Robert O'Hearn, RIP

Robert O'Hearn, set designer died May 26th.  His productions were part of my opera education years. What you saw was what the composer intended.  It's very hard doing a massive edit and I've never enjoyed photographing furniture. I've looked at the set images, sometimes not best in first season. I've been trying to put this together for two weeks. These were all shot with film in the B/W years.  First Robert O'Hearn, Nathanial Merrill, Maestro Karl Boehm and Leonie Rysanek, FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN first performance 1966.

FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN final scene with James King, Leonie Rysanek, Walter Berry, Christa Ludwig, 1966

HANSEL UND GRETEL, Act I shot in 1978 with Carol Malone and Rosalind Elias, then Act II for the set.

ROSENKAVALIER,  1969. This production is fresh in our minds, because it has been presented for years. I opted to use one of my favorite moments. Walter Berry and Rosalind Elias, end of Act II. If I had tried to use set images I would have had to plow through hundreds  of possibilities.

PIQUE DAME  1972 before it was called QUEEN OF SPADES,  Nicolai Gedda and Regina Resnik and William Walker added for the final scene.

L'ELISIR D'AMORE, a 1973 image with Fernando Corena

AIDA  1972 with Sandor Konya and Grace Bumbry

NOZZE DI FIGARO  from 1975 with Evelyn Lear, Judith Blegen, Justino Diaz, Richard Best and Wolfgang Brendel, Act II

MEISTERSINGER   1976 FINAL SCENE

PARSIFAL  1972 with Sandor Konya, Irene Dalis and Cesare Siepi

PARSIFAL later on with Vickers and Rysanek. Again this was a hard edit.

SAMSON 1977  with Obratszova and Walker

FANCIULLA, NYC Opera, 1977,  with Maralin Niska as Minnie, then Act II with Charles Long as Jack Rance. Ermano Mauro is up in lift

PORGY AND BESS  1985  Catfish Row and Kitty Hawk Island

Robert O'Hearn, thank you for so much fun and artistic integrity. RIP