Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
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The Opera Theatre of Saint Louis is a summer opera festival held in St. Louis, Missouri. It was founded in 1976 by Richard Gaddes (who had worked at the Santa Fe Opera and has returned to Santa Fe as its general director in 2000) along with a group of opera enthusiasts who wished to see festival-quality opera to 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. Plans are currently moving ahead toward the construction of a new Opera Center, which will combine state-of-the-art administrative and rehearsal spaces for the company.
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[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 as did conductors Leonard Slatkin and Christopher Hogwood. Colin Graham served as OTSL's Director of Productions from 1978-1985.
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 is completing a fund-raising campaign for the construection of the Sally S. Levy Opera Center, which will serve as a permanent administrative home and year-round reherasal facilities. Beyond relieving present overcrowding, it will provide effective spaces for rehearsals, community programs, coaching rooms, plus an extensive music library.
“The Opera Center is going to transform Opera Theatre in ways we can hardly imagine,” Charles MacKay has said. “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.”
[edit] Administration
The present General Director, Charles MacKay, 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. He has led the campaign to construct and fund the new Sally S. Levy Opera Center. Since 1985, the OTSL Artistic Director is Colin Graham, and since 1991, the Music Director is Stephen Lord.
