Placido Domingo in ‘Traviata,’ ‘Ghosts of Versailles’ for L.A. Opera
Plácido Domingo in “La Traviata” and a new production of John Corigliano’s “The Ghosts of Versailles” will be among the highlights of Los Angeles Opera’s 2014-15 season, which will be announced Tuesday.
The company will mount six mainstage productions at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, along with a slate of smaller productions at other venues as part of a continuing effort to broaden the company’s reach around Southern California.
Rounding out the season will be Daniel Catán’s “Florencia en el Amazonas,” Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” and Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro.”
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There will also be a double-bill production of Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas” and Bartók’s “Bluebeard’s Castle.”
The six mainstage productions for the season are the same number of stagings as the current season, not counting special presentations like “Einstein on the Beach.”
Domingo, L.A. Opera’s general director, said leaders are remaining fiscally cautious.
“We have to be careful. We want to be responsible to the company,” said Domingo by phone from Zurich, Switzerland.
“I would like to see our company grow. I don’t know how much more time I will be there -- but I would like to see something like eight or nine productions a season before I leave.”
Since the recent economic recession, L.A. Opera has been operating on a somewhat reduced schedule of six productions per season, down from 10 in 2006 and 2007.
Christopher Koelsch, L.A. Opera president, said in a statement that the base model of six productions “has been successful, and has allowed us ideal flexibility to add additional non-subscription projects for our increasingly diverse audiences.”
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Verdi’s “La Traviata” (Sept. 13 to 28) will feature Nino Machaidze as Violetta and Domingo in the baritone role of Giorgio Germont. The role is relatively new for Domingo, who debuted in the part at the Metropolitan Opera in 2013. The L.A. Opera revival is directed by Domingo’s wife, Marta.
Barrie Kosky, who directed the company’s recent production of “The Magic Flute,” featuring innovative visual effects, will return to L.A. Opera to stage the double bill of “Dido and Aeneas” and “Bluebeard’s Castle” (Oct. 25 to Nov. 15). The production has previously been seen at the Frankfurt Opera and the Edinburgh Festival.
“Florencia en el Amazonas” (Nov. 22 to Dec. 20) will be a revival of Francesca Zambello’s staging that was presented at L.A. Opera in 1997.
Corigliano’s “The Ghosts of Versailles” (Feb. 7, 2015 to March 1, 2015) will be presented in its full length in a new production directed by Darko Tresnjak. The opera, which had its debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1991, will star soprano Patricia Racette as Marie Antoinette, baritone Christopher Maltman as Beaumarchais and baritone Lucas Meachem as Figaro.
Broadway star Patti LuPone will appear in the production in a comic cameo role as the Turkish performer Samira.
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The season will be rounded out with two other “Figaro”-themed operas -- “The Barber of Seville” (Feb. 28, 2015 to March 22, 2015) and “The Marriage of Figaro” (March 21, 2015 to April 12, 2015).
L.A. Opera music director James Conlon will conduct all mainstage productions except for the double bill of “Dido and Aeneas” and “Bluebeard’s Castle,” and “Florencia en el Amazonas.”
L.A. Opera will present a recital with soprano Sondra Radvanovsky on Nov. 8.
The company will also present “Hercules vs. Vampires” (April 23 to 26 2015), a screening series of the 1961 Mario Bava movie “Hercules in the Haunted World,” featuring a live performance of an operatic score by composer Patrick Morganelli, at the Dorothy Chandler. “Dog Days” (June 11 to 14, 2015), a multi-genre performance piece, will be performed in conjunction with REDCAT at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
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