Atlanta Opera

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Atlanta has always had a sordid love affair with opera. The first shows performed in Atlanta pre-date the Civil War primarily in makeshift venues facilities modified for operatic performance.

Accoridng to the New Georgia Encyclopedia, Reconstruction saw the formation of the Atlanta Opera House and Building Association. The association obtained the southwest corner of Marietta Street and Forsyth Street and began to construct a five-story opera house. By 1868, they were out of money. Instead of hosting great operas, Atlanta’s first opera house, the Kimball Opera House as it was later known, was sold and served as Georgia’s state capitol from January 1869 to July 1889.

In 1870, DeGive’s Grand Opera House opened. The cheap seats were $0.25. DeGives struggled with presenting touring companies because of the inflated cost of train travel through the incompletely reconstructed South. He leased the building to the Loewes family as it was later known as Loew's Grand Theatre and subsiquently became famous for the premiere of the movie, Gone with the Wind. Margaret Mitchell, the author of the story was a native of Atlanta. Much of this information can be found at the Atlanta History Center. Click here to go to their website

By 1910, the Metropolitan Opera began touring through Atlanta and the South began a 76 year love affair with its Yankee brethren. The summer Met tours became a weeklong event that drew many of Dixie’s wealthiest citizens and even more socialites. It was so popular that it began to even draw an international celebrity crowd. It is reported that during Atlanta’s golden age of opera, the majority of the social elite would attend the first act and then leave at intermission for drinks and an evening of party-going. Eager young students would often crowd outside the theatre in hopes of gaining partially used tickets and catch the remainder fo the show. As the yearly event outgrew all of Atlanta's theaters - even the Fabulous Fox, they began construction on the Atlanta Civic Center, a cavernous and acoustically inferior building that is unfortunately known as the largest opera house in the world. The yearly Met shows thrived until the Met disbanded its touring program in 1986.

Along the way, many local Atlanta artists attempted to create a company solely for Atlanta. There was even an ill-fated push to spark the interest of legendary chorister and conductor Robert Shaw to head a regional company. Some of these companies that were founded and have since vanished are the Atlanta Chamber Opera (1960’s), Georgia Opera (1970’s), Atlanta Lyric Opera (1976), and Atlanta Civic Opera (1979). All are defunct. However, in the 1980’s, the Capital City Opera (1883?) and the Atlanta Opera (1986) were formed. Both organizations were able to survive in Atlanta longer than any previous endeavor.

The Atlanta Opera strives to present opera productions while fostering education about the art form and encouraging its growth with services and programs designed to fill the needs of the community.

Capital City Opera continues to deliver quality opera with local classically trained vocalists and small chamber ensembles. Each year, Capitol City Opera Company employs an average of 60 singers and reaches approximately 40,000 people through its various programs.