Plácido Domingo Announces LA Opera's 2011/12 Season

Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin (Company Premiere)
Mozart's Così fan tutte (Production New to Los Angeles)
Gounod's Roméo et Juliette (Revival)
Verdi's Simon Boccanegra (Company Premiere)
Britten's Albert Herring (Production New to Los Angeles)
Puccini's La Bohème (Revival)
James Conlon to conduct four productions

(Los Angeles, CA) January 31, 2011 - Plácido Domingo, LA Opera's Eli and Edythe Broad General Director, announced the details of the Company's 2011/12 season today via www.laopera.com. The season will include two important Company premieres, revivals of two landmark LA Opera productions, and two beloved comedies returning to the Company's repertory in productions new to Los Angeles.James Conlon, LA Opera's Richard Seaver Music Director, will conduct four productions and Mr. Domingo, who will sing the title role in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, will also conduct one of the season's productions. The season, which includes a total of 37 performances presented at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in downtown Los Angeles, opens on September 17, 2011, and will run through June 2, 2012.

"Opera truly comes to life on stage through the perfectly balanced combination of incredible music, brilliant productions and superlative performers," said Mr. Domingo. "The challenge of creating and achieving this balance throughout a season is one that I very much enjoy. I am proud that LA Opera's coming season continues to sustain the highest level of artistry that our audiences have com

e to appreciate. Scrupulous vocal standards are particularly important to me, and I feel that the season's vocal roster is absolutely world class, with exciting new discoveries making important Company debuts as well as returning artists who are already audience favorites. I am particularly looking forward to performing the title role in Simon Boccanegra for Los Angeles audiences, performances which I know will be especially meaningful for me. Two of the season's six operas will be Company premieres, and since two others, Così fan tutte and Albert Herring, haven't been presented here in 15 and 20 years, respectively, I feel that this is a very exciting season of rediscovery. Of course, this season would not have been achievable without the dedication of our generous family of supporters. I am especially appreciative of our peerless Board of Directors and the inspiring leadership of Chairman Marc I. Stern and President Carol F. Henry. I am also grateful to Chief Executive Officer Stephen D. Rountree, Christopher Koelsch, our Senior Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer and to the Board of Supervisors of Los Angeles County for their ongoing support for LA Opera."

"We are presenting a cross-section of the repertory, performed in four different languages, that features a balance between known and unknown works," said Mr. Conlon. "I am particularly happy to conduct the first Russian opera presented at LA Opera 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 Opera Orchestra and Chorus."

The season opens with the Company premiere of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin (six performances: Sept. 17 through Oct. 9, 2011), conducted by Mr. Conlon. The production, which was originally created for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, by the late stage director Steven Pimlott, stars Slovakian baritone Dalibor Jenis in the title role and Ukrainian soprano Oksana Dyka in her American operatic debut as Tatyana. The cast also includes Russian mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk, who made her 2010 LA Opera debut as Fricka in Die Walküre, as Olga, Russian tenorVsevolod Grivnov as Lensky and bass James Creswell as Prince Gremin.

Last presented by LA Opera in 1996, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Così fan tutte (six performances: Sept. 18 through Oct. 8, 2011) is presented in an acclaimed Nicholas Hytner production from Glyndebourne Festival Opera, conducted by Mr. Conlon. The cast includes four artists in their Company debuts-Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak as Fiordiligi, Romanian mezzo-soprano Roxana Constantinescu as Despina, Italian bass-baritone Ildebrando D'Arcangelo as Guglielmo and Italian bass Lorenzo Regazzo as Don Alfonso. Romanian mezzo-soprano Ruxandra Donose, who made her 2008 Company debut in the leading role of Veronica Quaife in The Fly, returns as Dorabella and Albanian tenor Saimir Pirgu, who made his 2008 Company debut as Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, returns as Ferrando.

LA Opera's 2005 production of Charles Gounod's Roméo et Juliette (six performances: Nov. 6 through 26, 2011), directed by Ian Judge, returns with Georgian soprano Nino Machaidze (Adina in L'Elisir d'Amore, 2008; Fiorilla in Il Turco in Italia, 2011) and Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo, making his Company debut, in the leading roles. Mr. Domingo will conduct this production, which also features Ukrainian bass Vitalij Kowaljow (Wotan in LA Opera's Ring cycle) as Frère Laurent. Russian baritoneVladimir Chernov, whose most recent LA Opera role was Giorgio in Il Postino, returns as Count Capulet, and bass-baritone Philip Cokorinos, whose LA Opera appearances have included Doctor Bartolo in Il Barbiere di Siviglia (2009) and Antonio in Le Nozze di Figaro (2010), returns as the Duke of Verona. Mezzo-soprano Ronnita Nicole Miller, an alumna of the Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Program, returns as Gertrude, and a current member of the program, baritone Museop Kim, sings the role of Mercutio.

Giuseppe Verdi's Simon Boccanegra (seven performances: Feb. 11 through March 4, 2012) has long fascinated Plácido Domingo, who had frequently performed the opera's tenor role of Gabriele Adorno. In 2009, he fulfilled a longstanding dream by adding the baritone role of Boccanegra to his vast repertoire at the Berlin State Opera, subsequently repeating the role in London, New York, Milan and Madrid. He now performs the role, one of opera's most complex characters, for his "home" company in what will be the work's Company premiere. Mr. Conlon will conduct the production, which is directed by Elijah Moshinsky. Soprano Ana María Martínez (La Bohème, 2004; La Traviata, 2001) returns as Boccanegra's long-lost daughter Amelia and bass Vitalij Kowaljow, in his second appearance for the season, returns as Fiesco. Italian tenor Stefano Secco makes his Company debut as Gabriele Adorno and Italian baritone Paolo Gavanelli (Il Turco in Italia, 2011) returns as Paolo Albiani.

LA Opera has long championed the operas of Benjamin Brittten and is celebrating the centennial of the composer's 1913 birth by presenting one of his operas each season through 2013, an initiative that begins with the current season's production of The Turn of the Screw. In the 2011/12 season, the charming comedy Albert Herring (six performances: Feb. 25 through March 17, 2012) returns to the repertory, conducted by James Conlon. Director Paul Curran stages a captivating production that was the hit of the 2010 Santa Fe Opera season, with tenor Alek Shrader repeating his Santa Fe triumph for his Company debut as Albert. The cast includes several additional artists making their first LA Opera appearances, including baritone Liam Bonner as Sid, mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack as Nancy, mezzo-soprano Jane Bunnell as Mrs. Herring and baritone Jonathan Michie as Mr. Gedge, the vicar. Returning artists include bass Richard Bernstein as Superintendent Budd, soprano Stacey Tappanas Miss Wordsworth and mezzo-soprano Ronnita Nicole Miller as Florence Pike.

LA Opera's enormously popular Herbert Ross production of Giacomo Puccini's La Bohème (six performances: May 12 through June 2, 2012) closes the season, with internationally acclaimed husband-and-wife team of tenor Stephen Costello and soprano Ailyn Pérez in the leading roles of Rodolfo and Mimi. Conductor Patrick Summers also makes his Company debut, leading a young and vibrant cast that includes fast-rising Polish baritone Artur Rucinski in his American debut as Marcello, and bass-baritone Philip Cokorinos returning in the dual roles of Benoit and Alcindoro. Several members of LA Opera's Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Program will also appear in the production, including sopranos Janai Brugger-Orman and Valentina Fleer alternating as Musetta and baritoneMuseop Kim as Schaunard.

Throughout the season, Grant Gershon will continue to serve as Associate Conductor / Chorus Master.

In addition, Mr. Domingo announced that, for the sixth consecutive year, Classical KUSC FM 91.5 will once again broadcast LA Opera on Air, an annual series of radio broadcasts. This year's series will feature operas from the Company's current 2010/11 season, recorded live in performance at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The series will be distributed nationally by the WFMT Radio Network and internationally via the European Broadcast Union. The broadcasts are scheduled to begin airing on Classical KUSC FM 91.5 at 10am on May 21, 2011, after the final Metropolitan Opera broadcast of the spring, and will also be streamed online at www.kusc.org. The series is hosted by Classical KUSC's Duff Murphy. This endeavor continues to be made possible by a generous major grant from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, spearheaded by the efforts of Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.

"I am continually astonished by the uncompromisingly high artistic standard that LA Opera has been able to create and sustain in just 25 years of existence," said Board Chairman Marc I. Stern. "Our generous supporters and our superb Board of Directors are clearly determined that Los Angeles will continue to be the home of a world-class opera company, and I am grateful to them all for their commitment. Additionally, the dedicated support of the Music Center and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors provides a foundation critical to presenting productions of international quality. LA Opera will continue to thrive, under the incomparable leadership of Plácido Domingo and James Conlon, as we build upon our past success and look ahead to an even more exciting future."

Currently celebrating its 25th Anniversary Season, LA Opera has become, under the leadership of Eli and Edythe Broad General Director Plácido Domingo, one of America's most ambitious opera companies. In 2010, LA Opera presented its first complete performances of Wagner's epic Ring cycle, conducted by Richard Seaver Music Director James Conlon. The Company's 2010/11 season began with the highly acclaimed world premiere of Daniel Catán's Il Postino, starring Mr. Domingo in the leading role of Pablo Neruda. Presenting benchmark productions of standard repertoire as well as new and rarely-staged operas, the Company brings together world-renowned singers, designers, directors and conductors to create opera that attracts the attention of international audiences and critics.