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34-499: Since August 2003, Seattle Opera has performed at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall (capacity: 2,967), which was built on the site of the old Seattle Opera House at Seattle Center . The company's current general director is James Robinson. Glynn Ross founded the company in 1963, and served as its first general director until 1983. From the outset, Ross saw opera as something that had to be sold using similar techniques to those used to sell popular entertainment: In 1970, H. C. Schonberg of

68-450: A 2004 production of Carmen that was the largest ticket-seller in the company's history. Seattle Opera currently does not have a full-time music director. In October 2007, the company announced the appointment of Asher Fisch as its principal guest conductor. For many years, the company was noted for its performances of the works of Richard Wagner , including the Ring cycle. In 1975, it

102-453: A Seattle Symphony performance featuring Igor Stravinsky as a guest conductor and Van Cliburn as a guest soloist. The Opera House hosted several performances during the World's Fair, including live telecasts of The Ed Sullivan Show , a science fiction panel discussion featuring Ray Bradbury and Rod Serling , as well as multiple concerts and dance performances featuring acts from around

136-601: A major renovation in 2003. It was formerly known as the Civic Auditorium and Seattle Opera House . The building originally opened in 1928 as the Civic Auditorium. Its construction was funded by a donation from Seattle saloon owner James Osborne and a voter-approved municipal bond issue; the site was donated to the city by David Denny , one of the members of the Denny Party credited with founding

170-470: A new creative team to conceive Seattle Opera's third Ring production, which was unveiled in 2000 ( Das Rheingold and Die Walküre ) and 2001 (full cycle) and returned in 2005, 2009, and 2013. Director Stephen Wadsworth , Set Designer Thomas Lynch, Costume Designer Martin Pakledinaz , Lighting Designer Peter Kaczorowski created a production which became known as the "Green" Ring , inspired in part by

204-705: The New York Times contrasted Seattle Opera's approach to marketing to the then-still staid marketing of New York's Metropolitan Opera : Further, Schonberg remarked favorably on the "air of freshness and experimentation that contrasts vividly with the dull, tried and true, tired professionalism in other opera houses one could mention." The company named Speight Jenkins as its next general director in December 1982, an unusual appointment in that Jenkins did not have prior administrative experience with arts organisations prior to his appointment. Jenkins formally took up

238-744: The Siegfried Wanderer roles at the Met in New York in December 1961 and January 1962, he was ready to sing his first complete Ring Cycle . This was to be the now legendary new production mounted by Wieland Wagner at the Cologne Opera in West Germany in May 1962. Wieland Wagner was ready to try out new singers and production ideas in advance of his new Bayreuth Festival production which

272-925: The Bayreuth Festival as Amfortas in Parsifal , and reappeared frequently in the 1950s and early 1960s as Amfortas and in the title role of The Flying Dutchman . He made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera in 1951 as Amonasro in Aida , and sang over 270 performances, both baritone and bass roles, such as Figaro and Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro , The Speaker in The Magic Flute , Mandryka in Arabella , Scarpia in Tosca ,

306-856: The Bel Canto Trio in 1947–48, London was engaged by the Vienna State Opera , where he scored his first major success in 1949. In 1950, he sang the role of Pater Profundis in Mahler's Eighth Symphony , conducted by Leopold Stokowski , with Carlos Alexander and Eugene Conley among the other soloists. He was among the most famous exponents of his five signature roles: Don Giovanni , Boris Godunov , Wotan , Scarpia and Amfortas . He never recorded any role in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , although recital performances of Hans Sachs' monologues exist on record. In 1951 he sang at

340-543: The Hollywood Bowl . In the summer of 1945 Antal Doráti invited his longtime friend, the Hungarian bass Mihály Székely , to sing at the first concert of the newly reorganized Dallas Symphony Orchestra . Due to travel difficulties, Székely was unable to arrive in time, so Doráti called upon young George London as a substitute. After performing widely with tenor Mario Lanza and soprano Frances Yeend as part of

374-626: The 2019-2020 season. Her tenure at Seattle Opera overlapped with the COVID-19 pandemic , and her work at Seattle Opera included presentation of a filmed virtual season of productions. In June 2023, Seattle Opera announced the scheduled conclusion of Scheppelmann's tenure as general director at the close of the 2023-2024 season. In August 2024, the company announced the appointment of James Robinson as its next general director and artistic director, effective 4 September 2024, with an initial contract of five seasons. His previous work at Seattle Opera included

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408-755: The Met in March 1965, he canceled his upcoming appearances at the Bayreuth Festival to rest and ideally recover his voice. However, his vocal decline continued so severely that by March 1966, he performed his last appearance at the Metropolitan Opera: the role of Amfortas in Parsifal . London subsequently received injections of Teflon in his paralyzed vocal cord – then the state-of-the-art treatment for this condition – which filled it out and therefore restored his voice to some extent. But he decided

442-474: The Opera House. The "most dramatic" renovation and expansion of the Opera House began in 2002. Cell phone pioneer Craig McCaw along with his three brothers donated $ 20 million to help fund construction and as a result the newly renovated building was named Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, after their mother. LMN Architects oversaw the renovation and McCaw Hall opened in late June 2003. The first concert at

476-609: The Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. A recording of a live concert with piano accompaniment is also available from VAI, which includes Mussorgsky 's Songs and Dances of Death , as well as several Schubert Lieder and a variety of songs in English. During his Met career, in 1956, he appeared on Ed Sullivan 's television program in an abridged version of act 2 of Tosca , opposite Maria Callas , conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos . A kinescope of that performance

510-536: The city of Seattle. The auditorium became the home of the Seattle Symphony and also hosted several touring shows. In 1956, voters passed another bond measure to fund expansion of the Civic Auditorium for use as a venue in the upcoming World's Fair . Construction began in 1959, and the auditorium reopened as the Seattle Opera House on April 21, 1962 – the opening day of the World's Fair – with

544-420: The company as of the 2014-2015 season. His tenure included productions of contemporary operas such as As One (Laura Kaminsky) An American Dream (Jack Perla). Lang stood down as general director of the company at the close of the 2018-2019 season. In March 2019, the company announced the appointment of Christina Scheppelmann as its next general director, the first woman to be named to the post, effective with

578-691: The company could achieve higher quality performances by presenting the Ring every four years.) The new production was directed by Francois Rochaix, with sets and costumes designed by Robert Israel, lighting designed by Joan Sullivan, and supertitles (the first ever created for the Ring ) by Sonya Friedman . The production set the action in a world of nineteenth-century theatricality. Initially controversial, it sold out in 1995. Conductors included Armin Jordan ( Die Walküre in 1985), Manuel Rosenthal (1986), and Hermann Michael (1987, 1991, and 1995). Jenkins engaged

612-563: The company include: Notes Sources McCaw Hall Marion Oliver McCaw Hall (often abbreviated to McCaw Hall ) is a performing arts hall in Seattle, Washington . Located on the grounds of Seattle Center and owned by the city of Seattle, McCaw Hall's two principal tenants are the Seattle Opera and Pacific Northwest Ballet . The building is named for Marion Oliver McCaw, whose four sons donated $ 20 million to fund

646-468: The cycle was drawing opera lovers from all over the United States, as well as many other countries of the world, and Seattle appeared to be a serious rival to Bayreuth. Following his appointment as general director, Jenkins immediately set about creating a new Ring production. Die Walküre appeared first, in 1985, followed by complete cycles in 1986, 1987, 1991, and 1995. (Jenkins determined that

680-569: The improvement did not let him achieve again his self-imposed highest standards. He therefore ended his singing career in 1967, at 46. In 1971, London established the George London Foundation for Singers, which gives grants to young opera singers early in their careers. $ 80,000 is given each year to the winners of an annual competition. In 1975, he directed the first Ring Cycle produced by Seattle Opera , creating its "Pacific Northwest Wagner Festival". From 1975 until 1977 he

714-531: The natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest. Armin Jordan returned to conduct in 2000, Franz Vote in 2001, and Robert Spano in 2005 and 2009. The 2013 production, conducted by Asher Fisch , was released as a commercial recording on compact disc and on iTunes. The productions starred singers such as Greer Grimsley , Stephanie Blythe , Ewa Podles , Jane Eaglen , Richard Paul Fink, Margaret Jane Wray , and Stephen Milling . Seattle Opera draws some of

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748-534: The others to make up the first consecutive Ring Cycle over six days in July. In spite of the modernization of the opera productions which Ross found at the Bayreuth Festival , Seattle's were to be traditional productions and appeal to the lovers of the traditional. Two back-to-back cycles of the Ring , one each in German and English, were presented annually between 1975 and 1983. Andrew Porter 's English adaptation which

782-676: The post with the 1983-1984 season, during which the company ran its first-ever fiscal deficit. Early in his tenure, Jenkins stated a goal of producing all ten of the major Wagner works in Seattle. This project began with Tannhäuser in 1984, which was the first Seattle Opera production with supertitles. The project culminated with the August 2003 production of Parsifal , the first company production in its new venue, Marion Oliver McCaw Hall. Jenkins concluded his tenure as general director of Seattle Opera in 2014. Aidan Lang became general director of

816-626: The renovated venue took place on September 29, 2003. George London (bass-baritone) George London (born George Burnstein ; May 30, 1920 – March 24, 1985) was an American concert and operatic bass-baritone . George Burnstein was born to U.S. naturalized parents of Russian origin in Montreal , Quebec, Canada, and grew up in Los Angeles , California. His operatic debut was in 1941 as George Burnson , singing Dr Grenvil in La traviata at

850-921: The title role in Don Giovanni , Boris in Boris Godunov , Escamillo in Carmen , Iago in Otello , Amfortas in Parsifal , Wolfram in Tannhäuser , the four villains in The Tales of Hoffmann , Golaud in Pelléas et Mélisande , and Mephistopheles in Faust . In 1964, he created the role of Abdul in the American premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti 's The Last Savage . He was the first North American to sing

884-741: The title role of Boris Godunov at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, at the height of the Cold War in 1960. He frequently performed in English: Broadway show tunes and negro spirituals . He recorded many of his roles for RCA Victor , Columbia Records , and Decca . He recorded Verdi 's Requiem with Richard Tucker and Lucine Amara , under Eugene Ormandy . He also recorded Puccini 's Tosca with Mario Del Monaco and Renata Tebaldi under Francesco Molinari-Pradelli conducting

918-465: The world's best opera singers to its stage. Some of the notable performers who have appeared in productions include: George Fiore was Seattle Opera's choral director from 1983 through 2000. Seattle Opera often invites guest directors and conductors to take part in its productions. Notable conductors and directors include: Seattle Opera supports the creation of new operas and has commissioned several works throughout its history. New operas performed by

952-428: The world. The Seattle Opera company was founded in 1963 and held its first season in the Opera House in 1964. Pacific Northwest Ballet was founded in 1972 and held its first season in the Opera House in 1973. Seattle Symphony held its final concert in the Opera House on June 30, 1998, and moved to the newly completed Benaroya Hall soon after. In 1999, voters passed a bond measure to fund another major renovation to

986-477: Was celebrated twice before his death. In the Carnegie Hall concert of 1981, introduced by Beverly Sills , performances were given by a long list of colleagues. In Vienna, 1984, some of the world's greatest singers assembled to honor the artist. In the 1960s, his voice began to deteriorate and partial vocal paralysis was diagnosed. He took injections of silicone and teflon, but did not improve. In 1977,

1020-518: Was general director of the Washington Opera . His voice was large, dark and resonant with a massive, penetrating top. Although it was also rather thickly-textured, London at his best commanded a wide range of dynamics, from delicate pianississimi to resounding fortes . His musicianship won him acclaim on three continents. London was also a fine actor with a robust stage presence; he was tall, powerfully built and striking. London's talent

1054-509: Was prepared for the English National Opera and which was priced below the German language cycle, introduced many new listeners to Wagner. Originally directed by George London with designer John Naccarato, later presentations were directed by Lincoln Clark between 1976 and 1983, and by the tenor, Ragnar Ulfung in 1984. Henry Holt conducted all the cycles. The performances were well attended and received good press. By 1982,

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1088-471: Was preserved. Another black-and-white videotape of him in the same role, opposite Renata Tebaldi in a complete performance, is sometimes available. In 1958, London performed the leading role of Wotan , in the groundbreaking recording of Richard Wagner 's opera Das Rheingold , conducted by Georg Solti , and produced by John Culshaw for Decca . Having already sung the Rheingold Wotan and

1122-551: Was scheduled for the summer of 1965 with London as Wotan and the Wanderer. The Cologne Ring proved to be a great success (a private recording of Das Rheingold from this cycle exists to verify this) but London's vocal health began to deteriorate rapidly during the 1963/64 season; subsequently the problem was diagnosed as a paralysed vocal cord. This problem increased so much that shortly after singing Wotan in Die Walküre at

1156-476: Was the first American company to perform the cycle in its entirety over the space of a week since the Metropolitan Opera in 1939. The Seattle Opera's last Ring was in August 2013, and they have stated that they have no plans to produce the Ring in the future. Beginning with a production of Die Walküre one year, and following successively each year with Siegfried and, finally, Götterdämmerung , Ross announced in 1975 that Das Rheingold would precede

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