This is a glimpse backstage into one of the world's great opera houses: San Francisco Opera House. It is also and insider's look at the process of creating what is probably the world's most complicated art form. Behind each superstar on stage is a support staff of hundreds, even thousands of people, most of whom are highly specialized. In following the process, the authors watched productions grow from telephone negotiations through intensive rehearslas into the full-scale extravaganza the audience sees. --from Preface.