Newly Unearthed: The First Known Photograph of the San Francisco Opera
about 8 months ago (02/08/2024)
The First Known Photograph of the San Francisco Opera | KQED Skip to Nav Skip to Main Skip to Footer upper waypoint Arts & Culture Newly Unearthed: The First Known Photograph of the San Francisco Opera Sarah Hotchkiss Feb 8 Save Article Save Article Failed to save article Please try again Email A detail from an October 1923 photograph of the San Francisco Opera company in the Civic Auditorium shows performers and family in pre-performance street clothes. (San Francisco Opera Archives) For over a decade, the oldest known image of the San Francisco Opera was a panoramic group photograph taken on Oct. 6, 1923 with a cryptic “Picture #2” inscribed on its lower left-hand corner. Pictured inside the Civic (now Bill Graham) Auditorium, founder and conductor Gaetano Merola, star tenor Beniamino Gigli, chorus members and orchestra musicians pose in costume and tuxes, ready for the night’s performance of Andrea Chénier .