The War Memorial Opera House on Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco opened on 15 October 1932 with Puccini's Tosca. Financed by municipal bonds, it was the first municipally owned opera house in the United States and commemorates all who served in the First World War. It was designed by Arthur Brown Jr., architect of City Hall, and G. Albert Lansburgh in a restrained Roman Doric style. The auditorium has 3,146 seats plus standing room for 200. The San Francisco Opera has performed here since opening night, and since 1972 it has also been the official home of the San Francisco Ballet. In 1945 it hosted the founding conference of the United Nations, and in 1951 the Treaty of San Francisco with Japan was signed here. After damage in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, it underwent technical renovation and seismic retrofitting from 1992.
The 1945 delegates sat on the opera seats during the UN's founding — the stage where "Tosca" is usually performed held the lectern of the world community.
At a glance
- Type
- Opera house
- Location
- San Francisco, USA
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