Opera Company of Boston - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Opera Company of Boston was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

company located in Boston, Massachusetts that was active during the late 1950s through the early 1990s. The company was founded by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

conductor

Conducting

Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

Sarah Caldwell

Sarah Caldwell was a notable American opera conductor, impresario, and stage director of opera.- Life :Caldwell was born in Maryville, Missouri, and grew up in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She was a child prodigy and gave public performances on the violin by the time she was ten years old...

in 1958 under the name Boston Opera Group. At one time, the touring arm of the company was called Opera New England. Caldwell served as both director and conductor for most of the company's productions throughout its more than three decade long history. Under her leadership, the company presented a repertoire of more than 75 operas that came from a wide array of musical periods and styles, including a large number of works previously unheard in the United States, and a significant amount of contemporary operas. This commitment to innovative repertoire as well as Caldwell's brilliant stage direction garnered the company international acclaim and earned it a place among the world's leading opera companies during the 1970s and 1980s. After 32 consecutive opera seasons, the company was forced to close due to financial difficulties in 1990.

Starting the company

In 1958, Sarah Caldwell and Linda Cabot Black, among others, started the Opera Company of Boston with just $5,000, beginning with a production of Jacques Offenbach

Jacques Offenbach

Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....

's Voyage to the Moon
Le Voyage dans la Lune
A Trip to the Moon is a 1902 French black-and-white silent science fiction film. It is based loosely on two popular novels of the time: Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon and H. G. Wells' The First Men in the Moon....

that was presented on Boston Common

Boston Common

Boston Common is a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts. It is sometimes erroneously referred to as the "Boston Commons". Dating from 1634, it is the oldest city park in the United States. The Boston Common consists of of land bounded by Tremont Street, Park Street, Beacon Street,...

with a cast that included Adelaide Bishop

Adelaide Bishop

Adelaide Bishop was an American operatic soprano, musical theatre actress, opera director, stage director, and voice teacher. She began her career appearing in Broadway musicals as a teenager during the early 1940s...

as Queen Popotte. Hailed by The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...

as a masterful production, the company was invited to present the work on the lawn of the White House

White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...

in a performance attended by President Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

. On the heels of this success, Caldwell decided to stage a production of Puccini's La Boheme
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...

.

The Donnelly Theater and the nomadic years: 1958-1979

At this point the opera company did not have a home theatre. Sadly the fifty year old Boston Opera House

Boston Opera House (1909)

The Boston Opera House was an opera house located on Huntington Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts. It opened in 1909 as the home of the Boston Opera Company and was demolished in 1958 after years of disuse....

had been in disuse for a long time and was torn down just months before Caldwell founded her company. Caldwell eventually settled on renting the Donnelly Theater for the company's performance of La Boheme, and that theatre became the company's performance venue until it was torn down ten years later in 1968.

After 1968 the company spent the next 7 years looking for a stable performing venue and lived a nomadic existence, performing at various venues like the Shubert Theatre

Shubert Theatre

Shubert Theatre or Shubert Theater may refer to:Theatres*Shubert Theatre , New York City, built in 1913.*Shubert Theatre , Connecticut, built in 1914.*Shubert Theatre , California, demolished in 2002....

, MIT's Kresge Auditorium

Kresge Auditorium

Kresge Auditorium is an auditorium building for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, located at 48 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was designed by the noted architect Eero Saarinen, with ground-breaking in 1953 and dedication in 1955...

, the Cyclorama

Cyclorama

For the classical album Cyclorama, see Jonathan Goldstein; For the rock album Cyclorama by Styx, see Cyclorama ; for the theatrical backdrop, see Cyclorama...

, and the Tufts University

Tufts University

Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...

Field House. Finally in 1975 the company settled on renting the Orpheum Theatre

Orpheum Theatre (Boston, Massachusetts)

The Orpheum Theatre is a music venue located at 1 Hamilton Place in Boston, Massachusetts. One of the oldest theaters in the United States, it was built in 1852 and was originally known as the Boston Music Hall, the original home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The concert hall was converted for...

where it held performances for the next five years.

The new Boston Opera House and the end of an era: 1980-1990

Although the Orpheum Theater was adequate for the company's needs, Caldwell dreamed of having her own facility. In 1978 the company bought the B. F. Keith Memorial Theater

Boston Opera House (1980)

The Boston Opera House is a performing arts venue located at 538 Washington St. in Boston, Massachusetts. Originally built as a movie palace, it opened on October 29, 1928 and was rededicated in 1980 as a home for the Opera Company of Boston...

, a former movie palace

Movie palace

A movie palace is a term used to refer to the large, elaborately decorated movie theaters built between the 1910s and the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opened every year between 1925 and 1930.There are three building types in particular which can be subsumed...

, on Washington Street in downtown Boston. The theater was acquired with the help of opera patron Susan Timken, the heiress to a prominent New England company fortune. At the time of its purchase, the theatre was run-down but had a lot of potential, being able to seat 2,500 people and possessing both good acoustics and opulent architecture. However, the stage was only 35 feet deep, and therefore somewhat limiting. Further, a complete renovation of the theatre was impossible, as the company was not able to afford the expense of all the necessary repairs. In spite of these problems, Caldwell pressed ahead and the company moved into their new home in 1980, rechristening the theatre the Boston Opera House

Boston Opera House (1980)

. Eventually the cost of upkeep on the building proved to be too much as more and more things began to break down. The company couldn't afford to maintain the building and sold it after the 1989-1990 season to a Texas developer. Although the company still technically existed for another year, they never produced another opera after this point.

Performance highlights

Throughout its history an impressive roster of singers have performed with the Opera Company of Boston (OCB). Even from the beginning years at the Donnelly, Caldwell was able to attract first rate artists, most notably Beverly Sills

Beverly Sills

Beverly Sills was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s. In her prime she was the only real rival to Joan Sutherland as the leading bel canto stylist...

and Joan Sutherland

Joan Sutherland

Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s....

, to the company's roster. She also had an eye for emerging talent with singers like James Billings

James Billings

James Billings is an American operatic baritone, librettist, and opera director. He began his career in the late 1950s in Boston and later became a member of the New York City Opera where he performed regularly from the early 1970s through the 1990s...

getting their start with the company. Other notable singers to have sung in OCB productions include Eunice Alberts

Eunice Alberts

Eunice Alberts is an American contralto who had an active career as a concert soloist and opera singer during the 1950s through the 1980s. She began her career as a concert soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the young age of 19 and quickly became a lauded oratorio singer during the late...

, John Alexander

John Alexander (tenor)

John Alexander was an American operatic tenor who had a substantial career during the 1950s through the 1980s. He had a long standing relationship with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, singing with that company every year between 1961 and 1987 for a total of 379 performances...

, Richard Cassilly

Richard Cassilly

Richard Cassilly was an American operatic tenor who had a major international opera career between 1954 and 1990...

, Plácido Domingo

Plácido Domingo

Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...

, Donald Gramm

Donald Gramm

Donald Gramm was an American bass-baritone whose career was divided between opera and concert performances. His appearances were primarily limited to the United States, which at the time was unusual for an American singer...

, Marilyn Horne

Marilyn Horne

Marilyn Horne is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. She specialized in roles requiring a large sound, beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages....

, Eva Likova

Eva Likova

Eva Likova was an American operatic soprano of Czech descent. She was notably one of the major sopranos at the New York City Opera during the company's early years. She also made guest appearances with a number of opera houses in North America and Europe, enjoying a particularly fruitful...

, Elaine Malbin

Elaine Malbin

Elaine Malbin is an American soprano who had a prolific international career singing in operas, musicals, and concerts from 1949 through 1967. She appeared in a number of Broadway productions in the 1940s and 1950s...

, Eva Marton

Éva Marton

Éva Marton is a Hungarian dramatic soprano, particularly known for her operatic portrayals of Puccini's Turandot and Tosca, and Wagnerian roles.- Vocal training and early years :...

, Sherrill Milnes

Sherrill Milnes

Sherrill Milnes is an American operatic baritone most famous for his Verdi roles. From 1965 until 1997 he was associated with the Metropolitan Opera....

, Magda Olivero

Magda Olivero

Magda Olivero is a soprano of the verismo-school of singing. She was born in Saluzzo, Italy. Olivero made her operatic debut in 1932 on Turin radio in Cattozzo’s oratorio I misteri dolorosi. She performed widely and increasingly successfully until 1941, when she married and retired from performing...

, Renata Tebaldi

Renata Tebaldi

Renata Tebaldi was an Italian lirico-spinto soprano popular in the post-war period...

, Norman Treigle

Norman Treigle

Norman Treigle was an American operatic bass-baritone, who was acclaimed for his great abilities as a singing-actor, and specialized in roles that evoked villainy and terror....

, Shirley Verrett

Shirley Verrett

Shirley Verrett was an African-American operatic mezzo-soprano who successfully transitioned into soprano roles i.e. soprano sfogato...

, Anja Silja

Anja Silja

Anja Silja Regina Langwagen, , born April 17, 1940, in Berlin, is a German soprano who is known for her great abilities as a singing-actress and for the vastness of her repertoire....

, and Jon Vickers

Jon Vickers

Jonathan Stewart Vickers, CC , known professionally as Jon Vickers, is a retired Canadian heldentenor.Born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, he was the sixth in a family of eight children. In 1950, he was awarded a scholarship to study opera at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto...

among many others.

Likewise, a number of notable people have worked on the staff of the company or have served in some other artistic capacity. Ralph Lyford

Ralph Lyford

Ralph Lyford was an American composer and conductor. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, he began studies at age 12 and 6 years later graduated from Boston's New England Conservatory of Music and rose to prominence as the managing director of the Cincinnati Opera.He was married to Ella Gillis, a...

served as the company's associate conductor for a number of years and Kent Nagano

Kent Nagano

__FORCETOC__Kent George Nagano is an American conductor and opera administrator. He is currently the music director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the Bavarian State Opera.-Biography:...

began his conducting career with the company. Dar Williams

Dar Williams

Dar Williams is an American singer-songwriter specializing in pop folk.She is a frequent performer at folk festivals and has toured with such artists as Mary Chapin Carpenter, Patty Griffin, Ani DiFranco, The Nields, Shawn Colvin, Girlyman, Joan Baez, and Catie Curtis.-Biography:Williams was born...

worked as a stage manager for the company. Also many important designers worked with the company, including Rudolf Heinrich, Ming Cho Lee

Ming Cho Lee

Ming Cho Lee is a Chinese-born American theatrical set designer and a longtime professor at the Yale School of Drama....

, Herbert Senn, Helen Pond, Gilbert Vaughn Hemsley, Jr., and David Sharir. Ballet dancer Pat Colgate

Pat Colgate

Pat Colgate is currently the artistic director of the Placer Theatre Ballet dance company, which she founded. She designs all costumes and directs choreography for each original ballet staged there....

performed with the company on a number of occasions.

During its thirty-two year history, the Opera Company of Boston gained international acclaim for its innovative programming. Under the leadership of Caldwell, the company staged the American premieres of such opera

Opera

s as Arnold Schoenberg

Arnold Schoenberg

Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...

's Moses und Aron
Moses und Aron
Moses und Aron is a three-act opera by Arnold Schoenberg with the third act unfinished. The German libretto was by the composer after the Book of Exodus.-Compositional history:...

, Sergei Prokofiev

Sergei Prokofiev

Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...

's War and Peace
War and Peace (Prokofiev)
War and Peace is an opera in two parts , sometimes arranged as five acts, by Sergei Prokofiev to a Russian libretto by the composer and Mira Mendelson, based on the novel War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy...

, Hector Berlioz

Hector Berlioz

Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...

' Les Troyens
Les Troyens
Les Troyens is a French opera in five acts by Hector Berlioz. The libretto was written by Berlioz himself, based on Virgil's epic poem The Aeneid...

and Benvenuto Cellini
Benvenuto Cellini
Benvenuto Cellini was an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, painter, soldier and musician, who also wrote a famous autobiography. He was one of the most important artists of Mannerism.-Youth:...

, Luigi Nono

Luigi Nono

Luigi Nono was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music and remains one of the most prominent composers of the 20th century.- Early years :Born in Venice, he was a member of a wealthy artistic family, and his grandfather was a notable painter...

's Intolleranza 1960, Alban Berg

Alban Berg

Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...

's Lulu
Lulu (opera)
Lulu is an opera by the composer Alban Berg. The libretto was adapted by Berg himself from Frank Wedekind's plays Erdgeist and Die Büchse der Pandora .-Composition history:...

, Roger Sessions

Roger Sessions

Roger Huntington Sessions was an American composer, critic, and teacher of music.-Life:Sessions was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a family that could trace its roots back to the American revolution. His mother, Ruth Huntington Sessions, was a direct descendent of Samuel Huntington, a signer of...

' Montezuma
Montezuma (opera)
Montezuma is an opera in three acts by the American composer Roger Sessions, with an English libretto by Giuseppe Antonio Borgese that incorporates bits of the Aztec language, Nahuatl, as well as Spanish, Latin, and French.-Performance history:...

, and Peter Maxwell Davies

Peter Maxwell Davies

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, CBE is an English composer and conductor and is currently Master of the Queen's Music.-Biography:...

's Taverner
Taverner (opera)
Taverner is an opera with music and libretto by Peter Maxwell Davies. It is based on the life of the 16th century English composer John Taverner, but in what Davies himself acknowledged was a non-realistic treatment. The gestation for the opera dated as far back as 1956 during Davies's years in...

to name just a few.

Starting the company

The Donnelly Theater and the nomadic years: 1958-1979

The new Boston Opera House and the end of an era: 1980-1990

Performance highlights

See also