San Francisco Opera

The first performance given by San Francisco Opera was La bohème, with Queena Mario and Giovanni Martinelli, on 26 September 1923, in the city’s Civic Auditorium and conducted by Merola, whose involvement in opera in the San Francisco Bay Area had been ongoing since his first visit in 1906.

Merola initially organized the company with a trial season at Stanford University for 1922,[1] convinced that the city could support an opera company and not depend upon visiting troupes, which had been coming to the San Francisco since Gold Rush days. In fact, Merola’s initial visits to the city were as conductor of some of these troupes—the first in 1909 with the International Opera Company of Montreal. Continued visits for the next decade convinced him that a San Francisco company was viable, and in 1921 he returned to live in the city under the patronage of Mrs. Oliver Stine.

By the fall of 1921 he was planning his first season, which was presented at Stanford University’s football stadium on 3 June 1922 with a star-studded group of singers, including Giovanni Martinelli in Pagliacci, followed by Carmen and Faust. While it was a popular and critical triumph, the five-day season was not a financial success. It was clear to Merola that a more solid financial base was needed, so he set about fund raising for a season of opera to be presented at the Civic Auditorium in the fall of 1923. Appealing to more than the city’s elite, Merola raised 2441 contributions of $50 each from many “founding members”.