Music is the foundation of opera. But without something to fill the stage, you’re only experiencing part of the art form. In a genre rich with passionate romances, vengeful feuds, mythical creatures and three-hankie tragedies, the right costumes, sets and overall concept can make or break a production.

“I often think of the stage at the opera house as a 50-foot-wide blank canvas on which we get to tell stories,” said Matthew Shilvock, San Francisco Opera’s general director. “What has always fascinated me about a repertory opera house like ours is how that black box of a theater changes into different worlds and aesthetics. If we are doing our job as a company, we’re bringing a variety of different aesthetics to bear.”

But that philosophy hasn’t always been true in the art form. San Francisco Opera dramaturge emeritus Kip Cranna notes that the history of production design at the company over the past century reflects the larger trends and traditions of the opera world.

“Production design wasn’t a concept back in 1923 the way we think of it now,” said Cranna. “There was a more utilitarian nature in those days.”

In the first half of the 20th…