Pocket Opera North Beach, through nearly two decades of presenting a weekly chamber music series (1960-1978) at the Old Spaghetti Factory, to his present-day fame as the creator of one of San Francisco's most popular operatic institutions. Pippin's first translation came in 1968, in the course of preparing Mozart's one-act opera "Bastien und Bastienne" for performance as part of his chamber music series. The opera, and his singing translation of it, were immediate successes with San Francisco audiences. From that point on, Pippin has dedicated himself to the task of producing literate English versions of both well-loved classics and lesser-known gems of
The Long Christmas Dinner (opera) The Long Christmas Dinner (opera) The Long Christmas Dinner (German: "Das Lange Weihnachtsmahl") is an opera in one act by Paul Hindemith, with an English libretto by Thornton Wilder based on his play of the same name. Wilder collaborated with the composer in order to make the text work effectively with the music. It was arranged for chamber orchestra and used a harpsichord. It was first performed in the original English on 13 March 1963, at the Juilliard School of Music, New York under the direction of the composer. A digital recording of the work on the Wergo label was