Explore the 1965/66 La Boheme Program!
Seattle Opera goes psychedelic!
A fantastic cast brings Bizet’s stunning opera alive.
A game of musical chairs ensued when several Ring singers switched parts.
Edward Sooter made a great addition to our Ring cast at its fifth consecutive summer.
The first contemporary opera presented by Seattle Opera.
Our second production of Puccini’s perennially popular tragedy.
Romanian soprano Mariana Nicolesco was a beautiful Violetta.
Roberta Peters was Seattle Opera’s first Lucia.
Sir Geraint Evans returns!
The first performance of Bizet’s classic tale in Seattle Opera history!
A 1982 article about Glynn Ross and Seattle’s Ring.
Explore the 1965/66 Samson and Delilah Program!
Dorothy Kirsten’s Seattle appearance.
Seattle Opera opens its doors with Rigoletto.
Seattle Opera’s first Traviata wasn’t ours at all—it came from the Met.
A splendid production of Verdi’s masterpiece–complete with live horses!
Glynn Ross’s third and final Turandot–a production worthy of an MGM Bible epic spectacular!
Remarks from the award ceremony
Hear Archie Drake sing Gunther–in English!
Johanna Meier and Alberto Remedios joined our cast this summer.
Hear the voice of Noel Tyl, one of our first Wotans.
Italian baritone Matteo Manuguerra shines in Seattle Opera’s second staging of Rigoletto.
Starring husband-and-wife James McCracken & Sandra Warfield!
A new Siegfried added to the excitement of Seattle Opera’s most ambitious summer program yet.
Hear the mezzo who was Seattle’s original Queen of the Gods.
Klara Barlow was Seattle’s first necrophilic nymphomaniac princess.
Seattle Opera’s only production of Tchaikovsky’s Pushkin-inspired tragedy.
Opera education and outreach, ’70s-style!
Explore the 1966/67 Lakme Program!
Starring Norman Treigle as the devil!
A second Ring opera is added to Seattle’s repertory.
A precursor of Seattle Opera’s Young Artists Program.
Thomas Pasatieri’s opera based on the Checkov play.
Seattle Opera’s first-ever performance of Mozart’s intriguing comedy.
Starring June Anderson as Rosina!
Régine Crespin’s Seattle Opera appearance!
as told by composer Carlisle Floyd
Seattle Opera’s only production of this tuneful comedy.
Joan Sutherland wowed the opera-goers of Seattle in 1970 by singing all three ladies in “The Tales of Hoffmann.”
Hear Archie Drake in this thrilling American premiere.
The return of this great American work, first performed in Seattle in 1970.
A multi-national cast brought Verdi’s tuneful melodrama to Seattle.
Seattle’s first French-language opera production!
Hear the SIEGFRIED Riddle Scene–in English!
Seattle Opera’s first production of Puccini’s beloved tragedy.
Hear Seattle’s first malevolent Lord of the Ring.
A starry production of Verdi’s great melodrama.
It’s love at first sight (and hearing!) when Seattle Opera meets Richard Wagner.
Our first production directed, designed, and built entirely in-house!
Explore the 1965/66 Lohengrin Program!
Our first production of Wagner’s great song of love and death.
A pioneer opera education program, which later became a model for programs nationwide.
Explore the 1964/65 Rigoletto Program!
The first Ring performed complete within a week in the U.S. in a generation.
Hear the voice of Seattle Opera’s resident tenor in the ’70s!
Listen to Corelli’s stunning “Ah, lève-toi soleil!”
Explore the 1969/70 Turandot Program!
A 1978 production of Bizet’s thrilling opera.
Joan Sutherland in a Massenet rarity—also starring the young James Morris!
World Premiere of a new Pasatieri opera!
The world’s first ‘rock opera’ was Bette Midler’s only Seattle Opera appearance!
A great star, but a compromised performance!
Seattle Opera’s first original commissioned work.
The final cycle produced by Glynn Ross.
Starring Kaaren Erickson as Susanna.
as told by Hans Lehmann
The first Wagner production at Seattle Opera!
Beverly Sills’ only Mimì!
Sherrill Milnes’s Seattle Opera debut!
The fledgling company’s first production.
A new Brünnhilde headlined our second complete cycle.
Simon Estes was a strong Hagen, and Ute Vinzing joined our Ring for the first time as Brünnhilde.
Listen to Sutherland and Tourangeau sing the famous “Lakmé” Flower Duet!
Explore the 1966/67 The Barber of Seville Program!
Fiorenza Cossotto stole the show with “O don fatale.”
Korean soprano Sung-Sook Lee was Seattle Opera’s second Butterfly.
Wagner’s rollicking sea yarn came to Seattle with a famous cast.
A cast substitution with unexpected results.
Explore the 1966/67 Turandot Program!
Carol Neblett made her debut as Puccini’s coquette.
Hear the voice of Seattle Opera’s founding General Director!
R. M. Campbell’s obituary recaps the remarkable career of Glynn Ross.
James McCracken brought down the house!
How Glynn Ross organized the two casts necessary for presenting opera in Seattle.
Explore the 1964/65 Boris Godunov Program!
Seattle Opera’s first production of Verdi’s comic Shakespearean masterpiece.
with Glenn Ross in 1970
By 1980, Seattle’s Ring was a well-known west coast cultural phenomenon.
Starring Seattle Opera’s first African-American singer!
Giovanni Martinelli’s one Seattle Opera appearance!
Listen to excerpts from Seattle Opera’s English-language RINGS!
Joan Sutherland’s Seattle debut!
A favorite young composer of ours in the 1970s!
A huge cast assembled for Strauss’s great comedy.
Cinderella comes to Seattle Opera for the first time.
Explore the 1965/66 Il trovatore Program!
Joan Sutherland returned to Seattle as Donna Anna.
Hear the voice of Seattle’s original Ur-Mutter.
Explore the 1964/65 Faust Program!
Archie Drake’s first outing as Benoit/Alcindoro–a role he owned for decades at Seattle Opera.
Glynn Ross begins introducing his favorite opera tetralogy to Seattle.
Hear the voice of Seattle Opera’s first Music and Education Director!
Anna Moffo’s Seattle Opera appearance!
Hear an astonishing “Si, pel ciel” from a great American tenor!
An Aida featuring several RING singers.
Seattle’s first completely comic opera!
The first time the world ended at Seattle Opera!
A Met tour of a beloved opera.
The Seattle Opera debut of Julian Patrick!
as told by Julian Patrick
Explore the 1964/65 Lucia di Lammermoor Program!
Excerpt from The Journal of the Wagner Society of Northern California
Jerome Hines sang his greatest role in Seattle.
The unforgettable Seattle debut of Franco Corelli!
The first Seattle Opera appearance of the appealing Mary Costa.
A seductive production of Carmen that had it all.
A lively production of Rossini’s great comedy.
Nilsson as the Ice Princess.
Jon Vickers as Britten’s tragic fisherman misfit.
Hear the bass who was with us from before the beginning.
Our only performance of this charming operetta.
“Ride of the Valkyries” — sung in English!
Beverly Sills sang Lucia in Seattle.
Franco Corelli at Seattle Opera.
Polish soprano Zdizislawa Donat was a memorable Lucia.
350 schoolchildren starred in a Seattle Opera production in 1973!
A sexy devil bewitched Seattle Opera in 1974.
The world’s favorite operetta, starring several popular television stars of the day.
Seattle Opera’s first production of Mozart’s great fairy-tale.
