16/50.- San Francisco, The Opera House

Facing the City Hall, on Van Ness Avenue, we find other two buildings designed by A. Brown Jr.: the War memorial Opera House and the War Memorial Veterans Building.

Founded by Gaetano Merola, an Italian of Neapolitan descent, San Francisco's Opera staged its first performance of La Boheme, in 1923, in the City's Civic Auditorium. When the War Memorial Opera House opened in 1931 its inaugural performance was another Puccini opera, Tosca. The passage of time and of artistic celebrities like Tito Gobbi, Mario del Monaco, Georg Solti as well as the love for music of San Franciscans made San Francisco's Opera the second largest opera company in North America.

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