Runnicles On His Departure From San Francisco Opera

“David [Gockley] has this extraordinary legacy behind him in Houston. But I think David and I have different ideas about where the San Francisco Opera should be going, and those differences became apparent early on. … [O]f course one should aspire to have the finest singers. But singers are to opera what grapes are to wine. It’s the environment – what the singer is surrounded by, enriched by, supported by – that makes the difference.”