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