Numerous well known singers have performed in operas with the company, including Beverly Sills, Anna Moffo, Roberta Peters, Richard Tucker, Renata Scotto, Cornell MacNeil, Samuel Ramey, Simon Estes, and Jerry Hadley among many others.
In addition to staged operas, the company has also presented concerts and recitals featuring artists like Barbara Cook, Susan Graham, Luciano Pavarotti, Leontyne Price, and Joan Sutherland.
[1] On 4 December 1948, the organization performed Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata at All Souls Unitarian Church on Boulder Ave. with Ralph and Ione Sassano portraying Alfredo and Violetta, and a young William Lewis singing the role of Gaston while a high school senior under the baton of local conductor Gerald Whitney.
[8] From this point on all the principal roles were paid professionals, beginning in November 1953 with Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly, directed by Anthony Stivanello of the New York Grand Opera Company, with Tomiko Kanazawa as Cio-Cio-San, Giulio Gari as Pinkerton, and John Brownlee as Sharpless.
[9] Many prominent artists performed with the company in succeeding years, including tenors Eugene Conley (1955, Faust)[9] Barry Morrell (Cavaradossi, 1957)[10] and Brian Sullivan (1955, Rodolfo);[11] sopranos Licia Albanese (Tosca, 1957),[10] Nadine Conner (1955, Mimì,[11]) Dorothy Kirsten (1958, Cio-Cio-San),[12] Marguerite Piazza (Violetta, 1954);[11] mezzo-soprano Nell Rankin (1957, Carmen);[13] baritones Walter Cassel (Scarpia, 1957);[10] and dancers Roman Jasinski and Moscelyne Larkin (featured in Lucia di Lammermoor, 1958).
Bamboschek notably conducted a highly lauded production of Giuseppe Verdi's Il trovatore in the Spring of 1959 which starred Jussi Björling as Manrico, Elinor Ross as Leonora, Leonard Warren as Count di Luna, and Jean Madeira as Alzucena.
[15] Other notable singers to perform under Moresco's baton included sopranos Gianna D'Angelo (Lucia, 1964),[16] Jean Fenn (1971, Desdemona),[17] Anna Moffo (Violetta, 1960),[12] Maralin Niska (1973, Manon Lescaut),[18] Beverly Sills (Violetta, 1967),[19] Renata Scotto (1967, Cio-Cio-San),[20] Gabriella Tucci (1969, Aida),[21] Dorothy Warenskjold (1960, Mimi),[22] and Teresa Żylis-Gara (1973, Leonora);[23] mezzo-sopranos Frances Bible (1969, Orlofsky),[21] Viorica Cortez (1972, Carmen),[18] Muriel Costa-Greenspon (1965, The Mother in Hansel and Gretel)[24] and Mildred Miller (Cherubino, 1963);[25] tenors John Alexander (1964, Edgardo),[16] Norman Kelley (1965, The Witch in Hansel and Gretel);[24] Alfredo Kraus (1968, The Duke in Rigoletto);[20] Flaviano Labò (1960, Rodolfo),[22] James McCracken (1971, Otello),[17] Robert Nagy (1972, Don Jose),[18] and Richard Tucker (Don Jose, 1962);[25] baritones Cesare Bardelli (Scarpia, 1963),[25] Napoléon Bisson (1960, Schaunard),[22] Igor Gorin (1964, Ashton),[16] Peter Glossop (1970, Scarpia),[17] Chester Ludgin (1965, The Father in Hansel and Gretel),[24] and Cornell MacNeil (1973, Count Di Luna);[23] bass-baritone Norman Treigle (1966, Mephistopheles);[24] and basses Ezio Flagello (1970, Don Basilio),[26] Bonaldo Giaiotti (1969, Ramfis),[26] Nicola Moscona (1960, Colline)[22] and Italo Tajo (1965, Dulcamara).
The first opera the company staged at the TPAC was Verdi's Aida in November 1977 with Gilda Cruz-Romo in the title role, Ermanno Mauro as Radames, John Macurdy as Ramfis, and Mignon Dunn as Amneris.
[29] Her other work with the company included La traviata (1979, with Diana Soviero as Violetta, John Brecknock as Alfredo, and Michael Devlin as Germont); Die Fledermaus (1980, with Ashley Putnam as Rosalinda and Dale Duesing as Eisenstein); La bohème (1981, with Soviero as Mimi, Rita Shane as Mussetta, and Stephen Dickson as Marcello); Der Rosenkavalier (1983, with Gwendolyn Jones as Octavian, Mechthild Gessendorf as The Marschallin, and Diane Curry as Annina); and Aida (1985, with Leona Mitchell as the title heroine).
[33] Other singers to have performed with the company during Purrington's leadership were sopranos Josephine Barstow (1986, Manon Lescaut[34]), Judith Blegen (1976, as Massanet's Manon[35]), Marisa Galvany (1985, Odabella), Valerie Masterson (1985, the title role in The Merry Widow[36]), Erie Mills (1981, Marie[37]), Rosalind Plowright (1987, Elizabeth in Don Carlo[38]), and Sylvia Sass (1985, Tosca[39]); mezzo-sopranos Fiorenza Cossotto (1984, Carmen[40]); tenors William Johns (1982, Manrico), Jerry Hadley (1984, Arturo[41]), Veriano Luchetti (1984, Don Jose[40]), and Neil Shicoff (1986, Faust); baritone James Billings (1980, Frosch[37]); bass-baritones James Morris (1980, Boris Godunov[37] and Richard Stilwell (1982, Rossini's Figaro[36]); basses Jerome Hines (1987, The Grand Inquisitor[42]) and Giorgio Tozzi (1981, Sulpice[37]); and actress Anna Russell (1981, The Duchess of Crakentorp[37]).
[38] His tenure notably consisted of the company's first staging of The Tales of Hoffmann with Robert Grayson in the title role, Cyndia Sieden as Olympia, Cynthia Clarey as Nicklausse, and Eric Halfvarson as the four villains.
[45] Lawton conducted the premiere with Margaret Jane Wray as Leonore, Craig Sirianni as Manrique, Greer Grimsley as Le Comte de Luna, and Barbara Conrad as Alzucena.
[47] Other highlights of Muni's tenure included performances by sopranos Amy Burton (1992, Josephine), Jan Grissom (1991, Pamina), Elizabeth Knighton (1989, Susannah Polk), Marquita Lister (1989, Mimi), Carmen Pelton (1991, The Queen of the Night), Linda Roark-Strummer (1991, Minnie), and Maryanne Telese (1991, Cio-Cio-San); mezzo-sopranos Jane Bunnell (1991, Suzuki) and Judith Forst (1990, title role in La Cenerentola; directed by Rosalind Elias); tenors Richard Brunner (1989, Sam Polk), Carroll Freeman (1990, Don Ramiro), Peter Riberi (1991, Pinkerton) and Kip Wilborn (1991, Tamino); baritones Donnie Ray Albert (1992, Jack Rance), Cris Groenendaal (Captain Corcoran, 1992), Robert Honeysucker (1990, Alidoro), and Motti Kaston (1991, Sharpless); bass-baritone Jeffrey Wells (1989, Olin Blitch); and basses Pierre Charbonneau (1990, Don Magnifico), Claude Corbeil (1990, Dandini), and Peter Volpe (1989, Colline).
[49] Notable singers to perform with the company during her tenure included Pamela Armstrong, Harolyn Blackwell, Stephanie Blythe, Sarah Coburn, Andrea Gruber, Peter Lindskoog, John Matz, and Alfred Walker among others.