It was a mashup you'd only find in San
Francisco: technology, Giants baseball, and opera. (Yes, San Francisco is known for its opera. In 1984, Luciano Pavarotti said, "This is my second hometown.
Musically, it is my first.")
And so it's no surprise that over 15,000 people showed up to sit in the bleachers and on the field at AT&T Park and watch a live simulcast of the San Francisco Opera's final performance of Samson and Delilah on the park's 3,200-square-foot, hi-def scoreboard.
I headed to the park with some friends and—despite the chilly, chilly weather—had a fantastic time. The free event was a homerun whether you were there to marvel at the tech that made the simulcast happen, run the bases (which I did and loved), or simply to enjoy the show.
For the geeks in the crowd: The state-of-the-art,
103-feet-wide, hi-def screen rocked and although the surround sound echoed during the pre-show chit chat, it did justice to the San Francisco Opera musician and performers when the show started at 8 pm. The performance was shot with 11 cameras, angles (at times split screen close ups and broad shots) were coordinated with Koret-Taube
Media Suite, and sent over to the baseball stadium using fiber optic and satellite technologies. Between-act-entertainment included time-lapsed, pre-recorded video of the set changes. But what really warmed our geeky hearts (and made us chuckle quite a bit) was that before each act, the synopses were read aloud as the text panned off the scoreboard screen just like it does in Star Wars. We couldn't help but hum the theme song.
For Giants fans: It was a chance to sit on the field, sing "Take Me Out to the Opera," and wave "Go Samson" and "Go Delilah" signs. At the end of the performance, the leads gave a personal thank-you to all of us at the park by taking their bows with baseball mitts and bats in hand.
For opera aficionados: The performance was spectacular and featured the remarkable voices of Russian mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina, who performed the part of the seductive and vengeful Delilah, and tenor Clifton
Forbis, who played Samson, the leader of the Hebrews who turns his back on God and his people to pursue Delilah's love, only to lose his hair, his strength, his sight, and his life (though in the end, it's Samson who gets the ultimate revenge). A change for those at the War Memorial Opera House was hearing the
Star Spangled-Banner—a baseball tradition—played before the show started up.
And for viewers at the park, it changed the opera-going experience from formal, serious occasion to one where cheering and laughing was absolutely A-OK.
Photo by Liz Hafalia for The San Francisco Chronicle, from sfgate.com
