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HISTORY The company, originally known as Long Beach Grand Opera, was a venture sponsored by the Long Beach Symphony Association to mark the inaugural season of the city’s Terrace Theater . Michael Milenski , formerly of the San Francisco Opera and San Jose Opera, was tapped to mount the first production in March, 1979, Verdi’s '' La Traviata '' starring Metropolitan Opera stars Benita Valente and Louis Quilico . The success of that production led to the company’s formal incorporation independent of the Long Beach Symphony with Milenski as its executive director. Following a period of early growth marked by the presentation of repertory staples, Long Beach Opera took a radical departure from the operatic mainstream. Under '' Death In Venice '' and Monteverdi's ''Coronation of Poppea'' starring Catherine Malfitano , a production the Los Angeles Times' chief music and dance critic Martin Bernheimer called LBO's "wild, wonderful ''Poppea''." Both operas were staged by the maverick director Christopher Alden , whose career was given major impetus by his partnership with LBO. Significant LBO productions have included '' by Karol Szymanowski , Mozart’s '' Lucio Silla ,'' Schoenberg’s ''Die Jakobsleiter,'' Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s ''Turning, I Saw Great Injustice'' and John Cage’s ''Europeras 3&4'' (issued in a commercial recording). Celebrated singers who have sung with LBO include Jerome Hines , Cesare Siepi , Ruth Ann Swenson , James Morris and Jerry Hadley , but the company has a longstanding tradition of tapping talented singers on their way up (including some of the above named). In the 2004, Michael Milenski retired after 25 seasons at the helm of LBO and was succeeded by Austrian conductor Andreas Mitisek, who has continued LBO’s longstanding artistic philosophy of presenting an expanded vision of opera. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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