Opera has long been part of the musical culture of New Orleans, Louisiana. Operas have regularly been performed in the city since the 1790s, and since the early 19th century, New Orleans has had a resident company regularly performing opera in addition to theaters hosting traveling performers and companies.
Operas were staged at a variety of theaters in the city, the first documented was André Grétry's Sylvain at the Theatre de la Rue Saint Pierre on May 22, 1796. On January 30, 1808, the Théâtre St. Philippe was opened with the U.S. premiere of Étienne Méhul's Une folie. The U.S. premiere of Luigi Cherubini's Les deux journées took place at this theater on March 12, 1811. The city's most famous opera venue between 1819 and 1859 was the Théâtre d'Orléans. That theater was succeeded in 1859 by the French Opera House, located on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. Living in a cosmopolitan city, New Orleans' inhabitants, whether high in status or low, imported or indigenous, constituted a highly receptive audience.
The French Opera House burned down in 1919, causing severe disruption to opera in the city. When attempts to arrange financing for rebuilding failed, the company disbanded. For a generation, most opera in New Orleans was presented by touring companies at various local theaters.
In 1943, the New Orleans Opera Association was formed, and succeeded in securing a resident company in the city. Over the years, many noted singers have appeared with the company (see List of opera singers).
Since World War II, various companies have toured to New Orleans. In 1947, the Metropolitan Opera visited with their productions of Le nozze di Figaro (with Ezio Pinza and Eleanor Steber), La traviata (with Bidu Sayão) and Lucia di Lammermoor (with Patrice Munsel). They returned in 1972, with Otello (with James McCracken and Sherrill Milnes), Faust (with Plácido Domingo and Ruggero Raimondi), La traviata (with Anna Moffo) and La fille du régiment (with Dame Joan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti).
The Opera Association has presented two world premieres: Carlisle Floyd's Markheim (with Norman Treigle and Audrey Schuh, 1966) and Thea Musgrave's Pontalba (conducted by Robert Lyall, 2003).
In November 1967, the American National Opera Company presented two operas in New Orleans: Lulu and Tosca (the latter with Marie Collier), both in productions staged by Sarah Caldwell.
In 1975, the New Orleans Opera Association staged the epic Les Huguenots with Marisa Galvany, Rita Shane, Susanne Marsee, Enrico di Giuseppe, Dominic Cossa, and Paul Plishka heading the cast.
As part of the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition, the English National Opera gave performances of Rigoletto (in Sir Jonathan Miller's well-known production), Patience and Gloriana.
Also based in New Orleans, though short-lived, The New Opera Theatre (1986–1990) presented two world premieres as well as experimental productions of standard repertory. Their staging of Dido and Æneas toured to New York (Symphony Space), where it was acclaimed. Featured singers with this ensemble included Cyril and Libbye Hellier, Tracey Mitchell, Natalia Rom, Thaïs St Julien, Phyllis Treigle, and Susannah Waters.
In 1992, New York-based Opera Quotannis brought their production of New Orleans-born composer Louise LaBruyère's Everyman to the Crescent City, with Mitchell in the title role.
Hurricane Katrina, in 2005, flooded the Theatre for the Performing Arts and the season was cancelled, but the New Orleans Opera has since returned.
On January 17, 2009, the New Orleans Opera, directed by Robert Lyall, performed with Plácido Domingo in a gala reopening of New Orleans' Mahalia Jackson Theater of the Performing Arts. The master of ceremonies was New Orleans native Patricia Clarkson. [1]
Harry Robert Lyall, conductor and administrator, died on January 5, 2024, at the age of 75. [2]
On January 18, 2024, The New Orleans Opera Association announced Librettist and Director Lila Palmer as their new Artistic and General Direcor. She replaces Clare Burovac, who previously led the company for three years. [3]
On January 21, 2024, Palmer issued an apology for using the term “Anglo-American". In a statement via Facebook, Palmer said,
“On Thursday morning, I was announced as the incoming General & Artistic Director of New Orleans Opera. In the announcement, I was described as Anglo-American: someone who is both English and American. As someone raised in England with an American parent, this is how I describe myself in England not understanding how hurtful it would be in a different environment. As the incoming leader of a cultural institution of a majority-Black city in America, it was a huge misstep.” [4]
| Season dates | Productions [5] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006–2007 | Le nozze di Figaro | Lucia di Lammermoor | La bohème | ||
| 2007–2008 | Faust | Il trittico | Rigoletto | West Side Story | |
| 2008–2009 | Manon Lescaut | Don Giovanni | Carmen | La traviata | |
| 2009–2010 | Tosca | Roméo et Juliette | Verdi Requiem | Der fliegende Holländer | |
| 2010–2011 | Porgy and Bess | Die Zauberflöte | Les pêcheurs de perles | Il trovatore | |
| 2011–2012 | Turandot | Un ballo in maschera | Salome | Pagliacci & Carmina Burana | |
| 2012–2013 | The Barber of Seville | Samson et Dalila | Madama Butterfly | ||
| 2013–2014 | Der Vampyr | Noye's Fludde | Cendrillon | La bohème | |
| 2014–2015 | Carmen | Rusalka | Lucia di Lammermoor | Le nozze di Figaro | |
| 2015–2016 | La traviata | Die Fledermaus | Dead Man Walking | Tosca | |
| 2016–2017 | Don Giovanni | Macbeth | Sweeney Todd | Faust | |
| 2017–2018 | Cavalleria rusticana / Pagliacci | Orpheus in the Underworld | The Burlesque Opera of Tabasco | Champion | |
| 2018–2019 | Turandot | Rigoletto | Pygmalion | Abduction from the Seraglio | The Blind |
| 2019–2020 | Carmen | Joan of Arc | The Falling and The Rising | The Magic Flute - canceled COVID 19 | |
| 2020–2021 | Madama Butterfly - canceled COVID 19 | Fidelio and Charlie Parker's Yardbird- canceled COVID 19 | The Guild Home Concert – Digital | The Medium – Digital | Porgy and Bess – Concert |
| 2021–2022 | Die Walkure, act 1 | Josephine | Gala Concert | La bohème | |
| 2022–2023 | The Barber of Seville | Hansel and Gretel | Charlie Parker's Yardbird | Madame Butterfly | |
| 2023–2024 | The Marriage of Figaro | Blue | Lisette Oropesa in Concert | Lucia di Lammermoor | |
Over the years many celebrated opera singers have appeared with the Association, including:
Beverly Sills was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s.
Balduína "Bidú" de Oliveira Sayão was a Brazilian opera soprano. One of Brazil's celebrated musicians, Sayão was a leading artist of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 1937 to 1952.
Norman Treigle (né Adanelle Wilfred 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.
Claramae Turner was an American operatic contralto, perhaps best known for her appearance in the film Carousel (1956), adapted from the Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musical of the same name.
Phyllis Treigle is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, and is a noted American soprano, and the daughter of the bass-baritone Norman Treigle. She graduated from Loyola University of the South's College of Music and made her professional debut with the New Orleans Opera Association as Flora Bervoix, in La traviata, in 1980.
Susanne Marsee is an American mezzo-soprano of note, particularly acclaimed as a singing-actress.
Harry Theyard is an American operatic tenor.
Natalia Rom, soprano, was born in Kazan, in the Soviet Union, on May 14, 1950, and graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory. In late 1976, she emigrated to New Orleans, where she attended Loyola University's College of Music, and studied voice with Patricia Havranek. In 1979, she made her professional debut in a small role in the New Orleans Opera Association's Die Zauberflöte. That same year, she won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In 1980, she sang the title role in Aïda, for the Seattle Opera.
Tito Capobianco was an Argentine American stage director and general manager of several opera companies.
Marisa Galvany is an American soprano who had an active international career performing in operas and concerts up into the early 2000s. Known for the great intensity of her performances, Galvany particularly excelled in portraying Verdi heroines. She was notably a regular performer at the New York City Opera between 1972 and 1983.
Carol Lee Neblett was an American operatic soprano.
Renato Cellini was an Italian opera conductor. His father was Ezio Cellini, who was a stage director who worked with Arturo Toscanini.
Joy Clements was an American lyric coloratura soprano who had a substantial opera and concert career from 1956 through the late 1970s. She notably sang regularly with both the New York City Opera and the Metropolitan Opera during the 1960s through the early 1970s. She also traveled regularly for performances with opera companies and orchestras throughout the United States but only appeared in a relatively few number of performances internationally.
The Mahalia Jackson Theater of the Performing Arts is a theater located in Louis Armstrong Park in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was named after gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, who was born in New Orleans. The theater reopened in January 2009, after being closed since the landfall of Hurricane Katrina.
Armando Agnini was a successful Italian stage director of opera.
Nicola Moscona was a Greek-born operatic bass. Born in Athens, he made his stage debut in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Greek National Opera in 1931, and went on to sing leading basso cantante roles both in Europe and the United States.
Knud D. Andersson was a German-born American conductor. He enjoyed a long association with the New Orleans Opera where he served as first assistant conductor and choral director from 1953 to 1965 and then music director and resident conductor from 1965 until his retirement in 1983. The city of New Orleans honored him with certificates of merit in 1957 and 1967.
Arthur Cosenza was an American impresario, stage director, and baritone of Italian heritage, who was particularly associated with the New Orleans Opera Association.
David Morelock is an American stage director of opera.
Giuseppe Danise was an Italian operatic baritone. He sang to great acclaim throughout Italy and the Americas, appearing in lyric and dramatic roles from the Italian, French, Wagnerian, and Russian repertoire.
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