The acclaimed scenic and costume designer John Conklin, who passed away this summer after a seven-decade career, reflected on his relationship with new work.

An excerpt from the Oral History Project interview with designer John Conklin:

I treat any opera as a new opera, in a way — to be explored as if it had never been performed. To say, “What is this, really?” So I haven’t had much experience working with composers. Although one experience I did have was a very interesting parable or lesson about this.

I’d done work with Dominick Argento. Mark Lamos and I were hired to do The Voyage of Edgar Allan Poe for its European premiere. We completely ignored the physical ambience Argento had carefully expressed in the libretto. It was all set on a boat going between New York and Richmond, but we didn’t do any of that. No boat at all.

At the dress rehearsal, we were told, “Mr. Argento’s coming!” And we thought, “Oh, great. He’s going to hate all of this.” We talked it over with Dominick, at all times a total gentleman, and then he said, “You know, I have learned more about myself from this production than any production of my opera that I’ve ever seen.” I thought, “Okay, guys, this is what you want to hear, and this is what, very possibly, Mr. Puccini or Mr. Verdi would say to somebody.”

Adapted from an Oral History Project conversation recorded on August 22, 2019. Explore the full Oral History Project collection.

This article was published in the Spring/Summer 2025 issue of Across the Board, a publication of OPERA America for opera company trustees.