Houston Grand Opera's 1997/98 Season Catalog

[SENDAK, Maurice]. Houston Grand Opera’s 1997/98 Season Catalog. [Houston, TX: Houston Grand Opera, 1997]. Square 8vo, [20]pp. Color pictorial paper wrappers. 6 color illustrations. Covers lightly soiled at edges.

First and only edition. Based on the success of his design work on the 1980 Houston Grand Opera production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, which went on to tour the world for many years, Maurice Sendak collaborated with the Opera to mastermind a new co-production of Hansel and Gretel for the 1997/98 season. This catalog was created for the Houston Grand Opera’s season and features six full-color illustrations by the Caldecott Medalist that did not appear elsewhere. Sendak interpreted scenes from the six operas being produced during the season which were: Verdi’s Macbeth, Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, Britten’s Billy Budd, Strauss’ Arabella, and Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. The illustration for Billy Budd is of particular interest, given Sendak’s life-long admiration of Melville. A wonderful piece of Sendak ephemera.