LOS ANGELES OPERA'S NEW SEASON
Los Angeles Opera will launch its 2011/12 season on Sept. 17 with the company premiere of Tchaikovsky's EUGENE ONEGIN, starring Slovakian baritone Dalibor Jenis in the title role and Ukranian soprano Oksana Dyka as Tatyana. The production, originally created for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden by the late stage director Steven Pimlott, will run through Oct. 9 with James Conlon conducting.
Also opening in September will be Mozart's COSI FAN TUTTE. The production, new to L.A., was first mounted by Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak makes her local debut as the steadfast Fiordiligi; she will be joined by Romanian mezzo-soprano Ruxandra Donose (The Fly, 2008) as her gullible sister Dorabella. The other lead singers are Saimir Pirgu, Uldebrando D'Arcangelo, Lorenzo Regazzo and Roxana Constantinescu. COSI runs from Sept. 18-Oct. 8 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
Other highlights of the 2011/2012 season include Charles Gounod's ROMEO ET JULIETTE (with Placido Domingo conducting), Giuseppe Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, Benjamin Britten's ALBERT HERRING, and Giacomo Puccini's LA BOHEME, starring the husband-and-wife team of tenor Stephen Costello and Ailyn Perez as Rodolfo and Mimi.
"We are presenting a cross-section of the repertory, performed in four different languages, that features a balance between known and unknown works," said L.A. Opera's music director, James Conlon. "I am particularly happy to conduct the first Russian opera presented here in a decade and to continue building toward the centennial of Britten's birth in 2013 with our first production of ALBERT HERRING in two decades. Opera companies are defined by the musical standards of their orchestra and chorus, as much as they are by theatrical standards, and I am extremely gratified by the extraordinary performances that have become the hallmark of the LA Orchestra and Chorus."
For tickets and information call 213-972-8001 or visit laopera.com