Opera on the Radio

The San Francisco Opera and Bay Area classical radio station KDFC continue their monthly broadcasts of performances captured during SF Opera's Fall 2016 Season, including the world premiere of Bright Sheng and David Henry Hwang's "Dream of the Red Chamber." All performances were recorded live at the War Memorial Opera House and feature the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus (Ian Robertson, Chorus Director). Each SF Opera performance is broadcast on Classical KDFC at 8 p.m. on the first Sunday of every month and hosted by radio announcer Dianne Nicolini. The broadcasts are also available for streaming on demand at kdfc.com for four weeks after the initial airdate.

Sun., March 5, at 8 p.m.: Bright Sheng and David Henry Hwang's "Dream of the Red Chamber." Pureum Jo (Dai Yu), Yijie Shi (Bao Yu), Hyona Kim (Lady Wang), Irene Roberts (Bao Chai), Karen Chia-ling Ho (Princess Jia), Qiulin Zhang (Granny Jia), Yanyu Guo (Aunt Xue), Randall Nakano (Monk/Dreamer); George Manahan (conductor). Recorded Sept. 2016.

Sun., April 2 at 8 p.m.: Umberto Giordano's "Andrea Chenier." Yonghoon Lee (Andrea Chenier), Anna Pirozzi (Maddalena di Coigny), George Gagnidze (Carlo Gerard), Robert Pomakov (Mathieu), David Pershall (Roucher), J'Nai Bridges (Bersi), Jill Grove (Madelon), Catherine Cook (Contessa di Coigny), Edward Nelson (Pietro Fleville), Alex Boyer (The Abbe), Matthew Stump (Fouquier-Tinville), Brad Walker (Dumas), Anthony Reed (Schmidt); Nicola Luisotti (conductor). Recorded Sept. 2016.

Sun., May 7 at 8 p.m.: Gaetano Donizetti's "Don Pasquale." Maurizio Muraro (Don Pasquale), Heidi Stober (Norina), Lucas Meachem (Dr. Malatesta), Lawrence Brownlee (Ernesto), Bojan Knezevic (A Notary); Giuseppe Finzi (Conductor). Recorded Oct. 2016.

Sun., June 4 at 8 p.m.: Leos Janacek's "Vec Makropulos" ("The Makropulos Case"). Nadja Michael (Emilia Marty), Charles Workman (Albert Gregor), Stephen Powell (Baron Jaroslav Prus), Dale Travis (Dr. Kolenaty), Julie Adams (Kristina), Joel Sorensen (V'tek), Matthew O'Neill (Count Hauk-Sendorf), Brenton Ryan (Janek), Zanda Svede (A Cleaning Woman/A Chambermaid), Brad Walker (A Stagehand); Mikhail Tatarnikov (conductor). Recorded Oct. 2016.

Sun., July 2 at 8 p.m.: Giuseppe Verdi's "Aida." Leah Crocetto (Aida), Ekaterina Semenchuk (Amneris), Brian Jagde (Radames), George Gagnidze (Amonasro), Raymond Aceto (Ramfis), Anthony Reed (The King of Egypt), Pene Pati (A Messenger), Toni Marie Palmertree (A Priestess); Nicola Luisotti (conductor). Recorded Nov. 2016.

Sun., Aug. 6 at 8 p.m.: Giacomo Puccini's "Madama Butterfly." Lianna Haroutounian (Cio-Cio-San), Vincenzo Costanzo (Lt. B.F. Pinkerton), Zanda Svede (Suzuki), Anthony Clark Evans (Sharpless), Julius Ahn (Goro), Matthew Stump (The Imperial Commissioner), Raymond Aceto (The Bonze), Edward Nelson (Prince Yamadori), Julie Adams (Kate Pinkerton); Yves Abel (conductor). Recorded Nov. 2016.

Broken English

RIP experimental American author Harry Mathews, 86, who wasn't queer but was certainly out there. His NY Times obit noted that his novel "The Sinking of the Odradek Station" "was written in unintelligible pidgin English," while his novel "The Conversions," "otherwise in English, concluded with nine pages in German."

"He also wrote 'Singular Pleasures,' a 1988 book made up of 61 vignettes about masturbation. He chose that topic, he said, 'because it's the universal form of sexual activity, and it's hardly been written about.' " What is the sound of one hand clapping?