TANGENTIAL NOTES FROM MILK

Andrew Korniej

In the excellent movie Milk Harvey Milk's love of opera is strongly featured.

Two nights before his assassination he attended a performance of Tosca at the War Memorial Opera House sitting in one of the boxes with the Brazilian soprano Bidu Sayao. These performances were the San Francisco debut of iconic verismo soprano Magda Olivero (right) -- her most celebrated roles were Manon Lescaut and Adraiana Lecouvreur -- in the title role.* Magda is now 98 years old and was singing and recording as recently as ten years ago. She made only one commercial recording of a full length opera and is best known today, like Leyla Gencer, Gre Brouwenstijn, and many other sopranos of that period, through live performances captured on pirate recordings.

Playing the role of Miss Olivero in clips from the opera (filmed onstage at the War Memorial and using Thierry Bosquiet's sets) is our very own Catherine Cook.

We see her in the opera's final moments as she jumps off the parapets of the Castle d'San Angelo. The front of the House is shown with huge banners advertising Tosca and featuring large photos of Cathy.



In several other scenes they use clips from the celebrated Maria Callas/Giuseppe Di Stefano 1953 recording for EMI. Parallels are drawn between Harvey's life and operatic tragedy, reminding us of Stewart Wallace's opera Harvey Milk, co-produced between SFO and Houston Grand Opera (then headed by our current GD, David Gockley), which was performed here in 1996 at the Orpheum Theater because the House was being renovated. Of course the image best remembered from Harvey Milk was Chorister Fred Matthews' star turn as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz clicking his ruby slippers during the Gay Freedom Day scene.

San Francisco Opera Production photos

Most poignantly, the film shows the moment Harvey is asassinated by former Supervisor Dan White. Harvey's office was on the Van Ness side of City Hall and the last thing he would have seen was the front of the Opera House.

It's an outstanding film and absolutely un-missable for anyone who loves San Francisco. It was filmed here, almost entirely, and the City is as integral a part in Milk as it is in Vertigo or Bullitt. See it at the Castro Theater between now and December 23rd.

* Earlier during the run, Montserrat Caballé and Gwyneth Jones both had sung Tosca opposite the Cavaradossi of Luciano Pavarotti. Miss Olivero, then 68, sang opposite Juan Lloveras.

Please also read chorister Tom Reed's reminiscences.