Colin Graham OBE (22 September 1931 in

Hove Hove ( ) is a seaside resort in East Sussex, England. Alongside Brighton, it is one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove. Originally a fishing village surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th century in respon ...

, England – 6 April 2007 in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

) was a stage director of opera, theatre, and television. Graham was educated at Northaw School (Hertfordshire),

Stowe School The Stowe School is a public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13–18 in the countryside of Stowe, England. It was opened on 11 May, 1923 at Stowe House, a Grade I Heritage Estate belonging to the British Crown. ...

and

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central Lond ...

. Early in his career, he began a long association with

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

, for whom he directed all but one of the composer's stage works, including all of the world premieres after 1954. He became associated with the English Opera Group in 1953. In the 1950s, he also worked for the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

in London and later at Glyndebourne and at the

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is a British opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in E ...

in the 1970s. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Graham was associated with several recordings of

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...

operas conducted by Sir

Malcolm Sargent Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent (29 April 1895 – 3 October 1967) was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works. The musical ensembles with which he was associated include ...

with the Glyndebourne Festival Chorus and principals including George Baker. He enhanced these recordings with movement for the performers that makes the recordings sound more like a live staged performance. Graham made his American debut as a stage director at

Santa Fe Opera Santa Fe Opera (SFO) is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. After creating the ''Opera Association of New Mexico'' in 1956, its founding director, John Crosby (conductor), John Crosby, oversaw the building of the f ...

in 1974 with his staging of Britten's '' Owen Wingrave''. In 1978, Graham started his long association with the

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL) is an American summer opera festival held in St. Louis, Missouri. Typically four operas, all sung in English, are presented each season, which runs from late May to late June. Performances are accompanied by the ...

(OTSL) when he became its Director of Productions. In 1985, he became OTSL's Artistic Director, a position he kept until his death twenty-two years later. Also in 1985, '' Jōruri'' had its global premiere at OTSL. The opera was a collaboration with Minoru Miki. Graham directed the world premieres of John Corigliano's opera, '' The Ghosts of Versailles'', for the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

; '' The Dangerous Liaisons'' and André Previn's ''

A Streetcar Named Desire ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pe ...

'' for

San Francisco Opera The San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 wh ...

; ''The Song of Majnun'' for

Lyric Opera of Chicago Lyric Opera of Chicago is an American opera company based in Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox (Chicago opera), Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, w ...

; and a series of three operas by Miki Minoru. In addition, he directed productions for the

, notably Bright Sheng's ''Madame Mao'' in 2003, continuing his association with general director Richard Gaddes, which had begun during the latter's tenure at OTSL. Collectively, he directed 55 world premieres of operas. Graham also wrote libretti for several operas, including: *

, ''The Golden Vanity'' * Richard Rodney Bennett, ''Penny for a Song'' * Stephen Paulus, '' The Postman Always Rings Twice'', 1982 * Minoru Miki, '' Jōruri'' * Minoru Miki, ''

The Tale of Genji is a classic work of Japanese literature written by the noblewoman, poet, and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu around the peak of the Heian period, in the early 11th century. It is one of history's first novels, the first by a woman to have wo ...

'', 1999 * Bright Sheng, ''Madame Mao'', 2003 * David Carlson, ''

Anna Karenina ''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, Анна Каренина, p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Tolstoy called it his first true novel. It was initially released in serial in ...

'', 2007 In the US, Graham studied theology and became a minister in 1987, and ultimately took US citizenship. He received the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 2002. At the time of his death, Graham was at work on the premiere production of ''Anna Karenina'' for Florida Grand Opera and OTSL.Sarah Bryan Miller, "Colin Graham, Opera Theatre's artistic director, dies". ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'', 6 April 2007. He left no survivors.

References

External links

Kip Cranna and Robert Wilder Blue, "Colin Graham, Abridged But Still Larger Than Life". ''USOperaWeb'', June 2002.

Diana Burgwyn, "The Triumphs of ''Gloriana''". andante.com (overall website now defunct), 2005.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Colin 1931 births 2007 deaths Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art People educated at Stowe School British opera directors People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan English theatre directors Officers of the Order of the British Empire Benjamin Britten

See also

References

External links