San Francisco Opera Revenue and Competitors

San Francisco Opera was founded by Gaetano Merola (1881-1953) and incorporated in 1923. The Company's first performance took place on September 26th, 1923, in the City's Civic Auditorium (La Bohème, with Queena Mario and Giovanni Martinelli, conducted by Merola). Nine years later, the Company moved into its new home, inaugurating the newly built War Memorial Opera House with a performance of Tosca on October 15, 1932 (Claudia Muzio, Dino Borgioli, Giuseppe Gandolfi, conducted by Merola). Following Gaetano Merola's death, the Company was led through 1981 by Kurt Herbert Adler; from 1982 to 1988 by Terence A. McEwen, and by Lotfi Mansouri from 1988 through 2001. We are now under the exciting direction of Pamela Rosenberg. San Francisco Opera is now the second largest opera company in North America. Since 1923, San Francisco Opera has presented the United States debut performances of numerous artists, including Vladimir Atlantov, Inge Borkh, Boris Christoff, Marie Collier, Sir Geraint Evans, Mafalda Favero, Tito Gobbi, Sena Jurinac, Mario del Monaco, Birgit Nilsson, Leontyne and Margaret Price, Leonie Rysanek, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Giulietta Simionato, Ebe Stignani, Renata Tebaldi and Ingvar Wixell; conductors Gerd Albrecht, Valery Gergiev, Georg Solti and Silvio Varviso; and directors Francis Ford Coppola, Harry Kupfer and Jean-Pierre Ponnelle.