This year marks the Des Moines Metro Opera’s 42nd Festival Season. The season includes Verdi’s La Traviata, Dead Man Walking by Heggie, and Rossini’s Le Comte Ory. New this year will be their 2nd Stage Series presentation of Peter Brook’s Tragedy of Carmen, a riveting pared-down version of Bizet’s Carmen.
The Des Moines Metro Opera was founded in 1973 by Robert Larsen as Artistic Director and Douglas Duncan as Managing Director. Today it is regarded as one of the leading Summer Opera Festival Companies in America.
Playing a major role in the DMMO’s success was Dr. Larsen, who served as conductor and stage director for well over 120 productions during his 38 year tenure. In 2010 Dr. Larsen became Artistic Director Emeritus, passing the DMMO’s Artistic Director reins on to Michael Egel.
In this exclusive interview, Dr. Larsen shares with us some of his fond memories of growing up in Walnut, the DMMO’s early shoe-string budget days, and names some of the wonderful singers and titles that have been performed over the DMMO’s amazing 42-year history.
