Kentucky Opera

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The Kentucky Opera is the state opera of Kentucky, located in Louisville. The operas are usually performed at the Kentucky Center, and are accompanied by the Louisville Orchestra. Founded in 1952 by Moritz von Bomhard, it is the twelfth oldest opera company in the United States and has a more than $2 million budget. The Kentucky Opera is an important part of theater in Kentucky.

[edit] Performance history

The 2004-2005 season included Massenet's Thaïs, Rossini's La Cenerentola, and Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

The 2005-2006 season included Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, Adamo's Little Women, and Rossini's The Barber of Seville. Onegin was the company's first ever production to be performed in Russian.

The 2006-2007 season included Puccini's La Bohème, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, and Bizet's The Pearl Fishers.

The 2007-2008 season includes Puccini's Turandot, Verdi's Il Trovatore, Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites, and a special concert version of Saint-Saëns' Samson and Delilah starring Metropolitan Opera star Denyce Graves.

The company has previously performed many other operas in the standard repertoire, including The Marriage of Figaro, Carmen, Aïda, The Flying Dutchman and Salome among many others.