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Minnesota Opera is a performance organization based inMinneapolis, Minnesota. It was founded as theCenter Opera Company in 1963 by theWalker Art Center, and is known for premiering such diverse works asWhere the Wild Things Are byOliver Knussen (based on the children's novel byMaurice Sendak) andFrankenstein byLibby Larsen. Its latest commissioned piece and world premiere,The Fix – based on the story of “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, the Chicago White Sox, and their attempt to fix the world series. with music byJoel Puckett and libretto byEric Simonson – was presented in February 2019. The President and General Director is Ryan Taylor, and the Artistic Director is Dale Johnson.[1][2]
A number of operas have also received their American premieres at the Minnesota Opera, includingThe Handmaid's Tale,Postcard from Morocco,Armida,The Elephant Man, andThe Fortunes of King Croesus. The American premiere ofJonathan Dove'sPinocchio was presented in February 2009.
Minnesota Opera's season typically runs from September through April, with five productions per season and five to eight performances of each production. Performances are given at theOrdway Center for the Performing Arts inSaint Paul, Minnesota. According toOPERA America, the company is the 13th largest opera company in the United States.
While much from the standard repertoire is performed, the company has distinguished itself with productions of some unusual and rare operas in the last decade.
These includeThe Pearl Fishers;Casanova's Homecoming byArgento; andRoberto Devereux byDonizetti during the 2009/10 season;Pinocchio byDove in the 2008/09 season;The Fortunes of King Croesus (Keiser) andRusalka in 2007/08; Rossini'sLa donna del lago andOffenbach'sThe Tales of Hoffmann.The Grapes of Wrath byRicky Ian Gordon was given its world premiere in the 2006/07 season after being commissioned by the company.Léo Delibes'sLakmé appeared during that season as well.
The 2005/06 season saw several American premieres, includingOrazi e Curiazi bySaverio Mercadante andJoseph Merrick, the Elephant Man (Petitgirard). In 2004/05 season, the company presented Donizetti'sMaria Padilla andNixon in China byJohn Adams. Donizetti'sLucrezia Borgia andPassion byStephen Sondheim appeared in 2003/04 while the previous season saw another American premiere,The Handmaid's Tale byPoul Ruders. In 2001/02 Mozart'sLa clemenza di Tito andMark Adamo'sLittle Women provided a contrast. Early in the decade,Vincenzo Bellini'sThe Capulets and the Montagues andKurt Weill'sStreet Scene were highlights of the 2000/01 season.
In 2011,Bernard Herrmann's sole operaWuthering Heights was presented. The full opera has yet to receive a staging, as the official world premiere byPortland Opera in 1982 was abridged by some 30 minutes.
In 2011, Minnesota Opera producedSilent Night by composer Kevin Puts and librettist Mark Campbell, an MN Opera commission that won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Music. In 2013, Minnesota Opera commissioned the operaDoubt by composer Douglas J. Cuomo and librettistJohn Patrick Shanley.
In March 2015, the company gave the premiere performance ofKevin Puts' operaThe Manchurian Candidate (based onRichard Condon'snovel, with libretto by Mark Campbell).[3]
In May 2016, Minnesota Opera producedThe Shining, a newly commissioned American opera in two acts with music by composerPaul Moravec and alibretto byMark Campbell, based onthe novel byStephen King. It is part of the 'New Works Initiative' of Minnesota Opera.
A complete list of earlier seasons' productions appears on the company's web site[4]
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