1948–1953: Tulsa Opera Club In 1948, five Tulsans, Bess Gowans, Ralph and Ione Sassano, Mary Helen Markham and Beverly Bliss, formed the Tulsa Opera Club. On 4 December 1948, the organization performed
Giuseppe Verdi's
La traviata at
All Souls Unitarian Church on Boulder Ave. with Ralph and Ione Sassano portraying Alfredo and Violetta, and a young
William Lewis singing the role of Gaston while a high school senior under the baton of local conductor Gerald Whitney. Impressed with the performance,
Tulsa World owner Maud Lorton Meyers approached the company with the offer of financial support in exchange for a seat on the company's board of directors which was established in 1949. That same year she purchased a house at 1610 South Boulder in downtown Tulsa. This home served as both the headquarters for Tulsa Opera, and as the living quarters of the Sassano family. In 1971 the company purchased adjacent properties to the original building which allowed for a parking lot and a much larger facility to be built. In 1950 the company moved to the "
Old Lady on Brady" and began hiring one or two professional singers per production; beginning with
David Atkinson as Robert in
Sigmund Romberg's
The New Moon.
1953–1974: Early professional years at the "Old Lady on Brady" In 1953, the company restructured itself as a fully professional organization under the name Tulsa Opera; continuing to stage operas at the
Tulsa Theater on Brady Street. From this point on all the principal roles were paid professionals, beginning in November 1953 with
Giacomo Puccini's
Madama Butterfly, directed by Anthony Stivanello of the New York Grand Opera Company, with Tomiko Kanazawa as Cio-Cio-San,
Giulio Gari as Pinkerton, and
John Brownlee as Sharpless. Many prominent artists performed with the company in succeeding years, including
tenors
Eugene Conley (1955, Faust) and
Brian Sullivan (1955, Rodolfo);
mezzo-soprano Nell Rankin (1957, Carmen);
baritones
Walter Cassel (Scarpia, 1957); In 1962, in the midst of a strike at the
Metropolitan Opera, Tulsa Opera was able to procure a star-studded cast of Met talent for a production of Rossini's
The Barber of Seville with
Roberta Peters as Rosina,
Cesare Valletti as Almaviva,
Frank Guarrera as Figaro,
Salvatore Baccaloni as Bartolo, and stage director Dino Yannopolous. Other notable singers to perform under Moresco's baton included sopranos
Gianna D'Angelo (Lucia, 1964),
Jean Fenn (1971, Desdemona),
Anna Moffo (Violetta, 1960),
Maralin Niska (1973, Manon Lescaut),
Renata Scotto (1967, Cio-Cio-San),
Gabriella Tucci (1969, Aida), and
Teresa Żylis-Gara (1973, Leonora); mezzo-sopranos
Frances Bible (1969, Orlofsky),
Viorica Cortez (1972, Carmen), and
Mildred Miller (Cherubino, 1963); and
Richard Tucker (Don Jose, 1962); baritones Cesare Bardelli (Scarpia, 1963),
Nicola Moscona (1960, Colline)
1975–1987: Edward Purrington After the departure of Turner at the end of 1974, opera director
Edward Purrington of the
Santa Fe Opera became general manager and artistic director, beginning on New Years day 1975. He remained in that position until the conclusion of Tulsa Opera's 1986–1987 season. The first production he oversaw was
Giuseppe Verdi's
Rigoletto with
Louis Quilico in the title role in the spring of 1975. In 1977, the Tulsa Performing Arts Center (TPAC) was built. Since that time, nearly all operas have been presented in the Center's Chapman Music Hall. The first opera the company staged at the TPAC was Verdi's
Aida in November 1977 with
Gilda Cruz-Romo in the title role,
Ermanno Mauro as Radames,
John Macurdy as Ramfis, and
Mignon Dunn as Amneris. In 1978 Beverly Sills returned to Tulsa Opera to perform Elvira in Bellini's
I puritani with
Enrico Di Giuseppe as Arturo and
Samuel Ramey as Giorgio. That same year the company staged Mozart's
Don Giovanni with
Sherrill Milnes in the title role and
Paul Plishka as Leporello. That season included a double bill of Massanet's
La Navarraise (with
Nancy Shade as Anita and Jacque Trussel as Araquil) and
Ruggero Leoncavallo's
Pagliacci,
Richard Wagner's
Die Walküre (with
Simon Estes giving his first performances of Wotan); and
Johann Strauss II's
Die Fledermaus (1980, with
Ashley Putnam as Rosalinda,
Dale Duesing as Eisenstein, and
Judith Somogi conducting). Somogi, a conductor at the
New York City Opera, was a favorite of Tulsa audiences during Purrington's tenure, making her debut with the company in 1976 with
Douglas Moore's
The Ballad of Baby Doe starring Costanza Cuccaro in the title role,
Jean Kraft as Augusta Tabor, and
John Reardon as Horace Tabor. Other singers to have performed with the company during Purrington's leadership were
sopranos
Josephine Barstow (1986, Manon Lescaut),
Judith Blegen (1976, as Massanet's
Manon),
Marisa Galvany (1985, Odabella),
Valerie Masterson (1985, the title role in
The Merry Widow), Erie Mills (1981, Marie), and
Sylvia Sass (1985, Tosca);
mezzo-sopranos
Fiorenza Cossotto (1984, Carmen);
tenors
William Johns (1982, Manrico),
Jerry Hadley (1984, Arturo),
Veriano Luchetti (1984, Don Jose and
Richard Stilwell (1982, Rossini's Figaro) and
Giorgio Tozzi (1981, Sulpice That same year, Tulsa Opera produced a new version of Verdi's
La traviata with designs by
John Conklin that staged the opera in scenes within a disco bar, swimming pool, and modern hospital room. Starring
Frances Ginsberg as Violetta and John de Haan as Alfredo, the production drew national attention. Lawton conducted the premiere with
Margaret Jane Wray as Leonore, Craig Sirianni as Manrique,
Greer Grimsley as Le Comte de Luna, and
Barbara Conrad as Alzucena. This was followed by the United States premiere of
Gioachino Rossini's
Armida on 29 February 1992 in celebration of the 200th anniversary of Rossini's birth with a cast the included
Christine Weidinger in the title role,
Thomas Young as Rinaldo, and
Ronald Naldi as Ubaldo. Other highlights of Muni's tenure included performances by sopranos Amy Burton (1992, Josephine), Jan Grissom (1991, Pamina), Elizabeth Knighton (1989, Susannah Polk),
Marquita Lister (1989, Mimi), Carmen Pelton (1991, The Queen of the Night), Linda Roark-Strummer (1991, Minnie), and Maryanne Telese (1991, Cio-Cio-San); mezzo-sopranos Jane Bunnell (1991, Suzuki) and
Judith Forst (1990, title role in
La Cenerentola; directed by
Rosalind Elias); tenors Richard Brunner (1989, Sam Polk),
Carroll Freeman (1990, Don Ramiro), Peter Riberi (1991, Pinkerton) and Kip Wilborn (1991, Tamino); baritones
Donnie Ray Albert (1992, Jack Rance),
Cris Groenendaal (Captain Corcoran, 1992),
Robert Honeysucker (1990, Alidoro), and Motti Kaston (1991, Sharpless); bass-baritone Jeffrey Wells (1989, Olin Blitch); and basses Pierre Charbonneau (1990, Don Magnifico), Claude Corbeil (1990, Dandini), and Peter Volpe (1989, Colline). Also notable was the US debut of British director Keith Warner, who directed Die Zauberfloete.
1993–2008: Carol I. Crawford Carol I. Crawford was appointed general director in 1993, and remained in that post until 2008. The original production of
Rachel Portman's
The Little Prince (presented in Tulsa in 2005) was jointly produced and co-financed by the Tulsa Opera and several other opera companies, including the
Houston Grand Opera, the
New York City Opera, the
Boston Lyric Opera, and the
Skylight Opera Theatre. Notable singers to perform with the company during her tenure included Pamela Armstrong,
Harolyn Blackwell,
Stephanie Blythe,
Sarah Coburn,
Andrea Gruber, Peter Lindskoog, John Matz, and Alfred Walker among others.
Tobias Picker was named to the post of artistic director in 2016, a position he held until 2022. In May 2019, Tulsa Opera presented a new staging of Mozart's
Don Giovanni with
Lucia Lucas in the title role, becoming the first American opera company to feature a transgender woman in a principal role. Tobias Picker stepped down from the artistic director post in 2022, and Aaron Beck was subsequently appointed artistic director. In June 2023, Ken McConnell resigned as general director and Aaron Beck was appointed as interim general director in addition to his duties as artistic director. This announcement arrived at the same time as the cancellation of Tulsa Opera's two mainstage productions for the 2023–24 season, with budgetary issues being cited as the reason for the cancellation. ==References==