A multi-national cast brought Verdi’s tuneful melodrama to Seattle.
Glynn Ross’s third and final Turandot–a production worthy of an MGM Bible epic spectacular!
Seattle Opera’s first production of Mozart’s great fairy-tale.
Roberta Peters was Seattle Opera’s first Lucia.
A seductive production of Carmen that had it all.
Glynn Ross begins introducing his favorite opera tetralogy to Seattle.
Explore the 1966/67 Turandot Program!
Beverly Sills’ only Mimì!
“Ride of the Valkyries” — sung in English!
It’s love at first sight (and hearing!) when Seattle Opera meets Richard Wagner.
Seattle Opera’s first production of Verdi’s comic Shakespearean masterpiece.
Hear the SIEGFRIED Riddle Scene–in English!
Italian baritone Matteo Manuguerra shines in Seattle Opera’s second staging of Rigoletto.
Régine Crespin’s Seattle Opera appearance!
Nilsson as the Ice Princess.
The first performance of Bizet’s classic tale in Seattle Opera history!
as told by composer Carlisle Floyd
Joan Sutherland’s Seattle debut!
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!
A new Brünnhilde headlined our second complete cycle.
Cinderella comes to Seattle Opera for the first time.
Franco Corelli at Seattle Opera.
The world’s favorite operetta, starring several popular television stars of the day.
Seattle Opera’s first production of Puccini’s beloved tragedy.
Hear the mezzo who was Seattle’s original Queen of the Gods.
A cast substitution with unexpected results.
Remarks from the award ceremony
Hear the voice of Seattle Opera’s resident tenor in the ’70s!
A 1978 production of Bizet’s thrilling opera.
Our only performance of this charming operetta.
James McCracken brought down the house!
Polish soprano Zdizislawa Donat was a memorable Lucia.
Hear an astonishing “Si, pel ciel” from a great American tenor!
as told by Hans Lehmann
A huge cast assembled for Strauss’s great comedy.
Wagner’s rollicking sea yarn came to Seattle with a famous cast.
Hear the voice of Seattle Opera’s first Music and Education Director!
The fledgling company’s first production.
Starring June Anderson as Rosina!
Explore the 1966/67 Lakme Program!
Listen to Corelli’s stunning “Ah, lève-toi soleil!”
Hear Archie Drake sing Gunther–in English!
Seattle Opera’s only production of Tchaikovsky’s Pushkin-inspired tragedy.
Explore the 1965/66 La Boheme Program!
A game of musical chairs ensued when several Ring singers switched parts.
Starring Seattle Opera’s first African-American singer!
Our first production directed, designed, and built entirely in-house!
Jerome Hines sang his greatest role in Seattle.
The Seattle Opera debut of Julian Patrick!
A Met tour of a beloved opera.
World Premiere of a new Pasatieri opera!
Hear the voice of Seattle Opera’s founding General Director!
as told by Julian Patrick
Carol Neblett made her debut as Puccini’s coquette.
The first time the world ended at Seattle Opera!
Explore the 1969/70 Turandot Program!
The first contemporary opera presented by Seattle Opera.
Seattle Opera’s first-ever performance of Mozart’s intriguing comedy.
Joan Sutherland returned to Seattle as Donna Anna.
Korean soprano Sung-Sook Lee was Seattle Opera’s second Butterfly.
A precursor of Seattle Opera’s Young Artists Program.
An Aida featuring several RING singers.
Explore the 1964/65 Rigoletto Program!
Starring Kaaren Erickson as Susanna.
Giovanni Martinelli’s one Seattle Opera appearance!
Simon Estes was a strong Hagen, and Ute Vinzing joined our Ring for the first time as Brünnhilde.
A sexy devil bewitched Seattle Opera in 1974.
The first Ring performed complete within a week in the U.S. in a generation.
Our first production of Wagner’s great song of love and death.
Seattle’s first completely comic opera!
Hear Seattle’s first malevolent Lord of the Ring.
Explore the 1964/65 Lucia di Lammermoor Program!
Fiorenza Cossotto stole the show with “O don fatale.”
A second Ring opera is added to Seattle’s repertory.
The unforgettable Seattle debut of Franco Corelli!
Hear the voice of Seattle’s original Ur-Mutter.
Seattle Opera opens its doors with Rigoletto.
Excerpt from The Journal of the Wagner Society of Northern California
The world’s first ‘rock opera’ was Bette Midler’s only Seattle Opera appearance!
Thomas Pasatieri’s opera based on the Checkov play.
350 schoolchildren starred in a Seattle Opera production in 1973!
Beverly Sills sang Lucia in Seattle.
Hear the voice of Noel Tyl, one of our first Wotans.
A great star, but a compromised performance!
with Glenn Ross in 1970
Edward Sooter made a great addition to our Ring cast at its fifth consecutive summer.
The return of this great American work, first performed in Seattle in 1970.
The first Seattle Opera appearance of the appealing Mary Costa.
Dorothy Kirsten’s Seattle appearance.
Hear Archie Drake in this thrilling American premiere.
Starring husband-and-wife James McCracken & Sandra Warfield!
Seattle Opera’s first original commissioned work.
Explore the 1966/67 The Barber of Seville Program!
A fantastic cast brings Bizet’s stunning opera alive.
A pioneer opera education program, which later became a model for programs nationwide.
A new Siegfried added to the excitement of Seattle Opera’s most ambitious summer program yet.
The final cycle produced by Glynn Ross.
By 1980, Seattle’s Ring was a well-known west coast cultural phenomenon.
Seattle Opera’s only production of this tuneful comedy.
Jon Vickers as Britten’s tragic fisherman misfit.
How Glynn Ross organized the two casts necessary for presenting opera in Seattle.
Starring Norman Treigle as the devil!
Seattle Opera goes psychedelic!
A lively production of Rossini’s great comedy.
Klara Barlow was Seattle’s first necrophilic nymphomaniac princess.
Explore the 1965/66 Lohengrin Program!
The first Wagner production at Seattle Opera!
Sir Geraint Evans returns!
Listen to excerpts from Seattle Opera’s English-language RINGS!
R. M. Campbell’s obituary recaps the remarkable career of Glynn Ross.
Explore the 1965/66 Il trovatore Program!
Hear the bass who was with us from before the beginning.
Our second production of Puccini’s perennially popular tragedy.
A 1982 article about Glynn Ross and Seattle’s Ring.
Explore the 1964/65 Faust Program!
Joan Sutherland wowed the opera-goers of Seattle in 1970 by singing all three ladies in “The Tales of Hoffmann.”
Johanna Meier and Alberto Remedios joined our cast this summer.
Anna Moffo’s Seattle Opera appearance!
Joan Sutherland in a Massenet rarity—also starring the young James Morris!
Seattle’s first French-language opera production!
Archie Drake’s first outing as Benoit/Alcindoro–a role he owned for decades at Seattle Opera.
Opera education and outreach, ’70s-style!
A starry production of Verdi’s great melodrama.
Romanian soprano Mariana Nicolesco was a beautiful Violetta.
Explore the 1964/65 Boris Godunov Program!
Explore the 1965/66 Samson and Delilah Program!
Listen to Sutherland and Tourangeau sing the famous “Lakmé” Flower Duet!
A favorite young composer of ours in the 1970s!
Sherrill Milnes’s Seattle Opera debut!
