Neapolitan conductor Gaetano Merola, aided by San Francisco’s Italian community, founded the San Francisco Opera a century ago. For its 100th season, the Company has planned a rich variety of the innovative and the traditional, with two newly-commissioned works, new productions of old favorites, and established European operas that had their American premieres in San Francisco in years past.

As is traditional, Kip Cranna, honorary Cenacolista and San Francisco Opera’s Dramaturg Emeritus will help prepare us for all this in his preview of the coming season using audio and video examples with subtitles.