Mainstage Productions

Judith Forst; Maestro Richard Bonynge; Dame Joan Sutherland; Artistic Director Emeritus Irving Guttman.
All photos by Barry Glass.

The company’s inaugural production was 1960's Carmen, starring Nan Merriman, Richard Cassilly, and Louis Quilico. It was directed by Irving Guttman, founding Artistic Director (and now Artistic Director Emeritus), who led the company until 1974 and again from 1982 to 1984.
 

Vancouver Opera is admired around the world for presenting exciting productions of a very high quality, for the estimable playing of its orchestra, and for attracting artists of international stature. This reputation, which is refreshed each season, originated in several now-legendary appearances: in 1963, Richard Bonynge made his conducting début, with Faust; that same year, he conducted Joan Sutherland's and Marilyn Horne's role débuts in Norma (1963); in 1968, Plácido Domingo made his first Vancouver appearance, in Tosca; and in 1972, Joan Sutherland débuted the title role of Lucrezia Borgia. Over the years, the company has attracted such internationally acclaimed singers as Ewa Podles, James Morris, Samuel Ramey, Ruth Ann Swenson, James McCracken, Reri Grist, Victor Braun, John Alexander, Maria Pellegrini, Huguette Tourangeau, Paul Plishka, Regina Resnik, and Elizabeth Futral.