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The San Francisco Opera has announced their 2012-2013 season. For those wanting to gain some familiarity with the operas, here are list of our resources that will help you get better acquainted with next season's selections.

Rigoletto
Verdi
"One of opera's most vivid and compelling characters, a vengeful court jester, desperately tries to protect his daughter from disaster in this heart-wrenching tragedy." -SF Opera's website
CD - Pavarotti
CD - Maria Callis
Libretto
Vocal score with piano

The Capulets and the Montagues
Vincenzo Bellini
"The tragic tale of Romeo and Juliet inspired some of Shakespeare's finest verse—and some of Bellini's most beautiful melodies." -SF Opera
CD

Moby-Dick
Jake Heggie
A newer opera, Moby-Dick doesn't have an available recording. I suggest re-reading this classic (either in print or as an eBook) or watching a cinematic version of the story. If you need some coaxing into undertaking a reading, I suggest the recent Why Read Moby-Dick? by Nathaniel Philbrick.

Lohengrin
Wagner
One of Wagner's middle operas, Lohengrin is having its first performance by the SF Opera. Get acquainted with a pre-Ring Wagner.
CD
Libretto

Tosca
Puccini
"Puccini's masterful melodrama is a sexually charged, edge-of-your-seat thriller, in which a great singer, a rebellious painter and a corrupt police chief engage in a deadly test of wills." -SF Opera
CD
Opera Guide
Vocal score with piano

The Tales of Hoffmann
Offenbach
The lovestruck poet finds and loses loves more than once in this Offenbach standard. We have a CD of a 1972 production of the opera, and a DVD of a ballet translation of the story.
CD
DVD

Cosi Fan Tutte
Mozart
Widely performed and easily accessible, Cosi Fan Tutte is one of those favorites that opera companies pull out every now and then. It gets late season play in 2012-2013. While lacking a CD of the opera, the library does have two DVDs of staged productions as well as the vocal score.
DVD 1
DVD 2
Vocal score with piano

The Gospel of Mary Magdalene
Mark Adamo
Given this a world premiere, the library does not have a recording of this new work. However, for those interested in the composer, check out his last opera, Late Victorians.