By Matthew Westphal [Playbill, 8 September 2006]

There will be a masked ball by the Bay tonight, in more than one sense, as San Francisco Opera opens its 2006-07 season with Verdi's Un ballo in maschera. Deborah Voigt stars, with Marcus Haddock, Ambrogio Maestri, Tichina Vaughn and Anna Christy; Marco Armiliato conducts. And the post-performance gala for patrons includes, naturally, a masquerade ball.