Save the San Diego Opera (or at least make it do a proper operatic death scene before it goes)!

I'm embarrassingly not very 'on the ball' when it comes to covering the San Diego classical music & opera scene these days. By now many opera enthusiasts will have heard of and are profoundly surprised by the impending demise of the San Diego Opera, I think. The opera board voted to shut down the company at the end of this season, as Ian Campbell, the SDO's impresario put it, "we saw we faced an insurmountable financial hurdle going forward. -- We had a choice of winding down with dignity and grace, making every effort to fulfill our financial obligations, or inevitably entering bankruptcy, as have several other opera companies."

Madama Butterfly goes out in spurts of blood and chills....

It all seem very calm and rational and all that... but darn it, I'm an opera fan and this was way too calm for me for so final a matter. San Diego's only proper opera company quietly going out of business while so many fans and artists thought the company has been rebounding so well. Four full opera productions this year plus an all A-listers cast for the Verdi Requiem. Quite a far cry from the drastically reduced seasons since the 2008 recession! Honestly, if the company is going to give up the ghost, I say it should do a full operatic death scene with proper amount of wailing and trashing and milking of the high notes - a full opera-queens-worthy bloody pandemonium to make sure every citizen of this culture-starved city knows of its pending doom - before dropping the curtain and burning down the house (or something like that). At least then we audience members would know to try to do something to help...

Even Don Quixote does a proper operatic wailing before his demise...

So, if you're with me, please consider signing this petition to save the San Diego Opera (the least we opera queens can do is at least to try to make a scene, I guess). Better yet, buy a ticket and attend one or more of the upcoming Don Quixote or make a donation. A city of more than 1.3 million, and we can't support one proper opera house??? What is San Diego coming to!