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: To sell opera…you have to get their attention with a little razzle-dazzle. You've got to be simpatico. You have to be able to communicate, and you have to deliver your message with the best possible product you can manage. In 1970,
Harold C. Schonberg of
The New York Times contrasted Seattle Opera's approach to marketing to the then-still staid marketing of New York's
Metropolitan Opera: Out there, you see campaign buttons with the legend
Opera Lives. It is in Seattle where you can look at the sky and find an airplane skywriting the virtues of Seattle Opera. There are even auto
bumper stickers about 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." an unusual appointment in that Jenkins did not have prior administrative experience with arts organisations prior to his appointment. Jenkins formally took up the post with the 1983–1984 season, during which the company ran its first-ever fiscal deficit. Jenkins concluded his tenure as general director of Seattle Opera in 2014. Aidan Lang became general director of the company as of the 2014–2015 season. His tenure included productions of contemporary operas such as
As One (Laura Kaminsky) '''' (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 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 a 2004 production of
Carmen that was the largest ticket-seller in the company's history.
Richard Wagner at Seattle Opera For many years, the company was noted for its performances of the works of
Richard Wagner, including the
Ring cycle. In 1975, it 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.
Ring 1, 1975–1984 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 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 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, 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.
Ring 2, 1985–1995 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 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).
Ring 3, 2000–2013 Jenkins engaged 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 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 Podleś,
Jane Eaglen, Richard Paul Fink,
Margaret Jane Wray, and
Stephen Milling. ==Performers==