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