Opera Guides
Spotlight Guides are small, informative booklets that explore the basic musical, cultural, and political issues found in every opera. With a sly sense of humor, they summarize the story and pack an amazing amount of information into an easy-to-read, yet surprisingly comprehensive guide. Spotlight Guides are delivered to our high school program participants and to every Seattle Opera subscriber to help our patrons prepare themselves for a fulfilling night at the theater.
2012/13 Spotlight Guides
2011/12 Spotlight Guides
2010/11 Interactive Spotlight Guides
2009/10 Interactive Spotlight Guides
2008/2009 Season
2007/2008 Season
2012/13 Spotlight Guides
Turandot
Educational guide covering Puccini's Turandot. Meet the dramatic fairy-tale characters of Puccini's exotic swansong, as well as the elements that make Puccini's operas among the most beloved ever composed.
This guide is also available in our official iPad app.
Available Downloads:
PDF | iPad
Fidelio
Educational guide covering Beethoven's Fidelio. The guide discusses how Beethoven's life, career, and politics come together in his only opera.
Available Downloads:
PDF | iPad
Cinderella (La Cenerentola)
Educational guide covering Rossini's La Cenerentola. We explore Rossini's career, the worlds of Italian comedy and bel canto opera that come together in La Cenerentola, and meet an array of Cinderellas from around the world.
Available Downloads:
PDF | iPad
La Bohème
Educational guide covering Puccini's La Bohème. The guide discusses how Puccini and his librettists transformed Murger's collection of stories about Bohemian life into the world's favorite opera, and inspects details of the incredible musical storytelling.
Available Downloads:
PDF | iPad
La Voix Humaine & Suor Angelica
Educational guides covering Poulenc's La voix humaine and Puccini's Suor Angelica. Explore these two brief operas, both coming to Seattle Opera for the first time, and get to know their stories and why they were written.
Available Downloads:
PDF | iPad
2011/12 Spotlight Guides
Porgy and Bess
Educational guide covering Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. The guide, available in both PDF and Kindle formats, introduces the characters of Catfish Row and explores the history behind this great American opera.
Available Downloads:
PDF | KINDLE EDITION
Carmen
Educational guide covering Bizet's Carmen. The guide introduces opera’s most famous femme fatale, whose cigarette-smoking, uninhibited way of life shocked audiences in nineteenth-century Paris.
Available Downloads:
PDF | KINDLE EDITION
Attila
Educational guide covering Verdi's Attila. The guide discusses Verdi’s motivation behind this now-rarely-performed opera, which makes its Seattle premiere this season, and compares the title character to the real-life Attila the Hun.
Available Downloads:
PDF | KINDLE EDITION
Orpheus and Eurydice
Educational guide covering Gluck's Orpheus and Eurydice. The guide explains Gluck’s impact on modern opera, the Orpheus myth, and what makes this Paris version different from the composer’s earlier Orfeo ed Euridice.
Available Downloads:
PDF | KINDLE EDITION
Madama Butterfly
Educational guide covering Puccini's Madama Butterfly. The guide discusses the strength of Puccini’s exciting and dramatic music, as well as the composer’s fascination with the exotic—everything from America’s Wild West to Asia’s pentatonic music.
Available Downloads:
PDF | KINDLE EDITION
Don Pasquale
Educational guide covering Donizetti's Don Pasquale.The guide gives a brief introduction to this year’s Young Artists Program production.
Available Downloads:
PDF | KINDLE EDITION
2010/11 Interactive Spotlight Guides
The Magic Flute Spotlight Guide for Kindle is now available for free download. Connect your device via USB to transfer the file or email the file directly to your Kindle (Amazon delivery fees apply). For Kindle help visit Amazon Support.
Download
Interactive educational guide covering Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. The guide includes musical examples from the opera, an introduction to Wagner’s use of motifs plus knowledgeable insight into this exciting work
Interactive educational guide covering Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. The guide includes mp3's, the opera’s literary history, plus a description and musical examples of the bel canto opera style.
Interactive educational guide covering Rossini’s Barber of Seville. The guide introduces the humor, the beautiful singing, and the wild life of opera’s most popular comedy.
Interactive educational guide covering Massenet’s Don Quichotte. The guide introduces the opera’s distinguished literary source as well as the subtle balance of words and music characteristic of French opera.
Interactive educational guide covering Mozart’s Magic Flute. The guide features a thorough musical introduction to what is often considered the greatest music Mozart ever wrote.
2009/10 Interactive Spotlight Guides
2008/2009 Season
2007/2008 Season