Artist: Santa
Fe Opera
Genera: Theater
Background:
The fantastic Santa Fe Opera - in one of the most spectacular
settings in the operatic world - has programmed five major
productions each summer season since 1957, al fresco under
the awesome New Mexico sky. The new 2100-seater opera house
has enhanced the company's worldwide reputation in not only
the standard operatic repertoire (particularly Richard Strauss)
but also contemporary opera.
The brainchild of conductor and impresario John Crosby who
bowed out in 2000, Santa Fe Opera is one of the most breathtaking
opera venues in the world, built into a hillside, with spectacular
views of the Sangre de Cristo mountains. Each year the company
stages an American première and usually a Richard Strauss
opera (Strauss was Crosby's favorite composer!).
By the Millennium there had been 114 operas presented, including
nine world premières (all but one Sante Fe commissions)
and 28 American premières, including Berg's Lulu. Artists
of international standing that have appeared at the festival
include Ben Heppner, Bryn Terfel, Kiri TeKanawa, Tatiana Troyanos,
James Morris, Samuel Ramey, Catherine Malfitano and Sylvia
McNair.
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