Mary Costa was an attractive Desdemona.
Beverly Sills sang Lucia in Seattle.
Simon Estes was a strong Hagen, and Ute Vinzing joined our Ring for the first time as Brünnhilde.
Erich Parce makes his Seattle Opera debut.
The world’s first ‘rock opera’ was Bette Midler’s only Seattle Opera appearance!
Explore the 1979/80 Fidelio Program!
A great star, but a compromised performance!
Hear the voice of Seattle Opera’s first Music and Education Director!
A second Ring opera is added to Seattle’s repertory.
Explore the 1974/75 Il Trovatore Program!
Explore the 1977/78 Magic Flute Program!
Explore the 1976/77 Of Mice and Men Program!
Seattle Opera’s first production of Mozart’s great fairy-tale.
Hear the voice of Seattle Opera’s founding General Director!
Explore the 1977/78 Boris Godunov Program!
Mary Costa and Leo Goeke sang Massenet’s unfortunate lovers.
Our second production of Puccini’s perennially popular tragedy.
Explore the 1979/80 Queen of Spades Program!
Explore the 1971/72 Black Widow Program!
Explore the 1970/71 Don Carlo Program!
Hear the voice of Seattle Opera’s resident tenor in the ’70s!
Explore the 1975/76 Eugene Onegin Program!
Thomas Pasatieri’s opera based on the Checkov play.
Explore the 1976/77 Cinderella Program!
Italian baritone Matteo Manuguerra shines in Seattle Opera’s second staging of Rigoletto.
Explore the 1969/70 Turandot Program!
Explore the 1970/71 Marriage of Figaro Program!
Hear Archie Drake sing Gunther–in English!
Explore the 1973/74 Cosi Fan Tutte Program!
Explore the 1972/73 Die Walküre Program!
Explore the 1970/71 Carmen Program!
Joan Sutherland wowed the opera-goers of Seattle in 1970 by singing all three ladies in “The Tales of Hoffmann.”
Explore the 1975/76 The Seagull Program!
A 1978 production of Bizet’s thrilling opera.
This Sarajevo Opera production starred some of Yugoslavia’s greatest singers.
Explore the 1974/75 Ring Program!
Explore the 1977/78 The King of Lahore Program!
Program for 1972/73 Manon Lescaut–the production that launched our Scenic Studios and Costume Shop.
Hear Seattle’s first malevolent Lord of the Ring.
Seattle Opera’s first production of Verdi’s comic Shakespearean masterpiece.
Featuring the meltingly honeyed voice of Leo Goeke in the title role.
Our first production directed, designed, and built entirely in-house!
A precursor of Seattle Opera’s Young Artists Program.
Edward Sooter made a great addition to our Ring cast at its fifth consecutive summer.
A new Brünnhilde headlined our second complete cycle.
Seattle Opera’s first original commissioned work.
A sexy devil bewitched Seattle Opera in 1974.
Joan Sutherland in a Massenet rarity—also starring the young James Morris!
How Glynn Ross organized the two casts necessary for presenting opera in Seattle.
Seattle Opera’s first Norma featured powerful singing from Cristina Deutekom.
Glynn Ross comissioned a new Pasatieri chamber opera for a church in Medina.
Wagner’s rollicking sea yarn came to Seattle with a famous cast.
Hear the bass who was with us from before the beginning.
A lively production of Rossini’s great comedy.
Explore the 1972/73 La Traviata Program!
as told by Julian Patrick
Excerpt from The Journal of the Wagner Society of Northern California
Cinderella comes to Seattle Opera for the first time.
Explore the 1978/79 Carmen Program!
Listen to excerpts from Seattle Opera’s English-language RINGS!
Korean soprano Sung-Sook Lee was Seattle Opera’s second Butterfly.
Our only performance of this charming operetta.
Nicola Ghiuselev sang the title role in Russian, and Giorgio Tozzi sang it in English!
Explore the 1969/70 Die Fledermaus Program!
Explore the 1976/77 Tosca Program!
Explore the 1978/79 Macbeth Program!
Fiorenza Cossotto stole the show with “O don fatale.”
Johanna Meier and Alberto Remedios joined our cast this summer.
Explore the 1974/75 Mefistofele Program!
Explore the 1969/70 Force of Destiny Program!
A pioneer opera education program, which later became a model for programs nationwide.
Polish soprano Zdizislawa Donat was a memorable Lucia.
as told by composer Carlisle Floyd
A fantastic cast brings Bizet’s stunning opera alive.
Explore the 1979/80 Faust Program!
A favorite young composer of ours in the 1970s!
Explore the 1978/79 Norma Program!
Explore the 1978/79 La Boheme Program!
A multi-national cast brought Verdi’s tuneful melodrama to Seattle.
Klara Barlow was Seattle’s first necrophilic nymphomaniac princess.
Remarks from the award ceremony
Explore the program for our Summer 1981 Wagner festival, featuring the Ring and Tristan and Isolde.
Explore the 1971/72 A Masked Ball Program!
Explore the 1970/71 Tales of Hoffmann Program!
World Premiere of a new Pasatieri opera!
Explore the 1972/73 La Perichole Program!
Explore the 1969/70 Of Mice and Men Program!
Explore the 1972/73 Faust Program!
Explore the 1975/76 Thais Program!
Explore the 1976/77 Werther Program!
Explore the 1973/74 Gianni Schicchi, Pagliacci Program!
A cast substitution with unexpected results.
Opera education and outreach, ’70s-style!
Hear the SIEGFRIED Riddle Scene–in English!
Explore the 1979 Ring Program!
Explore the 1971/72 La Boheme Program!
Explore the 1975/76 Aida Program!
Explore the 1974/75 Barber of Seville Program!
Explore the 1977/78 Falstaff Program!
Seattle Opera’s first-ever performance of Mozart’s intriguing comedy.
Hear the voice of Noel Tyl, one of our first Wotans.
Explore the 1969/70 Salome Program!
An Aida featuring several RING singers.
Explore the 1977/78 Madama Butterfly Program!
Explore the 1977 Ring Program.
Hear the voice of Seattle’s original Ur-Mutter.
Explore the 1974/75 Gotterdammerung Program!
Seattle Opera’s first production of Puccini’s beloved tragedy.
Explore the 1973/74 Rigoletto Program!
Explore the 1976/77 Otello Program!
Explore the 1974/75 Manon Progarm!
Explore the 1971/72 Lucia di Lammermoor Program!
with Glenn Ross in 1970
Glynn Ross begins introducing his favorite opera tetralogy to Seattle.
The return of this great American work, first performed in Seattle in 1970.
The first time the world ended at Seattle Opera!
Explore the 1979/80 Lucia di Lammermoor Program!
Explore the 1979/80 La Traviata Program!
Explore the 1975/76 Der Rosenkavalier Program!
Explore the 1973/74 Siegfried Program!
“Ride of the Valkyries” — sung in English!
Hear Archie Drake in this thrilling American premiere.
Explore the 1976 Ring Program!
A huge cast assembled for Strauss’s great comedy.
Explore the 1973/74 Daughter of the Regiment Program!
Starring Norman Treigle as the devil!
Explore the 1970/71Madama Butterfly Program!
Archie Drake’s first outing as Benoit/Alcindoro–a role he owned for decades at Seattle Opera.
The first Ring performed complete within a week in the U.S. in a generation.
Hear the mezzo who was Seattle’s original Queen of the Gods.
Explore the 1978 Ring Program!
350 schoolchildren starred in a Seattle Opera production in 1973!
Explore the 1978/79 Don Giovanni Program!
Explore the 1971/72 Flying Dutchman Program!
Anna Moffo’s Seattle Opera appearance!
