HGO Blog: Musings

On May 19 and 20, Houston Grand Opera will present two free performances of Verdi’s La traviata at Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park, one of our city’s true jewels. Thousands of Houston families will converge for an evening of entertainment on the hill, enjoying the same acclaimed production, directed by Arin Arbus, that opened our season last fall.  

HGO’s very first Opera Ball took place in 1960, just five years after the company’s inception. The theme was Viennese Elegance, the chair was Betty Lou Carter, and it was an unforgettable celebration of this art form and the incredible people who bring it to Houston. A new tradition was born.

Suave. Elegant. Charismatic. Riveting. Devilishly attractive. A voice that drips with gold. These are just a few bits of the rapturous acclaim bass-baritone Ryan McKinny, one of the leading artists in all of opera, has received over his career, which was launched right here in Houston. 

Puccini’s Tosca, first as a famous-but-now-forgotten play, is one of the few indestructibly enduring operas, and the title role remains a destination achievement for great sopranos. The play was written in 1887 by the once-famous Victorien Sardou for his era’s most compelling actress, the French Sarah Bernhardt, who performed it all over the world, including many U.S. cities, where she packed houses playing the role in French with an English-speaking supporting cast.

Richard Strauss’s opera, based on the play by Oscar Wilde, still shocks 118 years later.