Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District
He remained active at the San Francisco Opera for all his adult life, supporting General Director Kurt Herbert Adler, first as a repetiteur and then as a member of the conducting staff. He made his formal debut conducting Giacomo Puccini's "La Bohème" with Ileana Cotrubas. His later work on a production of Dmitri Shostakovich's "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District" drew national attention. In 1979 he conducted the premiere of Menotti's "La Loca" at San Diego.