The Dallas Opera

Written by Julie Greiner

A forty-four year tradition of artistic excellence and outstanding community service has made The Dallas Opera a major contributor to the national and international reputation of our city, and a major factor in the economic impact of the arts in North Texas.

46th Season of the Dallas Opera

The Dallas Opera's 46th season will open on November 22, 2002 with Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio, in a production directed by Deborah Warner and designed by Jean Kalman and John Bright. Revivals during the 2002-03 season included: director John Copley's popular production of Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel designed by Dallas

Courtesy Dallas Opera

native Michael Yeargan and Resident Costume Designer Peter J. Hall, which was touted as "...a holiday treat for the entire family" (Chris Shull, The Met) when it was last performed at The Dallas Opera in the 1995-96 season; and a return of Puccini's famous Turandot designed by Allen Charles Klein, described by John Ardoin at the Dallas Morning News as "...a fresh riot of color and ...flagrant mirror of Puccini's technicolored big-screen score" when it was last seen in Dallas in the 1997-98 season, featuring a new staging by director Garnett Bruce. The Company will also perform Gioachino Rossini's opera Ermione for the first time in a new production directed by John Copley and designed by John Conklin; and the season will end with a production of Mozart's Don Giovanni which was originally designed for Houston Grand Opera by Carl Friedrich Oberle and directed by Harry Silverstein.

The Dallas Opera's Music Director Graeme Jenkins will conduct this production. Last season, Mr. Jenkins conducted the Dallas premiere of Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, the world premiere of Tobias Picker's Therese Raquin, and completed his first Ring cycle with Wagner's Goetterdaemmerung. This production was originally designed for Glyndebourne Opera, and was seen recently at Paris' Chatelet Theatre. The entire design team will be making their Dallas Opera debuts with this production and includes British stage director Deborah Warner, set and lighting designer Jean Kalman and costume designer
Scene From Therese Production
Courtesy Dallas Opera

John Bright. Lighting recreated by Robin Carter, making her Dallas Opera debut with this production.

Brief History of The Dallas Opera

Through the combined leadership of Lawrence Kelly and Rescigno, The Dallas Civic Opera earned an international reputation as one of America's leading opera companies. Lawrence Kelly and Rescigno toured Europe in search of artists, and it was through Kelly's influence that Maria Callas came to Dallas in October 1957 for an inaugural concert to open the Opera's first season. She returned in 1958 to star in the Opera's production of La Traviata, and for several years Dallas was the only city in the United States where this brilliant artist performed. The Dallas Opera has presented many international stars in their American debuts, including Montserrat Caballe, Ghena Dimitruva,Placido Domingo, Raul Giminez, Waltraud Meier, Pietro Spagnoli, Joan Sutherland, and Jon Vickers. The Dallas Opera hosted the opera debuts of directors John Houseman, Ellis Rabb, and Jose Quintero, and the American debut of designer/director Franco Zeffirelli. A champion of the unusual, The Dallas Opera has also introduced many rarely performed works of the Baroque period into the standard repertoire and has staged six American premieres, including the world premiere of The Aspern Papers, which was nationally broadcast to 4 million viewers on PBS's "Great Performances." For information on the Dallas Opera call: (214) 443-1000.