Opera house in San Francisco, California
The
War Memorial Opera House
is an
opera house
in
San Francisco
,
California
, located on the western side of
Van Ness Avenue
across from the west side/rear facade of the
San Francisco City Hall
.
It is part of the
San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center
. It has been the home of the
San Francisco Opera
since opening night in 1932.
It was the site of the
San Francisco Conference
, the first assembly of the newly organized
United Nations
in April 1945.
Architecture
[
edit
]
In 1927, $4 million in municipal bonds were issued to finance the design and construction of the first municipally owned opera house in the United States. The architects of the building complex were
Arthur Brown Jr.
, who had also designed the adjacent
San Francisco City Hall
between 1912 and 1916, and
G. Albert Lansburgh
, a theater designer responsible for
San Francisco's Orpheum
and the
Shrine Auditorium
in
Los Angeles
.
Completed in 1932, it employs the classic
Roman Doric order
in a reserved and sober form appropriate to its function commemorating all those who served in
World War I
(1914/17?1918). A colonnade of paired columns screens colossal arch-headed windows above a severe
rusticated
basement, a scheme that was influenced by the severe design of the
Louvre Colonnade
.
The interior contains a grand entrance hall with a high barrel vaulted and
coffered ceiling
parallel to the street, with overlooks from staircase landings at each end.
The theater space is dominated by a massive aluminum and glass panel chandelier under a blue vault, and the proscenium arch is decorated with gilded figurative sculpture. The theater has 3,146 seats plus standing room for 200 behind the orchestra and balcony sections.
History
[
edit
]
The
San Francisco Symphony
performed most of its concerts in the house, from 1932 to 1980.
[
citation needed
]
In spring of 1945, the
United Nations
had its
San Francisco Conference
(UN Conference on International Organization) first organizing assembly there. The
UN Charter
was later drafted and signed in the
Herbst Theatre
next door. Six years later in 1951, the
Treaty of San Francisco
, declaring peace with
Japan
was drafted and signed here and in the
Herbst Theatre
.
During the years of
Kurt Herbert Adler
's general directorship, the inadequacies of the house became apparent as the season was expanded. In particular, there was a lack of office space and rehearsal space. In 1974,
The Pointer Sisters
were the first pop act to perform at the theatre.
[1]
In 1979 the backstage area was extended, followed in 1981 by the opening of a new wing built onto the house on the Franklin Street side. This gave spaces for sets, coaches, and dancers as well as more administrative space. At the same time, the nearby
Zellerbach Rehearsal Hall
, with a stage the same size as that of the Opera House, was opened as part of the complex which included the
Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall
.
In 1989, the
Loma Prieta earthquake
caused major damage to the Opera House. The architectural firm of
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
and the theatrical consulting firm of Auerbach and Associates were retained in 1992 to oversee the building's technical renovation and a
seismic retrofit
. At this time additional private donations were raised for extensive technical improvements. These include:
- State-of-the-art lighting system ? which at the time, made it one of the most extensive and sophisticated systems in the world.
- Replacement of chambers for a never-installed organ with modern restrooms, sorely needed since the original construction. The organ is not needed with the completion of the nearby
Davies Symphony Hall
.
- An underground extension below the neighboring plaza to accommodate additional dressing rooms and backstage facilities.
Appearances in media
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Gamson, Joshua.
The Fabulous Sylvester: The Legend, the Music, the Seventies in San Francisco
. Reprint edition. New York: Picador, 2006.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Tilman, Jeffrey T.
Arthur Brown Jr.: Progressive Classicist.
New York: W.W. Norton, 2006
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Buildings and
business
| Government
| |
---|
Cultural
| |
---|
Education
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|
|
---|
Geography
| |
---|
Public art
| |
---|
Transportation
| |
---|
|
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Geographic
| |
---|