![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Interest in opera performance thrived in the Twin Cities in the 1950s due to yearly touring productions performed by the Metropolitan Opera of New York. In the twenty-first century it produces standard classics while also commissioning and creating compelling new works. Since its founding in 1963 as the Center Opera Company of the Walker Art Center, Minnesota Opera has maintained a reputation as a highly regarded opera company. The Minnesota Opera was born at the Walker Art Center It commissioned and produced new operas, such as Silent Night (2012), to critical acclaim.įor more information on this topic, check out the original entry on MNopedia. In 2008 Minnesota Opera launched a New Works Initiative. Its new site consolidated company operations into three renovated warehouse buildings and provided a top-tier complex for all phases of opera production. In 1990 the Opera Center opened in the Warehouse District of Minneapolis. In response, Minnesota Opera shifted its programming philosophy and began offering more traditional opera repertoire. In 1986 the Metropolitan Opera discontinued its national tours, limiting the options of local fans who preferred traditional opera. Paul in 1985 and began offering productions in that venue annually. Minnesota Opera became a founding tenant of the Ordway Music Theater when it opened in downtown St. The Twin Cities opera scene weathered major changes in the 1980s. Paul Opera were then invited to serve on the board of Minnesota Opera. Several former board members of the defunct St. Final productions from the 1974 season included Bizet’s Carmen and Wagner’s Siegfried. Paul Opera no longer produced its annual summer season of well-known operas, and financial deficits forced it out of business. An October 8 press release explained the company’s aim “to avoid confusion with other opera organizations which use the word ‘center’ in their name.” It intended for the new name “to reflect the degree to which the local company has become a nationally known phenomenon of this region.”īy 1975 the St. In the fall of 1972, while publicizing its upcoming tenth season, Center Opera changed its name to Minnesota Opera. It also staged the world-premiere production of Faust Counter Faust by John Gessner and H. It traveled to San Francisco, throughout the state of Minnesota, and on to the East Coast to present Gertrude Stein’s The Mother of Us All. The reputation and uniqueness of the Center Opera Company is based on new directions in opera production.”Ĭenter Opera launched its first national tour in 1971. “ from romantic, neo-classic, to the most advanced contemporary. “The operas of the twentieth century provide an enormous range of artistic styles,” he observed. Hintz also explained the artistic direction of the early years. As Norton Hintz, Center Opera’s president, reported in that year, the incorporation as a separate financial entity would allow “greater artistic and financial independence, more productions, and a closer cooperation with the University, schools, and major musical organizations.” In 1969 Center Opera incorporated as a separate company governed by its own board. Other venues included the Cedar Village Theater in Minneapolis and O’Shaughnessy Auditorium in St. For more than a dozen subsequent years, at least one opera production occurred at the Guthrie Theater each season. It acquired new members and funders, making a third season possible.Īll Center Opera productions during the first five seasons took place at the Guthrie Theater. During its second season the Center Opera Association was formed to promote interest in the company. Walker Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation. Initially it received financial support from the T. The new company became the financial and administrative responsibility of the Walker Art Center. The world premiere took place in January 1964 at the Guthrie Theater, which had opened the previous year on Vineland Place, adjacent to the Walker. Dominick Argento, a University of Minnesota music professor, composed A Masque of Angels for the first Center Opera production. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |