The spring season usually brings out the Awards season — Oscars, Tonys, Pulitzers, etc. — and I suppose that is why a non-operatic friend of mine asked me, a few weeks ago, "Who is the greatest American opera singer?" Well, that was a poser, I can admit, and after a good deal of thought I came up with a few ideas. First, I eliminated all singers currently performing, simply because their careers were not finished. That cut down the list.

But what about the older ones? The ones that I had heard and seen I could judge, but the ones before my time could only be judged by good or less-than-good recordings, which is only a partial test. Yes, Geraldine Farrar was a notable, if not great, movie star (e.g., her silent Carmen), so we can see a bit of how she acted onstage, and she certainly had a fanatic following, but her recordings, for me, do not put her in the very top category. Certainly not in competition with Rosa Ponselle, who may not have been the actress that Farrar was but had a purity of voice that defined the impossible role of Norma — and several others as well.

Just as certainly Lawrence Tibbett defined the baritone category, and in addition was a stalwart support of the Met in the trying 1930s, and though we could use him today onstage in Verdi, was he, in truth, the greatest? Of tenors there have been few, with Richard Tucker one of the best — if not for his acting ability! — though if by "American" you mean "North American" you'll have to deal with the awesome figure of Jon Vickers! I personally would include both Leonard Warren and Robert Merrill in the baritone ranks.

Wagnerians? Traubel? Varnay? Bel canto? Marilyn Horne? Hard to know. If Maria Callas, who grew up here, was not Greek, then the choice is easy. And doubtless there are others that I am omitting that have passionate advocates.

But, after considering all of these, I have arrived at a decision based on having both seen and heard the singer — the best in my estimation — Leontyne Price.

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Company Members
Florentine Opera's (Milwaukee, WI) 2008-2009 season will include Puccini's Madama Butterfly; Handel's Semele, the first presentation of a Baroque opera in the company's history; and Mozart's The Magic Flute. Subscriptions range from $75 to $386. For more information on ordering a subscription package, visit florentineopera.org or call 414-291-5700, ext. 224. To request a season brochure e-mail info@florentineopera.org or call 414-291-5700.

The 2009 season at Pensacola Opera will include Mozart's Così fan tutte at the University of West Florida's Mainstage Theatre and Verdi's Aida in the newly-renovated Historic Saenger Theatre. New season subscriptions will go on sale May 12, 2008, and single tickets will be available July 7, 2008. For more information, visit pensacolaopera.com.

2008-2009 will mark the 50th season for Sarasota Opera. The first fall opera season will begin with Rossini's The Barber of Seville in November 2008. The company's traditional Winter Opera Festival will return with Puccini's Tosca, Donizetti's The Elixir of Love, Mascagni's L'amico Fritz and Verdi's Don Carlos in February and March 2009. The season will conclude in May with the world premiere of Ned Rorem and J.D. McClatchy's Little Nemo in Slumberland, based on Winsor McCay's comic strip and commissioned by Sarasota Opera to be performed by the Sarasota Youth Opera. Subscriptions will go on sale on April 14 and single tickets will go on sale on September 1. Subscribers will be able to select a four-opera Winter Opera Festival series, with the option to add Barber and/or Little Nemo in Slumberland. Subscription information is available from the Sarasota Opera box office (61 N. Pineapple Avenue) or by calling 941-366-8450, ext. 1.

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Company Members
Each season, New York City's American Opera Projects selects six composers to work with the company's resident ensemble of singers for its Composers & the Voice Workshop Series. The primary focus of the series is to give composers extensive experience working collaboratively with singers on writing for the voice. Participants meet in closed sessions from November to May to present and discuss new works composed specifically for the individual voices of the resident ensemble. The May 8 and 9 presentations will be the first public performances of compositions created this year; please visit operaprojects.org/events for details about ticket prices and performance locations.

The Canadian Opera Company (COC) will present Rossini's The Barber of Seville from May 2 through 23 and Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande from May 6 through 24. Single tickets for both productions are $60 to $275 and are available by calling COC ticket services at 416-363-8231, online at coc.ca or at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts box office (145 Queen St. W.). For more information, visit coc.ca/performances. Additionally, the graduating artists of the current COC Ensemble Studio will perform a special farewell concert, Les Adieux, of arias and ensembles — part of the Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre.

On May 9, Millennium Park will offer a free, live broadcast of Chicago Opera Theater's Don Giovanni direct from the Harris Theater to the stage of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion. Using state-of-the-art technology, two 20,000 lumen DLP projectors will provide a visual reproduction of the images from inside the Harris Theater onto an 18' x 32' screen, six cameras will record the action from the Harris stage and fiber optic equipment will link the transmission from the theater to the screen. A concentric arrangement of speakers on the overhead trellis and timed digital delays will create the impression that the sound is arriving to the audience from the stage, rather than the speakers. For more information about the live simulcast, visit millenniumpark.org. Don Giovanni will open Chicago Opera Theater's season on April 30 at the Harris Theater in Millennium Park. Performances will run through May 11; individual tickets to each show are now on sale and range from $35 to $120. To purchase, visit ChicagoOperaTheater.org or HarrisTheaterChicago.org, or call 312-704-8414.

The Dallas Opera has created a new challenge fund totaling $1.5 million to support OPERAtion HQ, the campaign to design, build, move, furnish and sustain opera company offices in the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts. Four partners have joined forces to jump-start the newly launched campaign: the David M. Crowley Foundation, Phyllis and Tom McCasland, James R. Seitz and Strasburger & Price, LLP.

Florida Grand Opera (FGO) will continue its 2007-2008 season with Handel's Julius Caesar (Giulio Cesare in Egitto), featuring soprano Leah Partridge as Cleopatra, John Gaston as Julius Caesar, Brian Asawa as Ptolemy and Katherine Calcamuggio as Sesto. Performances at Miami's Ziff Ballet Opera House at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County will run from April 26 through May 11; the production will move to the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale for performances on May 15 and 17. Single tickets range from $10 to $250; to purchase, call 800-741-1010 or visit fgo.org.

Glimmerglass Opera (Cooperstown, NY) has announced that soprano Lyubov Petrova will make her company and role debut as Cleopatra in the company's new production of Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto. An alumna of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program of the Metropolitan Opera, Petrova appears as the Queen of the Night in the new film of The Magic Flute, directed by Kenneth Branagh and conducted by James Conlon. Giulio Cesare in Egitto will run in repertory with three other works linked to Shakespeare: Porter's Kiss Me, Kate, the American fully-staged premiere of Wagner's Das Liebesverbot and Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi. The Glimmerglass Opera 2008 Festival Season runs July 5 to August 24. For tickets and more information, visit glimmerglass.org or call the Glimmerglass Opera box office at 607-547-2255.

New York City's Gotham Chamber Opera will present the world premiere of a new production, Ariadne Unhinged: Music of Monteverdi, Haydn and Schoenberg, from May 7 through 11 at The Playhouse, Abrons Arts Center (466 Grand Street). Staged by director/choreographer Karole Armitage and featuring one singer, six musicians and the Armitage Gone! Dance Company, Ariadne Unhinged has sets by photographer Vera Lutter, costume designs by Peter Speliopoulos and lighting by Clifton Taylor. Mezzo-sopranos Emily Langford Johnson and Brenda Patterson will perform the role of Ariadne in alternating performances. Tickets are $30 to $70 ($300 for opening night gala seats) and are available through Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or ticketcentral.com. For more information, visit gothamchamberopera.org.

Houston Grand Opera's (HGO) May 3 performance of La bohème will have an audience made up of people who have three things in common: most of them have never been to the opera before, or have attended only occasionally; they are all coming to the performance thanks to HGO's Nexus Initiative; and they all paid $10 for their tickets due to underwriting provided by a consortium of Houston corporations. In the 2008-2009 season, the October 19 matinee of Pagliacci and Cavalleria rusticana is slated to be a $10 Nexus performance, and a limited number of Nexus $10 tickets will be available for most performances throughout the year. These tickets will be available through HGO's group sales office to eligible groups attending HGO for the first time, such as students (elementary through graduate school); community, church, service and cultural organizations; and senior citizens. The Nexus initiative also underwrites selected subscription packages, allowing HGO to keep subscription prices affordable for new audiences.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City will conclude its 50th anniversary season with the world premiere of Kirke Mechem's John Brown from May 3 through 11 at the Lyric Theater (1029 Central). Baritone James Maddalena will portray John Brown, baritone Donnie Ray Albert will portray Frederick Douglass and tenor Patrick Miller will portray Oliver Brown in their company debuts; baritone Robert McNichols, Jr. will create the dual roles of Jim and Daniel in his official Lyric debut and soprano Holly White will create the role of Annie Brown. Audiences are invited and encouraged to attend a free opera preview in the theater one hour before curtain, presented by the Lyric Opera Guild. Limited $10 student rush tickets are available one hour before curtain, with cash and valid student ID. To purchase tickets, visit kcopera.org/tickets , or call the ticket office at 816-471-7344 or 800-OPERAKC (673-7252).

Detroit's Michigan Opera Theatre will conclude its 2008 spring season with Verdi's La traviata at the Detroit Opera House. The alternating cast will feature sopranos Dina Kuznetsova and Maria Kanyova as Violetta, tenors Arturo Chacón-Cruz and Mark Panuccio as Alfredo and baritones Marco Di Felice and Luis Ledesma as Germont. Tickets range from $28 to $120 and are available at the ticket office (1526 Broadway), by phone at 313-237-SING (7464) and online at MichiganOpera.org. Tickets are also available at all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 248-645-6666 or online at Ticketmaster.com.

New York City Opera's (NYCO) series VOX 2008: Showcasing American Composers will return for its ninth season on May 10 and 11 at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at NYU (566 LaGuardia Place, Washington Square Park South). VOX 2008 will feature readings of 10 new or previously unperformed American operas of both emerging and established composers; for a complete list of operas and performance times, visit vox-nyco.com/html/current. All selections will be performed by NYCO artists and accompanied by its orchestra. Admission to VOX is free and open to the public; this year, VOX attendees can reserve their free tickets in advance by logging on to vox-nyco.com.

Opera Boston will close its 2007-2008 season with Verdi's Ernani May 2, 4 and 6 at the Cutler Majestic Theatre, with Barbara Quintiliani as Elvira and Eduardo Villa as Ernani. All performances will feature a free talk one hour before curtain, and the Sunday matinee will be followed by an artist talkback. Tickets are $29 to $114 through Telecharge.com, by phone at 800-233-3123 or at the box office (219 Tremont Street). For more information, visit operaboston.org/ernani.

Opera Carolina will conclude its 2007-2008 season with Strauss's Die Fledermaus. Bill Fabris will direct soprano Robin Follman as Rosalinde, tenor Israel Lozano as Alfred, bass-baritone Dan Boye as Dr. Falke, baritone Keith Jurosko as Frosch and baritone James Taylor in his company debut as Gabriel von Eisenstein. Die Fledermaus will be performed in the Belk Theater of the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center May 1, 3 and 4. Tickets are available by calling 704-372-1000 or online at operacarolina.org. For more information, please visit operacarolina.org/operas.

Opera Pacific's final opera of its 2007-2008 season at the Orange County Performing Artscenter in Costa Mesa is Carlisle Floyd's Susannah. Performances will be held on May 14, 18, 22 and 24. The production will be conducted by Artistic Director John DeMain and directed by Harry Silverstein. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit operapacific.org.

Pittsburgh Opera will present Bellini's The Capulets and the Montagues (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), which will feature coloratura soprano Laura Claycomb as Giulietta, mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux as Romeo and tenor Arthur Espiritu as Tebaldo. A Pittsburgh Opera Preview will air on WQED-FM (89.3) on Sunday, April 27 at 6:00 p.m. and Thursday, May 1 at 7:00 p.m., featuring an in-depth introduction to the singers, music and production of The Capulets and the Montagues; for details, visit wqed.org. Tickets for performances start at $16; to purchase, call 412-456-6666, visit pittsburghopera.org or go to the Theater Square box office (665 Penn Avenue).

Portland Opera's 2007-2008 season, "Great Women of the Stage," will close with Verdi's Aida. Soprano Lisa Daltirus will make her company debut as Aida, mezzo-soprano Luretta Bybee will make her company debut as Amneris, baritone Greer Grimsley will sing Amonasro and tenor Philip Webb will sing Radames. Single tickets from $41.75 can be purchased by phone at 503-241-1802 or 866-739-6737, online at Ticketmaster.com or at the Portland Opera box office (211 SE Caruthers Street) and at the Ticketmaster outlet (Portland Center for the Performing Arts at SW Broadway & Main). For more information, visit portlandopera.org.

Sacramento Opera will present Tosca on May 2, 4 and 6 at the Sacramento Community Center Theater (1301 L Street.). Tenor Dinyar Vania will sing Cavaradossi, soprano Marie Plette will sing Tosca and bass-baritone Rod Nelman will sing the role of Scarpia. Single tickets are $15 to $110; to purchase, call 916-808-5181 or visit tickets.com. For more information, visit sacopera.org/Tosca2008.

San Francisco Opera and Cal Performances will co-present the West Coast premiere of Rachel Portman's The Little Prince, a special family presentation based on Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's children's fable. The Francesca Zambello production will be presented at Zellerbach Hall on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, for six performances beginning May 2. Baritone Eugene Brancoveanu will sing the role of The Pilot, tenor Thomas Glenn will sing the roles of The Snake/Vain Man, and Tyler Polen and Tovi Wayne share the role of the Little Prince. Tickets are priced from $40 to $60 for adults and $20 to $30 tickets for children aged 16 and under, and may be purchased online at sfopera.com, through the San Francisco Opera box office (301 Van Ness Avenue at Grove Street) or by phone at 415-864-3330. Tickets can also be purchased through Cal Performances' box office at Zellerbach Hall, by phone at 510-642-9988 or online at calperfs.berkeley.edu.

Tri-Cities Opera (Binghamton, NY) will end its 2007-2008 season with Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia on May 2, 3 and 4 at The Forum Theatre and — for the first time ever — at The State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ on May 10. Tickets for the Binghamton performances start at $20 and may be purchased by calling 607-772-0400, while tickets for the New Brunswick performance start at $35 and may be purchased online at StateTheatreNJ.org or by calling 732-246-7469. For more information, visit tricitiesopera.com.

Tulsa Opera's 60th anniversary season will conclude with Mozart's The Magic Flute. The cast includes baritone Corey McKern, soprano Christine Steyer, tenor Vale Rideout, soprano Lynette Tapia and tenor Calvin Ellis Lee. The Magic Flute will open April 26 and continue through May 4. Tickets are on sale now and range from $20 to $95; to purchase, call the ticket office at 918-587-4811 or 866-298-2530. Tickets can be purchased online through the Tulsa Performing Arts Center at myticketoffice.com. For more information, visit tulsaopera.com/season-magic-flute.

Associate Members
Opera New Jersey received its second Citation of Excellence from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts for excellence in artistic quality, programming and public service in the arts. This award, among the State Arts Council's most prestigious marks of distinction, is conferred to grant applicants receiving the highest peer panel evaluation through the grant application process. For more information about the company, visit opera-nj.org.

Opera Tampa's season will conclude with Puccini's Tosca in Carol Morsani Hall on April 25 and 27. The production will feature Patricia Stevens as Tosca, Gustavo Lopez-Manzitti as Cavaradossi and Guido LeBrón as Baron Scarpia. Tickets for Tosca are $29.50 to $99.50 and may be purchased by calling 800-955-1045 or 813-229-STAR (7827), at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center ticket office (1010 North W.C. MacInnes Place) or online at tbpac.com. For more information, please visit operatampa.org/season/tosca.

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Company Members
Boston Lyric Opera will offer young professionals a party package featuring its upcoming production, Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio. The Abduction Party Package will give young professionals a chance to break free from the work week on Friday, May 2 with an exclusive pre-show cocktail party, including hors d'oeuvres at the Four Seasons Hotel and the performance at the Citi Performing Arts Center Shubert Theatre with specially-priced group seating. Tickets for the Abduction Party Package are $90 and include the party and discounted seats at the show; to order, visit blo.org/bravo_abduction or call audience services at 617-542-6772.

On Saturday, May 10 at the Palace Theatre in Stamford, CT, the Connecticut Grand Opera & Orchestra (CGO&O) will present a semi-staged performance of Puccini's Turandot conducted by Maestro Laurence Gilgore. Soprano Othalie Graham will sing Turandot, tenor Rafael Dávila will sing Calaf, Mikhail Svetlov will sing Timur, soprano Tamara Alekseev will sing Liu and baritone Donald Barnum will sing the Mandarin. For single tickets, please call 203-325-4466. For general information please call 203-359-0009. Tickets for all CGO&O performances at the Palace Theatre are available from $32 to $95, with student and senior discounts available. To purchase online, visit tickets.stamfordcenterforthearts.org. For more information, please visit ctgrandopera.org/turandot.

Angela Brown will return to Dayton Opera for her second gala: A Celebration with Angela Brown in the Mead Theatre at the Schuster Center. The event will feature music ranging from opera to spirituals, with the Wilberforce University Choir. Tickets start at just $15; to purchase, call Ticket Center Stage at 937-228-3630 or visit ticketcenterstage.com. For more information, visit daytonopera.org.

PORTopera's (Portland, ME) annual gala and auction, Romance and Revelry in Fair Verona, will celebrate and support the company's 2008 mainstage production of Gounod's Roméo et Juliette. The event will be held on May 9 at the Portland Marriott. University of Southern Maine voice students will provide a few arias, accompanied by Aaron Robinson. Tickets to Romance and Revelry in Fair Verona are $125 per person, and can be obtained by calling the PORTopera office at 207-879-7678; the cost per table of eight is $1,000, to be paid in advance. An extra-special offer is being extended to young patrons: one table of eight is reserved for couples age 35 and under — the ticket price is $75 per person.

Educational Producing Associate Members
The Juilliard School and the Film Society of Lincoln Center will present the New York premiere of the documentary film Ned Rorem: Word and Music on April 26 at the Walter Reade Theater (West 65th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues). The screening will take place in conjunction with the NYC premiere of the Juilliard Opera Center's production of Rorem's Our Town. Tickets for the film screening are $7 to $11 and are available at both the Walter Reade Theater box office or online at filmlinc.com.

Associate Members
Annapolis Opera's spring series of opera appreciation classes will focus on operas chosen by students in the class: 19th-century German operas (Der Freischutz by Carl Maria von Weber and Parsifal by Richard Wagner) and 19th-century Italian operas (Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni and Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo). Classes will be held from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on five Mondays, from May 5 to June 9, in the home of Dr. M. A. Cashman. Class fees are $50 for members of Annapolis Opera, $100 for non-members (includes $50 membership) and $12 for members for individual classes. To register and obtain directions to the class venue, call Annapolis Opera at 410-267-8135. Additionally, the company will team up with Anne Arundel Community College's OPERA AACC and the All Children's Chorus of Annapolis to present Humperdinck's Hansel & Gretel. Tickets are $10 each for both children and adults, who must be accompanied by one or more children to attend. To purchase tickets, call the Maryland Hall box office at 410-280-5640 or visit marylandhall.org. For more information, call 410-267-8135 or visit annapolisopera.org.

Business Members
Since December 2007, Emerging Pictures has been bringing operas, recorded live in High Definition-TV format with Dolby Digital sound, from three Italian opera houses to digital cinemas. The series will continue this month with Verdi's La forza del destino, recorded live during the November 2007 premiere at the Teatro Communale (Florence, Italy). This new production will feature Marcello Giordani (Don Alvaro), Violeta Urmana (Donna Leonora), Carlo Guelfi (Don Carlos di Vargas) and Julia Gertseva (Preziosilla). Please visit emergingpictures.com/operas to find local venues for this and other operas; for more information about La forza del destino, visit emergingpictures.com/forza.

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Alaskans Test their Tolerance for Opera: Radio Station Lures Newbies to Anchorage Opera's Don Pasquale

Atlanta Opera Buffs Enter a New Stage: Will Travel for Tosca

Want more news about the opera industry? On alternate weeks, OPERA America members receive MediaLink, with synopses and links to stories published around the world. To learn more about this and other benefits of membership, send an e-mail to Membership@operaamerica.org or call 212-796-8620, ext. 214.

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