Minnesota Opera

Wuthering Heights and Bernard Herrmann's film music legacy


Michael Christie Interview

35:09


April 14, 2011
Minnesota Opera
Sara Jakubiak and Lee Poulis in the Minnesota Opera's presentation of Bernard Herrman's "Wuthering Heights."
Photo by Michal Daniel / Courtesy of the Minnesota Opera

Bernard Herrmann was an Academy Award-winning American composer whose unforgettable collaborations include Psycho with Alfred Hitchcock, Citizen Kane with Orson Welles and Taxi Driver with Martin Scorsese. Minnesota Opera's new production of his only opera celebrates the centennial of the composer's birth and is the first major revival of this forgotten masterpiece since it was written in Minneapolis in 1951.

Michael Christie
Michael Christie
Courtesy of Michael Christie

Alison Young speaks with Michael Christie, the conductor of the orchestra for the Minnesota Opera's production of Wuthering Heights, and plays excerpts of Bernard Herrmann's music.

Michael Christie, a rising star and a great choice to lead the orchestra for this opera. He's the Music Director of the Colorado Music Festival (Boulder, CO) and the Virginia G. Piper Music Director of the Phoenix Symphony. He has served as Music Director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic and Queensland Orchestra (Brisbane, Australia). He's spent a good deal of time working in collaborations with with visual artists, dance companies and theater groups, as well as contemporary composers.