LA Opera’s 2006/07 Season Opens With Special Presentation of Verdi’s La Traviata
New Music Director James Conlon Conducts All-Star Cast Headed by Renée Fleming in Long-Awaited Operatic Debut; Rolando Villazón and Renato Bruson Also Star in Production to be
Filmed for DVD Release by Decca
Three Performances: September 9, 12 and 17, 2006
General Director Plácido Domingo has announced that the 21st Season-opening presentation of Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata will be an all-star revival of the Company’s 1999 production conducted by Music Director James Conlon in his eagerly anticipated LA Opera debut. Internationally acclaimed American soprano Renée Fleming also makes her Company operatic debut in one of her signature roles, as Verdi’s tragic heroine Violetta Valéry. A Los Angeles favorite, the electrifying Mexican tenor Rolando Villazón returns as Alfredo, the role in which he made his Company debut in 2001. Legendary Italian baritone Renato Bruson also makes his Company debut as Giorgio Germont. The production will be filmed and released on DVD by Decca.
“I am delighted to welcome my friend James Conlon as our new Music Director. His debut here, conducting our season-opening production of La Traviata, is a significant moment in our Company’s history, one that heralds an exciting new era for LA Opera,” said Mr. Domingo. “With the incomparable Renée Fleming as Violetta, her first operatic role with LA Opera, the brilliant Rolando Villazón in the first of two roles he will sing with the Company this Season, and the great Renato Bruson in his Company debut, and Maestro Conlon in the pit, I am certain that these four world-class artists will make this one of the Company’s most memorable productions. I am doubly gratified that these performances of La Traviata will be filmed for DVD release, preserving these magnificent performances for audiences worldwide, as well as for future generations of opera lovers.”
Directed by Marta Domingo, LA Opera’s staging of La Traviata is the popular and lavish production previously staged in 1999 and 2001. This traditionally sumptuous and visually stunning production will be recorded for a DVD release by Decca, marking a major new step in documenting LA Opera’s stage productions. Brian Large will direct the film. Also featured in the cast are soprano Ania Alkimova as Annina, mezzo-soprano Suzanna Guzmán as Flora Bervoix, tenor Daniel Montenegro as Gastone, baritones Lee Poulis as the Marquis D'Obigny and Philip Kraus as Baron Douphol, and bass James Creswell as Doctor Grenvil. The choreographer is Kitty McNamee.
La Traviata opens on Saturday, September 9, 2006 at 6:00 PM. The opening night performance will be followed by the annual Opening Night Gala Celebration featuring a dazzling evening of dining and dancing. Subsequent performances will take place on Tuesday, September 12 at 7:30 PM and Sunday, September 17 at 2:00 PM. The production will run in repertory with LA Opera’s new staging of Verdi’s Don Carlo, also conducted by Maestro Conlon and starring Salvatore Licitra, Annalisa Raspagliosi, Dolora Zajick and Ferruccio Furlanetto.
Composed in 1853, La Traviata was initially considered a failure but it has since proven to be Verdi’s most frequently performed and most extensively recorded opera. Based on Alexandre Dumas’ La dame aux camelias, La Traviata tells the story of a beautiful Parisian courtesan who, in the face of certain death, gives herself over to decadent pleasures, surrounding herself with glamorous friends, dazzling parties and wealthy admirers. But at a young man’s sincere declaration of true love, Violetta realizes the emptiness of her frivolous existence. She gives up everything for love, pursuing a romantic reverie that leads to tragic consequences.
Tickets to this special engagement of La Traviata range from $35 to $350, with a select number of premium seats at $500 and are on sale at the Los Angeles Opera Box Office, by phone at (213) 972-8001 or online at www.laopera.com. For disability access, call (213) 972-0777 or e-mail wehelpyou@laopera.com.
Co-production with Washington National Opera and Opéra Royal de Wallonie, Liège, Belgium.
