Cincinnati Opera is an American opera company based in Cincinnati, Ohio and the second oldest opera company in the United States (after the New YorkMetropolitan Opera).[1] Beginning with its first season in 1920, Cincinnati Opera has produced operas in the summer months of June and July with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra providing orchestral accompaniment.
History
The company, originally named Cincinnati Opera Association, gave its first performance, Flotow's Martha, on Sunday, June 27, 1920. During its early years, the company was under the direction of Ralph Lyford, an American composer and conductor whose single opera Castle Agrazant would receive its world premiere at Cincinnati Music Hall on April 29, 1926, following Lyford's departure from Cincinnati Opera in 1925.[2] From 1956-1990 the company ran a singing competition known as the American Opera Auditions.
Andrew Foldi as Dr. Dulcamara and Bruce Cooper as his assistant Cochise in Act 1, Scene 2 of Cincinnati Opera's 1968 "Wild West" production of L'elisir d'amore directed by James de Blasis.
James de Blasis became the company's Resident Stage Director in 1968. He then served as its General Director from 1973 to 1987. In 1988 he became its Artistic Director, a post which he held until 1996.
Under his tenure, the company produced rare operas such as Franco Alfano's Risurrezione in 1983 and Weinberger's Schwanda the Bagpiper in 1986. It also added musicals to its repertory in an effort to broaden its audience base. One of the highlights of the de Blasis era was a new interpretation of Donizetti'sL'elisir d'amore which changed the setting from the Basque region of Spain in the 1820s to the "Wild West" of late 19th century Texas. The production was filmed by PBS and nationally televised in 1968.
In 2006, Evans Mirageas, an influential casting director and former head of Decca's Artists & Repertoire division, became Cincinnati Opera's new Artistic Director. Following his first season with the company, Opera News magazine listed him as one of the "25 Most Powerful Names in U.S. Opera".[6]
Opera Fusion: New Works (OF:NW) was developed in 2011 as a collaborative partnership between Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). The organization is dedicated to fostering the development of new American operas, and has developed nine pieces to date through a rigorous residency and workshop process. This collaboration is jointly led by Evans Mirageas, The Harry T. Wilks Artistic Director of Cincinnati Opera, and Robin Guarino, Professor of Opera at CCM.
Salzman, Eric, A Zoo Story: Cincinnati Opera Revitalized, The New York Times, July 2, 1961, p. X7 (online, subscription necessary, accessed 10 February 2021).
