Rodolfo sings the opera’s most famous aria and dominates the opera’s moments of highest drama, especially in the torrid second and third acts.įabiano’s vocal instrument has the beauty of the lyric tenor voice and enough heft to cause (I suspect) some opera managements to hope to coax him into heavier spinto roles. I had referred previously to Verdi’s “Luisa Miller” as “unabashedly a tenor’s opera” (only Luciano Pavarotti, Marcello Giordani and Fabiano have sung the role of Rodolfo at the San Francisco Opera) It also gave me an opportunity to reconfirm my opinion of the musical and dramatic performances from a different point in the War Memorial Opera House.

One follows, when one can, the great operatic voices singing at their prime in live performance, so I made sure to be in San Francisco for Michael Fabiano’s final performance as Verdi’s Rodolfo which fell on the Sunday matinee series for which I have been a long-time subscriber. My review of the San Francisco Opera 2015-16 season opener praised the lead tenor, entire cast, conductor, orchestra and stage direction.

San francisco opera 2015