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