SF Opera thinks small and useful with new space

San Francisco Opera leaders have been longing for a manageable, small-scale and flexible performance space to complement the cavernous reaches of the War Memorial Opera House since long before General Director David Gockley came onto the scene.

With the opening of the Taube Atrium Theatre on the fourth floor of the Veterans Building, that dream has finally become a welcome reality.

The weekend's "Winterreise" production, following a couple of Schwabacher Debut Recitals in recent weeks, offered one such layout, with tiered rows of seating facing a low-slung platform in front of a screen for video projections.

SF Opera Lab, the programming umbrella for the Taube Theatre led by Elkhanah Pulitzer, has an intriguing variety of productions lined up, including the choral opera "Svadba-Wedding" by Serbian composer Ana Sokolovic, a screening with music of "The Triplets of Belleville" and soprano Deborah Voigt's one-woman show "Voigt Lessons."