Performed works , composer of
Anna Bolena, the first opera performed at the Liceu The Liceu is a
receiving and
producing house, with two or three new productions staged each year. Its company consists of a permanent orchestra and choir and singers for supporting roles. Leading roles are usually sung by guest singers.
Stagecraft is produced internally by the theater (alone or with other opera houses) and rented from other houses. Until the 1990s, the Liceu also had a ballet company. Most of the operas performed are from 19th-century Italy and Germany:
Verdi,
Wagner,
bel canto composers and, more recently,
Puccini,
Richard Strauss and
Mozart. The history of Liceu premieres illustrates the evolution of European operatic tastes. Opera was only a part of its artistic activities at first, alternating with
zarzuela (Spanish
light opera),
romantic ballet (
Giselle had its first Barcelona performance in 1847), theatrical performances, and magic shows. The first operas performed, Donizetti's
Anna Bolena and Verdi's
I due Foscari, are emblematic of the taste for
bel canto and Italian romantic melodrama:
Rossini, Donizetti,
Bellini, and Verdi. They are still in the repertory, and Verdi is the most-performed composer. The first operas by non-Italian composers which were put on at the Liceu were
Ferdinand Hérold's
Zampa (1848),
Carl Maria von Weber's
Der Freischütz (1849), Giacomo
Meyerbeer's
Robert le diable, Auber's
La muette de Portici (1852) and
Fra Diavolo (1853). These were sung in Italian, the custom at the time. The first performances of
Il trovatore (1854) and
La traviata (1855) led to the crowning of
Giuseppe Verdi as the king of opera. In 1866, Mozart's
Don Giovanni was staged at the Liceu for the first time. In 1883,
Wagner's
Lohengrin was first performed. From the 1880s to the 1950s, Wagner was one of the most beloved and highly regarded composers at the Liceu. It staged the first performance of
Parsifal outside
Bayreuth on 31 December 1913, after the Bayreuth monopoly ended, with Francesc Viñas in the title role and conducted by Franz Beidler. In 1955, the
Bayreuth Festival company visited the theater and performed three operas.
Verismo, especially Puccini, is a late-19th-century tradition. The first Russian opera was staged in 1915 with great success, and
Mussorgsky,
Rimsky-Korsakov and
Tchaikovsky were often performed. Early in the 20th century,
Richard Strauss conducted his works.
Siegfried Wagner conducted a concert in 1904, followed a year later by
Pietro Mascagni. In 1915,
impresario Mestres Calvet broadened the repertory and introduced composers such as
de Falla and
Stravinsky. It was a golden age for Russian and German operas, which were now sung in their original language. Mestres also was associated, beginning in 1917, with the success of
Diaghilev's ballets with
Vaslav Nijinsky,
Léonide Massine,
Lydia Lopokova, Chernicheva and other dancers. Years later,
Anna Pavlova also performed at the Liceu. In 1947, the directing company came into the hands of Arquer and Pàmias. In contrast with the preceding years, which had been marked by programming of the great repertory works, the first season of the new directorship renewed the repertoire with the first performances in Barcelona of about 100 works by a number of composers. Revivals featured Donizetti's
Anna Bolena, which had first been staged at the Liceu one hundred years earlier. For 33 years, Pàmias led Liceu activity when it seemed impossible to maintain the opera house without official aid. The Liceu's repertory has included the world's most-performed titles since the 1950s, including nearly all the great 20th-century composers (Bartók, Honegger, Gershwin, Berg, Janáček, Weill, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Britten,
Schönberg, and
Hindemith) and the
baroque and
classical composers
Monteverdi,
Handel and
Gluck. Ballet remains an important part of the theater's activities, with performances by some of the world's best-known companies (including the
Béjart Ballet).
Most-performed operas The Liceu's most-performed operas by January 2009 were: • Verdi's
Aida, with 442 performances from 1877 to 2008 • Verdi's
Rigoletto, with 359 performances from 1853 to 2005 • Gounod's
Faust, with 297 performances from 1864 to 1988 • Donizetti's
Lucia di Lammermoor, with 274 performances from 1849 to 2007 • Donizetti's
La favorita, with 263 performances from 1850 to 2002 (the last 10 performances were the French version) • Verdi's
Il trovatore, with 259 performances from 1854 to 1993 • Wagner's
Lohengrin, with 241 performances from 1883 to 2006 • Puccini's
La bohème, with 238 performances from 1898 to 2001 • Rossini's
Il barbiere di Siviglia, with 233 performances from 1847 to 1991 • Verdi's
La traviata, with 231 performances from 1855 to 2002 • Meyerbeer's
Les Huguenots, with 228 performances from 1856 to 1971 (mostly the Italian version) • Bizet's
Carmen, with 205 performances from 1888 to 1993 • Boito's
Mefistofele, with 195 performances from 1880 to 1988 • Meyerbeer's ''
L'Africaine'', with 191 performances from 1866 to 1977 (mostly the Italian version) • Wagner's
Die Walküre, with 182 performances from 1899 to 2008
Premieres The Liceu has premiered a number of theatrical and musical works, including: • 1847 (4 April): Ventura de la Vega's history play
Don Fernando de Antequera • 1851 (June):
El granuja, a
zarzuela with music by N. Gardyn • 1853 (8 January):
Temistocle Solera's Spanish opera
La hermana de Pelayo;
La tapada del retiro, Nicolau Manent's
zarzuela;
Sueño y realidad, a
zarzuela with music by
Felipe Pedrell • 1854 (16 February): J. Freixas' opera,
La figlia del deserto • 1857 (23 May): Nicolau Manent's opera,
Gualtero di Monsonís • 1858 Pujadas' Catalan
zarzuela Setze jutges (
Sixteen judges), the first Catalan-language play performed at the Liceu • 1858
Juan Garín, o, Las peñas de Montserrat, with music by Mariano Soriano Fuertes, Nicolau Manent and Francisco Porcell • 1859 (12 May): Nicolau Guanyabéns' opera, ''Arnaldo d'Erill'' • 1859 Josep Anselm Clavé's Catalan
zarzuela ''L'aplec del Remei'' • 1867 (23 March): Francesc Sánchez Gavagnach's opera
Rahabba. • 1874 (28 January): Marià Obiols' opera,
Editta di Belcourt • 1874 (14 April):
Felipe Pedrell's opera, ''L'ultimo Abenzerraggio'' • 1878 (27 November): Salvatore Auteri-Manzocchi's opera,
Il negriero • 1885 (6 June): Manuel Giró's opera,
Il rinnegato Alonso García • 1885 (12 June): Antoni Baratta's opera
Lo desengany, the first Catalan-language opera performed at the Liceu • 1889 (10 July): Francesc Sánchez Gavagnach's opera,
La messagiera • 1892 (14 May):
Tomás Bretón's opera,
Garín • 1895 (8 May):
Isaac Albéniz's opera,
Henry Clifford • 1896 (5 January):
Isaac Albéniz's opera,
Pepita Jiménez • 1902 (4 January):
Felipe Pedrell's
grand opera,
Els Pirineus • 1903 (3 December):
Joan Manén's opera,
Acté • 1906 (20 January):
Enric Morera's opera,
Empòrium • 1906 (21 April):
Enric Morera's opera,
Bruniselda • 1907 (21 January):
Joan Lamote de Grignon's opera,
Hesperia • 1912 (17 January):
Enric Morera's
Titaina, with libretto by
Àngel Guimerà • 1913 (15 January):
Jaume Pahissa's first opera
Gal·la Placídia. • 1913
Jesús Guridi's opera,
Mirentxu (premiered as a
zarzuela in 1910 in
Bilbao, and revised as an opera by the author) • 1916 (18 January):
Enric Morera's opera,
Tassarba • 1919 (15 February):
Jaume Pahissa's opera,
La morisca • 1920 (24 January): Joaquim Cassadó's
Lo monjo negre • 1923 (31 March):
Jaume Pahissa's
Marianela • 1924 (20 December): A. Marqués' opera,
Sor Beatriu • 1927 (12 January): Facundo de la Viña's opera,
La espigadora • 1928 (28 February):
Jaume Pahissa's
La princesa Margarida • 1929 (12 February):
Ricard Lamote de Grignon's ballet,
Somnis • 1929 (14 December):
Jose Maria Usandizaga's opera,
Las golondrinas (premiered as a
zarzuela in 1914, and revised as an opera by Ramón Usandizaga) • 1932 (3 March):
Joan Manén's opera,
Neró i Acté • 1935 (15 January): Joan Gaig's opera,
El estudiante de Salamanca • 1938
Salvador Bacarisse's ballet,
Corrida de feria • 1948 (10 January):
Xavier Montsalvatge's children's opera,
El gato con botas • 1948 (10 January):
Carlos Surinach's opera,
El mozo que casó con mujer brava • 1950 (14 December):
Conrado del Campo's opera,
Lola la Piconera • 1952 (12 December):
Joan Manén's opera
Soledad, and his ballet
Rosario la Tirana • 1953 (21 May): Antoni Massana's
Canigó, the first Catalan-language opera after the
Spanish Civil War • 1955 (17 December): Ángel Barrios' opera,
La Lola se va a los puertos • 1955 (19 December):
Joaquín Rodrigo's ballet,
Pavana real • 1956 (28 April):
Frederic Mompou and
Xavier Montsalvatge's ballet,
Perlimplinada • 1959 (1 January): Joan Altisent's opera,
Amunt! • 1960 (17 November):
Ricard Lamote de Grignon's opera,
La cabeza del dragón (written in 1939) • 1960 (1 May):
Cristóbal Halffter's ballet
Jugando al toro, and
Matilde Salvador's ballet
El segoviano esquivo • 1961 (24 November):
Manuel de Falla and
Ernesto Halffter's scenic cantata,
Atlàntida • 1962 (11 December):
Xavier Montsalvatge's opera,
Una voce in off • 1969 (1 February):
Joan Guinjoan's ballet,
Els cinc continents • 1974 (19 January): Matilde Salvador's opera,
Vinatea • 1975 (29 November): J. Ventura Tort's opera, ''Rondalla d'esparvers'' • 1986 (22 May):
Josep Soler's opera,
Oedipus et Iocasta (premiered as an oratorio at the
Palau de la Música Catalana, 1972) • 1988 (21 September): Xavier Benguerel's scenic cantata
Llibre vermell. • 1989 (24 September):
Leonardo Balada's opera,
Cristóbal Colón • 2000 (2 October): José Luis Turina's opera,
D.Q., Don Quijote en Barcelona, with sets by
La Fura dels Baus • 2004 (3 November): Joan Guinjoan's opera,
Gaudí • 2006 (6 April):
Josep Mestres Quadreny's camera opera,
El ganxo • 2009 (20 April): Enric Palomar's opera,
La cabeza del Bautista Spanish operatic premieres • 1847:
Giuseppe Verdi's ''Giovanna d'Arco'' (1845) • 1848:
Saverio Mercadante's
Orazi e Curiazi (1846) • 1849:
Carl Maria von Weber's
Der Freischütz(1821), Giuseppe Verdi's
Alzira (1847), and
Gaetano Donizetti's
Les martyrs (1840, in Italian) • 1853: Daniel-François
Auber's
Fra Diavolo (1830) • 1854: Giuseppe Verdi's
Il trovatore (1853) • 1856: Giuseppe Verdi's
Les vepres siciliennes (1855, 1856), in Italian;
Giacomo Meyerbeer's
Les huguenots (in Italian) (1836) • 1861: Giuseppe Verdi's
Un ballo in maschera (1859) • 1862: Giuseppe Verdi's
Simon Boccanegra (1857) • 1863:
Giacomo Meyerbeer's
Le prophète (in Italian) (1849) • 1864:
Charles Gounod's
Faust (1859) • 1868: Giacomo Meyerbeer's
Dinorah (in Italian) (1859) • 1870: Giuseppe Verdi's
Don Carlos (1868, Italian version 1869) • 1875: Giuseppe Verdi's
Requiem (1874) and
Ambroise Thomas's
Mignon (1866) • 1876:
Carlos Gomes'
Il guarany (1870) • 1880:
Arrigo Boito's
Mefistofele (1868, revised 1875) • 1883:
Amilcare Ponchielli's
La Gioconda (1876) • 1885:
Richard Wagner's
Die fliegende Höllander (1843) • 1887: Richard Wagner's
Tannhäuser (1845, 1861) • 1891:
Pietro Mascagni's
Cavalleria rusticana (1890) • 1894: Pietro Mascagni's ''L'amico Fritz'' (1891) and
Jules Massenet's
Manon (1884) • 1897:
Camille Saint-Saëns's
Samson et Dalila (1877) • 1898:
Giacomo Puccini's
La bohème (1896) and
Umberto Giordano's
Andrea Chénier (1896) • 1899: Richard Wagner's
Tristan und Isolde (1865) and
Jules Massenet's
Werther (1892) • 1900:
Umberto Giordano's
Fedora(1898), Pietro Mascagni's
Iris (1898),
Richard Wagner's
Siegfried (1876), and
Christoph Willibald Gluck's
Iphigénie en Tauride (1779) • 1901: Richard Wagner's
Götterdammerung(1876) and
Engelbert Humperdinck's
Hänsel und Gretel (1893) • 1903:
Francesco Cilea's
Adriana Lecouvreur (1902) • 1904:
Gustave Charpentier's
Louise (1900) • 1905:
Jules Massenet's
Thaïs (1894) and Richard Wagner's
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1868) • 1907: Pietro Mascagni's
Amica (1905) • 1908:
Camille Saint-Saëns's
Les barbares(1901) • 1910:
Richard Strauss'
Salome (1905) and
Eugen d'Albert's
Tiefland (1903) (sung in Catalan) • 1911:
Claude Debussy's ''
L'enfant prodigue'' (1884) • 1913: Richard Wagner's
Parsifal (1883) • 1915: Giacomo Puccini's
La fanciulla del West (1914) and
Modest Mussorgsky's
Boris Godunov (1869) • 1916:
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's
Il segreto di Susanna (1909) and
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's
Le nozze di Figaro (1786) • 1919:
Jules Massenet's
Le jongleur de Notre-Dame (1902) and Pietro Mascagni's
Guglielmo Rattcliff (1895) • 1920: Pietro Mascagni's
Isabeau (1911) • 1921: Richard Strauss'
Rosenkavalier (1911) and
Vincent d'Indy's ''L'étranger'' (1901) • 1922:
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's
Schneguroschka (1885),
Alexander Borodin's
Prince Igor (1890),
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pikovaia dama (1890) • 1923:
Modest Mussorgsky's
Khovanshchina (1886; first Western performance 1913) • 1924:
Antonín Dvořák's
Rusalka (1900),
Bedřich Smetana's
Prodaná nevesta (
The Bartered Bride, 1866),
Jacques Offenbach's ''Les contes d'Hoffmann'' (1881), and
Jules Massenet's
Hérodiade (1881) • 1925:
Umberto Giordano's
La cena delle beffe (1924), Richard Strauss'
Intermezzo (1924), and Mozart's
Die Zauberflöte(1791) • 1926:
Riccardo Zandonai's
Francesca da Rimini (1914), Rimsky-Korsakov's
The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh (1907, first performance outside Russia),
Pskovityanka (1873, 1892), and
May Night (1879) • 1927:
Zoltán Kodály's
Háry János suite (orchestral suite from opera
Háry János) • 1928:
Igor Stravinsky's ballet
La sacre du printemps (1913), Giacomo Puccini's
Turandot (1926), Mozart's
Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail (1782) • 1929: Massenet's
Don Quichotte (1910) • 1930:
Italo Montemezzi's ''L'amore dei tre re'' (1913) • 1933: Stravinsky's
Oedipus rex (1927) • 1936:
Antonín Dvořák's
Jakobin (1897, revised) • 1939:
Enric Granados's
Goyescas (1916) • 1943: Richard Strauss'
Ariadne auf Naxos (1912) • 1948: Giacomo Puccini's
Il trittico (1918),
Ottorino Respighi's
La fiamma (1934), and Stravinsky's
Le rossignol (1914) • 1949: Richard Strauss'
Elektra (1909) and
Édouard Lalo's ''Le roi d'Ys'' (1888) • 1951: Strauss'
Die Frau ohne Schätten (1918) • 1952:
Gian Carlo Menotti's
The Consul (1950) • 1953:
Riccardo Zandonai's
I cavalieri di Ekebù (1925) • 1954: Menotti's
Amelia al ballo (1937),
Béla Bartók's ''Duke Bluebeard's Castle'' (1919), and Puccini's
La rondine (1920, 1924) • 1955:
Ildebrando Pizzetti's
Debora e Jaele(1921),
George Gershwin's
Porgy and Bess(1935), and
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's
Eugene Onegin (1879) • 1956:
Henry Purcell's
Dido and Aeneas (1689) • 1957: Respighi's
Maria Egiziaca (1932) and Menotti's
The Saint of Bleecker Street (1955) • 1958: Ildebrando Pizzetti's
Assassinio nella catedrale (1958) and
Carl Orff's
Die Kluge (1943) • 1959:
Francis Poulenc's
Dialogues des Carmelites(1959) and
Franco Alfano's
Cyrano de Bergerac (1936) • 1962: Strauss'
Arabella (1932) • 1963: Mozart's
La clemenza di Tito (1791) • 1964:
Alban Berg's
Wozzeck (1925) and
Georg Friedrich Handel's
Giulio Cesare (1724) • 1965:
Dmitri Shostakovich's
Katerina Izmailova (1956) and
Leoš Janáček's
Jenůfa (1904) • 1966:
José Pablo Moncayo's
La mulata de Córdoba (1948),
Luis Sandi's
Carlota, Salvador Moreno's
Severino,
Alfredo Keil's
A serrana (1899), Francis Poulenc's
La voix humaine (1959),
Henri Busser's
La carrosse du Saint-Sacrement, and
Ruggero Leoncavallo's
La bohème (1896) • 1969: Igor Stravinsky's ''The Rake's Progress'' (1962),
Alban Berg's
Lulu (1938), and
Mikhail Glinka's
One life for the Tsar • 1971:
Kurt Weill's
Mahagonny • 1972:
Bohuslav Martinu's
A Greek Passion and Smetana's
Dalibor • 1973:
Leoš Janáček's
Katia Kabanova and
Gaetano Donizetti's
Caterina Cornaro • 1975:
Benjamin Britten's
Billy Budd (1941),
Nino Rota's
Il cappello di paglia di Firenze,
Gian Francesco Malipiero's
Il capitano Spavento, and Stravinsky's
Mavra • 1976: Janáček's
From the Dead House • 1977:
Sergei Prokofiev's
War and Peace,
Hector Berlioz's
Benvenuto Cellini, and
Luigi Cherubini's
Medea • 1985:
Arnold Schoenberg's
Moses und Aaron • 1987:
Alban Berg's
Lulu (
Friedrich Cerha's completed version, 1979) and Mozart's
Lucio Silla • 1991: Strauss'
Capriccio (1942) • 1992:
Philip Glass'
Einstein on the Beach (1976) and János Vajda's
Mario and the magician • 1994:
Paul Hindemith's
Mathis der Maler (1938) • 1999: Janáček's
Vec Makropoulos • 2000:
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's
Sly • 2001: Britten's
Gloriana • 2002:
Dmitri Shostakovich's
Lady Macbeth de Mtsenk (original 1934 version) and
Gaetano Donizetti's
La favorite (1850 French version) • 2003:
Philippe Boesmans'
Wintermärchen (1999) • 2004:
Jules Massenet's
Cléopâtre (1914) • 2005: Britten's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (1960), Giuseppe Verdi's
Il corsaro (1848), and
Gioacchino Rossini's
La gazzetta (1816) • 2006:
Erich Wolfgang Korngold's
Die tote Stadt and Handel's
Ariodante (1735) • 2007:
Hans Werner Henze's
Boulevard Solitude(1952);
Jules Massenet's
Le portrait de Manon (1894); Giuseppe Verdi's
Don Carlos French original version (1868). • 2008: Britten's
Death in Venice and ''L'ape musicale
(a 1789 pasticcio'' by
Lorenzo da Ponte with music by Mozart,
Vicente Martín y Soler,
Giuseppe Gazzaniga,
Domenico Cimarosa, Giordani and Tarchi) • 2009:
Karol Szymanowski's
Król Roger (1926) and Héctor Parra's
Hypermusic prologue (2009) • 2010:
George Benjamin's
Into the little hill (2006) • 2011:
Agustí Charles'
Lord Byron: un estiu sense estiu (2011) and
György Ligeti's
Le Grand Macabre (1978) • 2013:
Kurt Weill's
Street Scene (1946)
Stage directors and stagecraft During the second half of the 19th century, a school of stagecraft and theatrical scenery was developed at the Liceu. After beginning with Joan Ballester, who was known for his sets for ''
L'Africaine'', the leading set designer was Francesc Soler i Rovirosa. The style was realistic, using painted paper
flats and curtains. Sets and costumes were made in the theater workshops. From the 1900s to the 1930s, the school was represented by scenery painters who included Maurici Vilomara, Fèlix Urgellés, Salvador Alarma and Oleguer Junyent. The last of these painters was Josep Mestres Cabanes, who painted scenery from 1930 to the 1950s.
Singers '' (1980), with
Montserrat Caballé and
Pedro Lavirgen Many notable singers have performed at the Liceu; when
Camille Saint-Saëns visited the Liceu, he said:
"Ils aiment trop the ténor" ("They [the Liceu public] love tenors too much"). Liceu debuts and final (or most recent) performances are in parentheses: • 1800s: Manuela Rossi-Caccia (1847), (1860/1862),
Giuseppe Mario (1863),
Roberto Stagno (1867), Rosa Vercolini,
Francesco Tamagno (1876/1890), Adelaida d'Alberti, Francesc Mateu (Francesco Uetam) (1874/1877), Carolina Cepeda (1877), (1881),
Julián Gayarre (1881/1888),
Victor Maurel,
Francesc Viñas (1888/1913),
Hariclea Darclée (1894),
Luisa Tetrazzini (1896),
Geneviève Vix,
Josefina Huguet (1896),
Maria Barrientos (1898/1918), and
Rosina Storchio (1898) • 1900s: In 1904,
Enrico Caruso (in his only Liceu appearance) participated in two performances of
Rigoletto.
Gemma Bellincioni played the title role in
Salomé, where Catalan singer
Conchita Supervía made her debut. Other performers included
Mario Sammarco (1902),
Adamo Didur (1905),
Mattia Battistini (1906),
Graziella Pareto (1906/1928),
Giuseppe Anselmi (1907),
Titta Ruffo (1908/1926), and
Riccardo Stracciari (1909/1939). • 1910s–1920s:
Elvira de Hidalgo (1911),
Ebe Stignani,
Conchita Supervía (1912/1928),
Hipólito Lázaro (1914/1945),
Giovanni Zenatello,
Giacomo Lauri-Volpi (1922/1945 and 1972)
Miguel Fleta (1925/1933),
Toti Dal Monte (1925/1934),
Feodor Chaliapin (1927/1934),
Lauritz Melchior (1927/1930), Tina Poli Randaccio,
Lily Hafgren, Carlo Galeffi,
Gilda Dalla Rizza,
Georges Thill,
Giannina Arangi Lombardi and
Gina Cigna • 1940s:
Giulietta Simionato (1945/1951),
Victoria de los Ángeles (1945/1968, 1994),
Giuseppe Di Stefano (1946/1970, 1986),
Maria Caniglia (1947/1954),
Gianni Poggi (1947/1963),
Kirsten Flagstad (1949/1952),
Hans Hotter (1948/1987), and
Max Lorenz (1950/1954) • 1950s:
Boris Christoff (1951/1952),
Renata Tebaldi (1953/1959),
Giuseppe Taddei (1953/1986),
Wolfgang Windgassen (1954/1959),
Walter Berry (1954/1985),
Anton Dermota (1955/1966),
Gianna D'Angelo (1957/1965),
Enriqueta Tarrés (1957/1992),
Fedora Barbieri,
Margherita Carosio,
Astrid Varnay (1955/1957),
Gertrude Grob-Prandl,
Birgit Nilsson (1957/1958),
Régine Crespin (1958/1966),
Carlo Bergonzi (1958/1982), and
Alfredo Kraus (1958/1994) • 1960s:
Joan Sutherland (1960/1989),
Piero Cappuccilli (1961/1994),
Fiorenza Cossotto (1961/1994),
Montserrat Caballé (1962/2007),
Virginia Zeani (1963/1977),
Pedro Lavirgen (1964/1989),
Plácido Domingo (1966/2015),
Jaume Aragall (1964–1997),
Vicente Sardinero (1964/1997),
Richard Tucker (1965/1975),
Grace Bumbry (1966/1988), and
Anja Silja (1966/2000) • 1970s:
Mirella Freni (1970/1994),
José Carreras (1958 as a child, and 1970/2008),
Joan Pons (1970/2006),
Elena Obraztsova (1970/1984),
Agnes Baltsa (1971/1992), and
Edita Gruberová (1977/2008) • 1980s:
Simon Estes (1981/1997),
Matti Salminen (1981/2004),
Ewa Podleś (1981/2007),
Martti Talvela (1982/1989),
Franco Bonisolli Éva Marton (1982/2006),
Gwyneth Jones (1985/1997),
Nicolai Ghiaurov (1985/1992),
Rockwell Blake (1986/1996), and
Dolora Zajick (1988/2008) • 1990s and 2000s:
Josep Bros (1992/2007),
Deborah Polaski (2000),
Angela Denoke (2002),
Natalie Dessay,
Juan Diego Flórez (2002/2008),
Rolando Villazón (2005/2008),
Peter Seiffert,
Fiorenza Cedolins (2005/2007), and
Nina Stemme (2004–2005/2008–2009) ==Company==