Still waiting for the holiday-delayed publication of the Nov. 23 review from Davies Hall where the Berlin Philharmonic concluded its magnificent tour in San Francisco (and North America), here is a news item from it that's likely to be something personal to many Bay Area Facebook participants:
"Another, little-noticed closure on Wednesday - bringing tears to the eyes to some of the ushers - was the last night of service by head usher Horacio Rodriguez, retiring as he is about to turn 85, even if looking and acting half of that age.
"Among those who never worked for another head usher in Davies Hall and Opera House history, it was downright shocking that he would retire - something that would hardly be a surprise in case of any other octogenarian. But then, the man known to everybody as Horacio is not like anybody else."
As the Pride of Argentina himself, we are all looking ahead to see him *in the audience* of San Francisco Symphony, Opera, Ballet, and all other events. Here is a Horacio story from four years ago:
http://www.sfcv.org/article/head-usher-celebrates-reverse-18th-birthday
There he was last week in the lobby of Davies Symphony Hall, at the intermission of a superb/Messiah/performance (see below), talking proudly of his birthday. "It's my reverse 18th," said Horacio, beaming with pleasure and looking like a real 18-year-old, not a reverse one. And yet, the truth is the San Francisco Symphony's head usher, a restless dynamo, the man everybody calls Horacio, rather than Mr. Rodriguez, has turned 81, celebrating his 53rd year as the ever-present, ever-helpful, ever-cheerful usher/major-domo, now for SFS, and before at the city's opera and ballet companies. <snip> PS: Horacio's long-time colleague Jeff Coyne (formerly head usher at the Opera) is replacement for the man Jeff will be the first to say "cannot be replaced."

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