreadful choice, she utters a reproachful prayer: “I lived for art and love, with sincere faith. Why, O Lord, am I rewarded this way?”

DON CARLO, Giuseppe Verdi
“O don fatale”................Daveda Karanas
Princess Eboli is filled with angry remorse that the “fatal gift” of her own beauty has made her vain and deceitful, causing grief to those around her. Ordered to leave the court, she forcefully resolves to use her one remaining day to right her wrongs and rescue Don Carlo from prison.

TURANDOT, Giacomo Puccini
“Nessun dorma”................Marco Berti
The cruel princess Turandot has decreed that “none shall sleep” tonight, for by dawn she must know the name of the unknown foreigner (Calaf) who has solved her riddles. If she learns it, he must die; if not, she must marry him. Calaf exults that only he will reveal his secret, and at dawn he will be triumphant.