The Berkshire Opera Company was an American opera company located in

Lee, Massachusetts Lee is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, metropolitan statistical area. The population was 5,788 at the 2020 census. Lee, which includes the villages of South and East Lee, is p ...

. The company was founded in 1985 by Rex Hearn and closed in 2009.Singer (September 2009) Amongst the highlights of the company's history were: *In 1986, the company performed the first professional production of Mozart's "L'oca del Cairo" (The Goose of Cairo), English lyrics by Sheldon Harnick (Fiddler on the roof) at Cranwell Opera House in Lenox, Massachusetts. *The 1998 production of

Gian Carlo Menotti Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian composer, librettist, director, and playwright who is primarily known for his output of 25 operas. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept h ...

's ''

The Consul ''The Consul'' is an opera in three acts with music and libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti, his first full-length opera. Performance history Its first performance was on March 1, 1950 at the Schubert Theatre in Philadelphia with Patricia Neway as the ...

'' which was recorded on the Newport Classic label immediately following the final performance and was the first complete commercial recording ever made of the opera. *The 1999 world premiere of

Stephen Paulus Stephen Paulus (August 24, 1949 – October 19, 2014) was an American Grammy Award winning composer, best known for his operas and choral music. His style is essentially tonal, and melodic and romantic by nature. His best-known piece is his 1 ...

' opera ''Summer'' in collaboration with the

Boston Symphony The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...

and the

Tanglewood Music Festival The Tanglewood Music Festival is a music festival held every summer on the Tanglewood estate in Stockbridge and Lenox in the Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts. The festival consists of a series of concerts, including symphonic music, ch ...

. The opera, which is set in the

Berkshires The Berkshires () are a highland geologic region located in the western parts of Massachusetts and northwest Connecticut. The term "Berkshires" is normally used by locals in reference to the portion of the Vermont-based Green Mountains that ex ...

, is based on the novel of the same name by

Edith Wharton Edith Wharton (; born Edith Newbold Jones; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American novelist, short story writer, and interior designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray ...

. Performances were held at Cranwell Opera House from 1985 until 1992, when the Opera company sought new venues: Pittsfield's Colonial Theatre and The Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

References

*Metcalf, Stephen
"'Summer' Makes Debut with Berkshire Opera Co."
''

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...

'', August 26, 1999. *Singer, Barry
"Opera in the Age of Anxiety "
''

Opera News ''Opera News'' is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to engender the appreciation of opera and also support ...

'', September 2009. Updates added by Rex Hearn, Founder & President Emeritus of Berkshire Opera Company, also Music Critic of Palm Beach Daily News and palmbeachartspaper.com American opera companies Performing groups established in 1985 Musical groups disestablished in 2009 1985 establishments in Massachusetts 2009 disestablishments in Massachusetts Performing arts in Massachusetts {{opera-company-stub