Opera Theatre of Saint Louis

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Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL) is a summer opera festival held in St. Louis, Missouri. It was founded in 1976 by Richard Gaddes, who at the time was working at the Santa Fe Opera, along with a group of opera enthusiasts who wished to see festival-quality opera in the St. Louis area. Typically four operas, all sung in English, are presented each season, which runs from late May to late June. Performances are accompanied by the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, which is divided into two ensembles, each covering two of the operas, for the season. The company's performances are presented in the Loretto-Hilton Center on the campus of Webster University. In 2005, OTSL adopted projected English-language supertitles in the theatre.[1][2]

Contents

[edit] First seasons and achievements

The first season in 1976 presented eleven performances of Britten's Albert Herring, Mozart's The Impresario, Menotti's The Medium, and Donizetti's Don Pasquale, a mixture of some standard works and some new and unconventional operas which was to continue in future seasons and characterize the company's approach. This was achieved on a budget of $135,000. The young singers included Sheri Greenawald and Vinson Cole.

During the early seasons, the company made a major impact with such achievements as first joint BBC/WNET telecast of Albert Herring and the first appearance by any U.S. opera company at the 1983 Edinburgh International Festival. The first production of a Japanese opera in Japan by any American company was followed by a return to Tokyo in September 2001 to present the Japanese premiere of the classic Genji Monagatari adapted into an opera by Miki Minoru's as The Tale of Genji.

Well-known directors Graham Vick, Jonathan Miller, and Mark Lamos have made U.S. operatic debuts with OTSL, as did conductors Leonard Slatkin and Christopher Hogwood. Colin Graham served as OTSL's Director of Productions from 1978-1985. John Nelson was OTSL's Music Director from 1985 to 1988, and Principal Conductor from 1988 to 1991.

Other outstanding U.S. singers including Christine Brewer, Susan Graham, Dwayne Croft, Thomas Hampson, Jerry Hadley, and Patricia Racette have made appearances in St Louis productions. All told, there have been 12 world premieres, including Ruggero Leoncavallo's La bohème in 1978; Stephen Paulus' The Postman Always Rings Twice in 1982; and, most recently, The Loss of Eden by Cary John Franklin in 2002. In addition, there have been 14 American premieres, including Michael Berkeley's Jane Eyre; Benjamin Britten's Paul Bunyan; Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims (The Journey to Reims); and Judith Weir's The Vanishing Bridegroom.

[edit] Sally S. Levy Opera Center

The company completed a fund-raising campaign for the construction of the Sally S. Levy Opera Center, which serves as a permanent administrative home and year-round rehearsal facility. Beyond relieving present overcrowding, it provides effective spaces for rehearsals, community programs, coaching rooms, plus an extensive music library.

Prior to its 2006 season completion, OTSL General Director Charles MacKay said:

“The Opera Center is going to transform Opera Theatre in ways we can hardly imagine....The $10 million “Building for Opera” campaign will allow Opera Theatre to improve its administrative, artistic, and educational facilities, attract the finest artists, and continue to balance the budget”.[3]

[edit] Administration

Succeeding Gaddes as OTSL General Director was Charles MacKay, who has held the post since 1985. During this time, the company has consistently won national and international acclaim for the presentation of innovative repertory and the discovery of young singers. MacKay has led the campaign to construct and fund the new Sally S. Levy Opera Center. From 1985 until his death in April 2007, the OTSL Artistic Director was Colin Graham.[4] Since 1991, the Music Director is Stephen Lord. Dennis and Chad are House Managers.

In September 2007, OTSL named James Robinson as the company's next Artistic Director, and Timothy O'Leary to the newly created position of Executive Director.[5][6] In November 2007, Santa Fe Opera named MacKay their next general director to succeed Gaddes, effective 1 October 2008, and MacKay is scheduled to conclude his OTSL tenure as General Director after the 2008 season.[7]

[edit] See also

List of opera festivals

[edit] References

  1. ^ Hugh Canning. "Strongly reigns over us", The Times, 3 July 2005. Retrieved on 2007-09-21. 
  2. ^ Anthony Tommasini. "No Supertitle Goes Here, and That’s a Good Thing", New York Times, 22 July 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-22. 
  3. ^ Opera Center information from the company website
  4. ^ Sarah Bryan Miller, "Colin Graham, Opera Theatre's artistic director, dies". St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 6 April 2007.
  5. ^ Sarah Bryan Miller. "James Robinson named artistic director at Opera Theatre of St. Louis", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 19 September 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-21. 
  6. ^ Sarah Bryan Miller. "Opera Theatre announces two new appointments", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 20 September 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-21. 
  7. ^ Matthew Westphal. "Santa Fe Opera Appoints New General Director", Playbill Arts, 9 November 2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-10. 

[edit] External links