Patricia Racette (Photo: Eric Woosley)
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL) is known for its local impact, national presence, and global resonance. Every year, OTSL produces a spring festival season of inventive new productions each of which is sung in English and accompanied by the Grammy Award-winning St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Performances take place in the intimate Loretto-Hilton Center at Webster University. Before and after the shows, audiences gather in lush gardens for picnics and cocktails. OTSL has a long tradition of discovering the finest young singers and promoting the work of living American librettists and composers. This year, OTSL presents Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, Adam Guettel ’s The Light in the Piazza, André Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire, and Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet. Stage director and soprano Patricia Racette, Artistic Director of Opera Theatre, joins WFMT to preview the 2026 festival season. Learn more HERE.
The Virginia Jackson Browning Theater at the Loretto-Hilton Center (Photo: Ken Howard)
Playlist
Selections from Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance
“With cat-like tread”
“A Paradox”
Gillian Kinght, contralto
John Mark Ainsley, tenor
Nicholas Folwell, baritone
Donald Adams, bass-baritone
Welsh National Opera Chorus and Orchestra/Sir Charles Mackerras
“I am the very model of a modern Major-General”
“Poor wand’ring one”
Tracy Dahl, soprano
Richard Suart, baritone
Winnipeg Gilbert & Sullivan Society/Bramwell Tovey
Selections from Adam Guettel’s The Light in the Piazza
“The Light in the Piazza”
“Dividing Day”
“Say It, Somehow”
Kelli O’Hara, soprano
Victoria Clark, soprano
Matthew Morrison, tenor
Original Broadway Cast Recording/Ted Sperling
Carl Fischer: “You’ve Changed”
Patricia Racette, vocals
Craig Terry, piano
Selections from André Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire
“I can hardly stand it”
“I want magic”
“Stella!”
Elizabeth Futral, soprano
Renée Fleming, soprano
Rodney Gilfrey, baritone
Orchestra of the San Francisco Opera/André Previn
Selections from Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette
“Ah! Je veux vivre”
Hei-Kyung Hong, soprano
Orchestra of St. Luke’s/John Fiore
Madrigal, “Ange adorable”
Mady Mesplé, soprano
Nicolai Gedda, tenor
Orchestre National de l’Opéra de Paris/Pierre Dervaux
