page_title: Washington National Opera
section_title: Changes in direction, 1966 to 1977
hierarchical_section_title: Washington National Opera / The Opera Society of Washington / Changes in direction, 1966 to 1977
caption_attribution_description: the kennedy center on the potomac waterfront in washington dc
context_page_description: The Washington National Opera is an American opera company in Washington, D.C.. Formerly the Opera Society of Washington and the Washington Opera, the company received Congressional designation as the National Opera Company in 2000. Performances are now given in the Opera House of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
  Opera in Washington, DC had become established after World War I and it did flourish for a time as the Washington National Opera Association until the Depression and World War Two years, and into the 1960s in various outdoor opera venues. However, with the establishment of the Opera Society of Washington in 1956–57, the way was laid for a company to function in the city, especially after the opening of the Kennedy Center in 1971 and its move there in 1979.
  After making initial appearances with the company from 1986 onwards, tenor Plácido Domingo took over as general director in 1996, a post which he held until June 2011, after which the company, which was undergoing financial problems, came under the auspices of the Kennedy Center administration.
context_section_description: Three new faces were to bring "imagination and flair to the company" during the period up to 1977 and, by that date, another new face made a short but dramatic appearance in the company's history: bass-baritone George London became General Manager.
  Taking over a General Manager in 1967 was Richard Pearlman under whose tenure were staged well-received productions of The Turn of the Screw, La bohème, and the first production of Barber's Vanessa.  By 1972 Ian Strasfogel, with considerable experience from working at the Metropolitan Opera, took over the helm with the aim of giving it a "businesslike foundation" "it never had in its sixteen years, in spite of the excellent productions it has often achieved".  
  One early success was a production of Kurt Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny with the composer's widow, Lotte Lenya, in attendance.  She described it as "the best production she has ever seen". Other significant productions followed, but, in summing up Strasfogel's success, author Mary Jane Phillips-Matz concludes that "his main achievement, though, was his artistic oversight, for by the mid-1970s critics were regularly covering the Opera Society's extraordinary programming and grants were coming in from important foundations."
  During this period of the 1970s another person was to enter the scene, stage director Frank Rizzo.  There followed a stunning Madama Butterfly and other important productions and his association with the company continued into the 1980s with his introduction in 1984 of the Canadian Opera Company's surtitles system, whereby an English translation appeared above the proscenium arch.
  Also while under Strasfogel's tenure, the Opera Society made its move into the newly opened Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1972. This was to have a profound impact on the company, especially since George London, after retirement from the stage, became Artistic Administrator at the Kennedy Center until its 1971 opening and then Executive Director of the Nation Opera Institute.  He directed a production of Die Walküre for the opera company in 1974 and was courted to become General Director for the 1977 season.
caption: Kennedy Center
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