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I came home this afternoon after a matinee of La Bohème, the final performance of San Francisco Opera fall season. Putting my violin away, I looked at a poster that’s been hanging in my study from the very first time I played there, which, as it turns out, was 25 years ago. In fact it was what was on the stand for my first rehearsal.

That was a spectacular season: Lulu was a huge hit. Coming into work, I remember people a block away from the opera house trying to buy tickets, knowing the usual scalpers in front of the building had none. After Lulu I got to play Mefistofele (in the in/famous Robert Carsen production), Lohengrin (conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras), and Die Frau Ohne Schatten (conduct by Christoph von Dohnányi) among other things. There was the Loma Prieta earthquake which happened on October 17 and forced the company to decamp to Masonic Auditorium for a few performances. And then the loss of Sir John Pritchard came at the end of the season.

There haven’t been many times with such a concentration of great music and conductors in my experience so I thought it was good to make note.

The first rule of Fight Club applies to lots of things: if too many people know about a cool thing it’ll get spoiled. So let’s just keep this between us, okay?

If you are a subscriber to the San Francisco Chronicle, you can also sign up for Chronicle membership. They have spiffy events that are open to members, either by just signing up or entering a drawing. These are some of the offers Tom and I have taken advantage of recently:

• advanced screening of Big Hero 6 (go see it!)
• tour of the Chronicle newsroom (biggest thrill: meeting columnists Matier & Ross. least impressive: the editor of the newly combined Food & Home sections)
• preview party for the SF car show (food, drink & live music)
• a fairly rare chance to see the “old” Mint on Sixth Street and take a tour
• free dress rehearsal tickets to Peter & the Starcatcher
• another movie screening, for Angelie Jolie’s Unbroken
• a free year’s membership to the Museum of the African Diaspora

So if you’re a subscriber, just do this! It makes your subscription so much more valuable because, let’s face it, the paper itself often leave a lot to be desired.

We can’t recommend a visit to the Old Mint highly enough. It’s only open for a few hours on Sundays.

SF Chronicle membership