The
Minnesota Opera is a performance organization based in
Minneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis is the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Hennepin County. The city lies on both banks of the Mississippi River, just north of the river's confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Saint Paul, the state's capital. Known as the Twin Cities,...
. It was founded in 1963 by the
Walker Art CenterThe Walker Art Center is a contemporary art center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is considered one of the nation's "big five" museums for modern art along with the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum and the Hirshhorn...
, and is known for premiering such diverse works as
Where the Wild Things AreWhere the Wild Things Are is a 1963 children's picture book by American writer Maurice Sendak, originally published by Harper & Row. The book has been adapted into other media several times, including an animated short, an opera, and, in 2009, a live-action feature film adaptation and video game...
by
Maurice SendakMaurice Bernard Sendak is an American writer and illustrator of children's literature. He is best known for his book Where the Wild Things Are, published in 1963.-Early life:...
and
Frankenstein by
Libby LarsenLibby Larsen is an American composer of contemporary classical music who lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Born in Wilmington, Delaware, she grew up in Minnesota and completed undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis...
. Its latest commissioned piece and world premiere,
The Grapes of WrathThe Grapes of Wrath is an opera in three acts composed by Ricky Ian Gordon to a libretto by Michael Korie based on John Steinbeck’s 1939 novel of the same title...
-- based on John Steinbeck's
novel of the same nameThe Grapes of Wrath is a novel published in 1939 and written by John Steinbeck, who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1940 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. Set during the Great Depression, the novel focuses on a poor family of sharecroppers, the Joads, driven from their home by drought,...
, with music by
Ricky Ian GordonRicky Ian Gordon is an American stage musical composer and lyricist.-Life and career:Gordon was born in Oceanside, New York and raised on Long Island with his three sisters, Susan, Lorraine and Sheila, by his mother and father, Eve and Sam...
and libretto by
Michael KorieMichael Korie is an American librettist and lyricist. Korie's works include Grey Gardens , Harvey Milk and The Grapes of Wrath ...
-- was presented in February 2007.
A number of operas have also received their American premieres at the Minnesota Opera, including
The Handmaid's TaleThe Handmaid's Tale is an opera composed by the Danish composer Poul Ruders, to a libretto by Paul Bentley based on the novel of the same name written by Canadian author Margaret Atwood.-Synopsis:...
,
Postcard from Morocco,
ArmidaArmida is a beautiful enchantress in Torquato Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered, who bewitched Rinaldo, one of the Crusaders, by her charms, as Circe did Ulysses, and who in turn, when the spell was broken, overpowered her by his love and persuaded her to become a Christian...
,
The Elephant Man, and
The Fortunes of King Croesus. The American premiere of
Jonathan DoveJonathan Dove is a British composer of opera and choral works and theatre, film, orchestral and chamber music. He has arranged a number of operas for English Touring Opera and the City of Birmingham Touring Opera , including in 1990 a famous 18-player two-evening adaptation of Wagner's Der Ring...
's
Pinocchio was presented in February 2009.
Minnesota Opera's season typically runs from September through April, with five productions per season and five to seven performances of each production. Performances are given at the
Ordway Center for the Performing ArtsOrdway Center for the Performing Arts is located in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota and hosts a variety of performing arts, such as touring Broadway musicals, orchestra, opera, and cultural performers. It serves as a home to several local arts organizations, including the The Minnesota Opera, The...
in
Saint Paul, MinnesotaSaint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the north bank of the Mississippi River, downstream of the river's confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
. The Minnesota Opera claims to be the 15th largest opera company in the United States.
Repertoire
2008/09
Il trovatore (Verdi)
The Abduction from the Seraglio (Mozart)
Faust (Gounod)
@ Pinocchio (Dove)
The Barber of Seville (Rossini)
2007/08
A Masked Ball (Verdi)
The Italian Girl in Algiers (Rossini)
Romeo and Juliet (Gounod)
@ The Fortunes of King Croesus (Keiser)
Rusalka (Dvorak)
2006/07
La donna del lago (Rossini)
The Tales of Hoffmann (Offenbach)
§ † The Grapes of Wrath (Gordon)
Lakmé (Delibes)
The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart)
2005/06
Tosca (Puccini)
Don Giovanni (Mozart)
@ Orazi e Curiazi (Mercadante)
@ Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man (Petitgirard)
2004/05
Madame Butterfly (Puccini)
Maria Padilla (Donizetti)
Carmen (Bizet)
Nixon in China (Adams)
2003/04
Rigoletto (Verdi)
Lucrezia Borgia (Donizetti)
Passion (Sondheim)
The Magic Flute (Mozart)
2002/03
The Merry Widow (Lehár)
Norma (Bellini)
The Flying Dutchman (Wagner)
La traviata (Verdi)
@ The Handmaid's Tale (Ruders)
2001/02
Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti)
La clemenza di Tito (Mozart)
La bohème (Puccini)
Little Women (Adamo)
Don Carlos (Verdi)
2000/01
Turandot (Puccini)
The Capulets and the Montagues (Bellini)
Street Scene (Weill)
The Barber of Seville (Rossini)
Pagliacci/Carmina burana (Leoncavallo/Orff)
� The Barber of Seville (Rossini)
2000
Der Rosenkavalier (R. Strauss)
Macbeth (Verdi)
Semiramide (Rossini)
The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart)
� The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart)
1999
Otello (Verdi)
Madame Butterfly (Puccini)
The Turn of the Screw (Britten)
Faust (Gounod)
� Madame Butterfly (Puccini)
1998
Aida (Verdi)
Cinderella (Rossini)
@ Transatlantic (Antheil)
Tosca (Puccini)
� Cinderella (Rossini, Massenet)
1997
La traviata (Verdi)
The Magic Flute (Mozart)
The Rake's Progress (Stravinsky)
Carmen (Bizet)
� Carmen (Bizet)
1996
La bohème (Puccini)
Don Giovanni (Mozart)
Pelléas and Mélisande (Debussy)
The Tales of Hoffmann (Offenbach)
� The Bohemians (Puccini)
1995
Turandot (Puccini)
The Barber of Seville (Rossini)
Rigoletto (Verdi)
§ † Bok Choy Variations (Chen & Simonson)
�Figaro's Revenge (Rossini, Paisiello)
1994
Julius Caesar (Handel)
@ Diary of an African American (Peterson)
Il trovatore (Verdi)
§ The MerryWidow & The Hollywood Tycoon (Lehár)
� Don Giovanni (Mozart)
1992/93
The Flying Dutchman (Wagner)
@ Armida (Rossini)
Madame Butterfly (Puccini)
The Pirates of Penzance (Gilbert & Sullivan)
1991/92
Tosca (Puccini)
The Pearl Fishers (Bizet)
The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart)
§ † From the Towers of theMoon (Moran & La Chiusa)
� The Magic Flute (Mozart)
Carousel (Rodgers & Hammerstein)
1990/91
Norma (Bellini)
The Aspern Papers (Argento)
Carmen (Bizet)
Così fan tutte (Mozart)
� Così fan tutte (Mozart)
� Swing on a Star (Winkler)
1989/90
La bohème (Puccini)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (Britten)
Roméo et Juliette (Gounod)
§ † Frankenstein, The Modern Prometheus (Larson)
My Fair Lady (Lerner & Loewe)
§ Snow Leopard (Harper & Nieboer)� Madame Butterfly (Puccini)
Where the Wild Things Are (Sendak & Knussen)
1988/89
Don Giovanni (Mozart)
Salome (R. Strauss)
The Mikado (Gilbert & Sullivan)
The Juniper Tree (Glass & Moran)
Show Boat (Kern & Hammerstein)
§ † Without Colors (Wellman & Shiflett)
§ † Red Tide (Selig & Sherman)
§ † Newest Little Opera in the World (ensemble)
� Cinderella (Rossini)
� Tintypes (Kyte, Marvin, Pearle)
1987/88
Die Fledermaus (J. Strauss)
Rigoletto (Verdi)
Rusalka (Dvorak)
Cowboy Lips (Greene & Madsen)
§ † Fly Away All (Hutchinson & Shank)
Book of Days (Monk)
Oklahoma! (Rodgers & Hammerstein)
� Carmen (Bizet)
� Jargonauts, Ahoy! (McKeel)
1986/87
The Pearl Fishers (Bizet)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (Paulus)
Ariadne auf Naxos (R. Strauss)
South Pacific (Rodgers & Hammerstein)
� Hansel and Gretel (Humperdinck)
§ † � Jargonauts, Ahoy! (McKeel)
1985/86
@ Where the Wild Things Are/Higglety Pigglety Pop!(Knussen & Sendak)
La traviata (Verdi)
The Elixir of Love (Donizetti)
The King and I (Rodgers & Hammerstein)
§ † Opera Tomorrow
� The Fantasticks (Schmidt)
� The Magic Flute (Mozart)
§ † � The Music Shop (Wargo)
1984/85
@ Animalen (Werle)
§ † Casanova's Homecoming (Argento)
The Magic Flute (Mozart)
� La bohème (Puccini)
� Meanwhile, back at Cinderella's (Arlan)
1983/84
Hansel & Gretel (Humperdinck)
Madame Butterfly (Puccini)
La Cenerentola (Rossini)
§ The Abduction of Figaro (PDQ Bach)
� The Boor (Argento)
� Chanticleer (Barab)
� Don Pasquale (Donizetti)
1982/83
Hansel & Gretel (Humperdinck)
Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti)
§ A Death in the Family (Mayer)
Kiss Me, Kate (Porter)
� The Barber of Seville (Rossini)
� The Frog Who Became a Prince (Barnes)
� Zetabet (Barnes)
1981/82
Hansel & Gretel (Humperdinck)
The Village Singer (Paulus)
Gianni Schicchi (Puccini)
The Barber of Seville (Rossini)
§ Feathertop (Barnes)
§ The Mask of Evil (Mollicone)
� Hansel & Gretel (Humperdinck)
� Rosina (Titus)
1980/81
The Merry Widow (Lehar)
Black River (Susa)
Carmen (Bizet)
A Water Bird Talk (Argento)
§ Miss Havisham's Wedding Night (Argento)
� The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart)
� The Threepenny Opera (Weill)
1979/80
The Abduction from the Seraglio (Mozart)
The Pirates of Penzance (Gilbert & Sullivan)
La bohème (Puccini)
§ † Rosina (Titus)
� A Christmas Carol (Sandow)
1978/79
The Love for Three Oranges (Prokofiev)
§ The Jealous Cellist (Stokes)
The Passion According to St. Matthew (J.S. Bach)
La traviata (Verdi)
The Consul (Menotti)
� Viva la Mamma (Donizetti)
1977/78
@ Christopher Columbus (Offenbach)
The Mother of Us All (Thomson)
The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart)
§ Claudia Legare (Ward)
1976/77
The Bartered Bride (Smetana)
The Passion According to St. Matthew (J.S. Bach)
Candide (Bernstein)
Mahagonny (Weill)
1975/76
§ † Black River (Susa)
El Capitan (Sousa)
Così fan tutte (Mozart)
§ † The Voyage of Edgar Allan Poe (Argento)
1974/75
§ † Gallimaufry (Minnesota Opera)
§ Gulliver (Blackwood, Kaplan, Lewin)
The Magic Flute (Mozart)
Albert Herring (Britten)
1973/74
El Capitan (Sousa)
Transformations (Susa)
Don Giovanni (Mozart)
§ † The Newest Opera in the World (Minnesota Opera)
1972/73
The Threepenny Opera (Weill)
Postcard from Morocco (Argento)
The Barber of Seville (Rossini)
§ † Transformations (Susa)
1971/72
§ † Postcard from Morocco (Argento)
§ † The Business of Good Government (Marshall)
The Good Soldier Schweik (Kurka)
The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart)
1970/71
§ † Christmas Mummeries & Good Government(Marshall)
§ † Faust Counter Faust (Gessner)
The Coronation of Poppea (Monteverdi)
The Mother of Us All (Thomson)
1969/70
§ † Oedipus and the Sphinx (Marshall)
@ Punch and Judy (Birtwistle)
@ 17 Days and 4 Minutes (Egk)
§ † The Wanderer (Paul & Martha Boesing)
1968/69
Così fan tutte (Mozart)
§ † Horspfal (Stokes)
The Wise Woman and the King (Orff)
1967/68
The Man in the Moon (Haydn)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (Britten)
1966/67
The Mother of Us All (Thomson)
The Sorrows of Orpheus (Milhaud)
@ The Harpies (Blitzstein)
Socraties (Satie)
Three Minute Operas (Milhaud)
1965/66
The Abduction from the Seraglio (Mozart)
The Good Soldier Schweik (Kurka)
1964/65
The Rape of Lucretia (Britten)
The Wise Woman and the King (Orff)
1963/64
§ † The Masque of Angels (Argento)
The Masque of Venus and Adonis (Blow)
Albert Herring (Britten)
§ World Premiere
@ American Premiere
† Commissioned by The Minnesota Opera or by The Minnesota Opera Midwest Tour
� Tour production
External links