OPERA. Although opera had been previously heard in Texas, the first opera troupe did not come to the state until 1856, when the German Opera Company visited Galveston and performed opera acts in German at the Lone Star Hall. During this time, most of the opera performance in Texas took place in the southern part of the state; Galveston, Brownsville and Houston all saw touring opera companies perform. In 1871 the first real opera house, called the Tremont, was erected on Galveston Island, and by the end of the nineteenth century, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Antonio all had established opera houses as well. These houses offered a variety of musical and theatrical venues including opera.
By the last quarter of the nineteenth century, North and Central Texas cities began to see more opera performances. The Dallas Opera House opened on October 15, 1883, on St. Paul and Main Streets with a production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe. Although Dallas audiences heard Martha and Il Trovatore in 1875 at Field's Theater, the Dallas Opera House served as the primary performance venue for touring opera companies, musicians, and acting troupes in the Dallas area. Fort Worth audiences heard their first real opera in 1877, when the Tagliapietra Company staged Verdi's Il Trovatore and La Favorita at Evans Hall, located on the second floor of Evans' General Store. Additionally, the Opera House in San Antonio and three opera houses in Austin began to offer opera and theater performances for local audiences on a regular basis.
Itinerant opera performance continued to flourish during the last quarter of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century. Helped by the railroad industry, touring opera companies, some with national reputations, began making their way to cities across Texas. Audiences in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Galveston, and Austin were hearing opera performances by reputable companies, such as the Faust Opera Company, the Carleton Opera Company, and Emma Abbott's troupe. In November 1901 the Metropolitan Opera Company debuted in Houston with a performance of Wagner's Lohengrin. Subsequently, Texas opera audiences also saw performances by the touring companies, including the Boston Opera Company, the Henry W. Savage English Opera Company, the Chicago Opera, and the NBC Opera Theatre.
Eventually, Texas opera aficionados realized that the state could support its own opera productions and opera companies. In 1945 San Antonio founded the first resident opera company in Texas. Max Reiter,qv who had established the San Antonio Symphonyqv six years earlier, extended the symphony season to include a springtime opera festival. The first opera produced was La Bohéme, starring Nino Martini and Grace Moore. The San Antonio Symphony continued to produce an annual opera season that included four different productions, one performance each given over two consecutive weekends. In these productions, nationally known talent filled leading roles and local talent filled the chorus.
Victor Alessandroqv became San Antonio's new music director after Reiter's death in 1950, and Peter Wolf of Dallas designed most of the sets for the company. Opera in San Antonio was performed in the San Antonio Municipal Auditorium, which seated nearly 6,000 people. The annual opera festival in San Antonio continued until 1983, when the program was terminated. The San Antonio Symphony continued to present concert versions of operas.
In 1997 Mark A. Richter, tenor and local businessman, founded Lyric Opera of San Antonio. The company, originally known as the Pocket Opera of San Antonio, opened its first season with Mozart's The Impressario in 1998. This production was performed at the San Pedro Playhouse and starred local artists. Trouble in Tahiti concluded the first season of San Antonio Pocket Opera. In its third season, the company began seeking national and local talent for its productions. The company was renamed Lyric Opera of San Antonio to reflect these changes, and the Lyric Studio, Lyric Opera's apprentice program, began. The fourth season included Puccini's Madama Butterfly, the company's first production sung in Italian with English subtitles. Lyric Opera's budget has grown to accommodate these changes, too. The $5,000 budget of the first season grew to almost $90,000 in the sixth season.
Fort Worth followed San Antonio, with its first production of resident opera in 1946. Founded by three local women, the Fort Worth Civic Opera Association opened on November 25 with a production of La Traviata. This company is the longest continually operating company in the state. Local opera productions prior to the formation of the civic opera association included Gounod's Faust and Carl Venth'sqv Fair Betty in 1917. Fort Worth audiences also attended operas performed by Texas Women's College in the 1910s and 1920s.
Rudolf Kruger directed the Fort Worth opera company from 1955 to 1982. Under his direction four operas were given each season, with two performances of each work. During Kruger's tenure the company was associated with such singers as Lily Pons, Placido Domingo, and Beverly Sills. Productions were performed in English, with the exception of Lucia with Lily Pons (1962), until the late 1960s, when more works were sung in the original languages. The company has striven to provide opportunity for local talent to perform, using professionals only in leading roles. Fort Worth Opera and the Opera Guild of Fort Worth continue this practice of community outreach with the Children's Opera Tour and the Marguerite McCammon Voice Competition respectively.
The third resident opera company in Texas, the Houston Grand Opera Association, was founded in 1955 and opened with Salome by Richard Strauss in January 1956. Walter Herbert was the company's first general director and served in that post until 1972. Houston Grand Opera has always seemed to provide audiences with unconventional repertoire and currently is one of the premiere opera houses in the world.
Following Houston, Dallas had its own resident opera company, the Dallas Civic Opera, by March 1957. Lawrence Kelly, formerly with the Chicago Lyric, was asked to be the general manager; Nicola Rescigno, artistic director for the Chicago Lyric, was asked to be musical director; Franco Zeffirelli was chosen to be set designer and stage director; and Jean Rosenthal became production manager. Maria Callas opened the opera's first season with a concert on November 21, 1957. Even though this famous temperamental diva was associated with the opening season, the company's first production, Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri, starring Giulietta Simionato, was not a complete success. The skepticism of Dallas audiences waned, however, and Dallas Civic Opera became known as one of the top opera houses in the country. The company currently presents as many as six operas each season, with four performances each.
Many world and American debuts have occurred at Dallas Civic Opera. The company has produced over 100 different operas including the world premiere of Argento's The Aspern Papers in 1988 and the American premieres of Handel's Alcina, in 1960, Vivaldi's Orlando furioso (1980), and Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea (1963). Also, many singers have made their American debuts in Dallas as well. These include Joan Sutherland in Alcina, Luigi Alva, Teresa Berganza, Montserrat Caballé, Denise Duval, Placido Domingo, Gwyneth Jones, Magda Olivero, and Jon Vickers.
Although the Austin Civic Opera Company was in commission from 1927 to 1931, Austin's first resident opera company did not appear until 1986. The Austin Lyric Opera was founded by Walter Ducloux, musical director, and Joseph McClain, stage director, in 1986. The company's first production was Mozart's Die Zauberflõte (1987). The company has generally performed three operas each season, at the Performing Arts Center at the University of Texas. The Austin Lyric uses both local and professional talent in its productions. In 1992 the company performed the American premiere of Rossini's La pietra del paragone.
Amarillo Opera, founded in 1988 by Mila Gibson, was the next professional opera company to be formed in the state. The company, which specializes in American folk opera, performs four or five operas annually. Amarillo Opera's season is split into two two-week sessions, and performances are generally held at the Amarillo Civic Center, which seats 2,300. The company utilizes both professional singers and local talent in its productions. Amarillo Opera has staged two premieres of operas by Gene Erwin Murray—Whirligig on August 22, 1990, and Dear Doctor on October 16, 1991. El Paso Opera began as Opera à la Carte in 1992. Opera à la Carte performed opera excerpts for El Paso audiences. In 1993 the name was changed to the Opera Company, and in January 1994 the company produced its first complete opera. Puccini's Tosca was well received by El Paso audiences. In the 1997–98 season the El Paso Opera included Spanish-language supertitles in its productions of Mozart's Don Giovanni and Puccini's La Bohème. Both professional and local talent performs with the company.
Texas opera audiences can enjoy opera performances in many cities across the state. The Waco Lyric, the Abilene Opera Association, the Denton Light Opera Company, the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Austin, and the Ebony Opera of Houston are some of the other opera companies that offer opera productions each year. In addition, numerous colleges and universities across the state present full-scale opera productions each year.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Dallas Opera History (http://www.dallasopera.org/permapag/history.htm), accessed March 24, 2003. Ronald L. Davis, A History of Opera in the American West (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1965). Ronald L. Davis, "Stars over Texas," Opera News, November 14, 1964. Fort Worth Star–Telegram, November 12, 1964. Lota M. Spell, Music in Texas (Austin, 1936; rpt., New York: AMS, 1973). San Antonio Lyric Opera homepage (http://www.lyricoperasa.com), accessed March 24, 2003.
Christina H. Wilson
