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John Adams’ version of “Antony and Cleopatra” will have its world premiere on September 10 during the opening weekend of the San Francisco Opera’s 100th season
SAN FRANCISCO — John Adams’ version of “Antony and Cleopatra” will have its world premiere Sept. 10 during the opening weekend of the San Francisco Opera’s 100th season.
Soprano Julia Bullock will sing Cleopatra, baritone Gerald Finley will sing Antony, tenor Paul Appleby will portray Caesar and musical director Eun Sun Kim will conduct, the company announced on Wednesday.
The libretto was adapted by Adams, with additional passages from Plutarch and Virgil. Elkhanah Pulitzer directs, with sets by Mimi Lien, costumes by Constance Hoffman, lighting by David Finn and projections by Bill Morrison.
Eight performances are scheduled until October 5 of the work in two acts of about three hours, including an intermission. The opera will travel to the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Sicily, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
The new Met at Lincoln Center opened in September 1966 with the world premiere of Samuel Barber’s version of “Antony and Cleopatra” to a libretto by Franco Zeffirelli, an opera met with negative reviews.
San Francisco premiered Adams’ “Doctor Atomic” in 2005 and “Girls of the Golden West” in 2017. Adams’ best-known operas are 1987’s “Nixon in China” and “The Death of Klinghoffer ” from 1991.
