Plácido Domingo to Star in LA Opera’s Simon Boccanegra; 2011-2012 Season Announced
Plácido Domingo will star in the title role of the LA Opera production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra (February 11-March 4, 2012). James Conlon will conduct the production, which is directed by Elijah Moshinsky. The cast will also feature soprano Ana María Martínez as Boccanegra’s long-lost daughter Amelia, bass Vitalij Kowaljow as Fiesco, tenor Stefano Secco as Gabriele Adorno and baritone Paolo Gavanelli as Paolo Albiani.
Domingo also serves as general director of the LA Opera, and has announced details for the rest of the company’s 2011-2012 season. It will open with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin (September 17-October 9), conducted by Conlon. The production, which was originally created for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, by the late stage director Steven Pimlott, stars baritone Dalibor Jenis in the title role and soprano Oksana Dyka as Tatyana. The cast also includes mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk as Olga, tenor Vsevolod Grivnov as Lensky and bass James Creswell as Prince Gremin.
Next up will be Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Così fan tutte (September 18-October 8) in an acclaimed Nicholas Hytner production from Glyndebourne Festival Opera, conducted by Conlon. The cast includes soprano Aleksandra Kurzak as Fiordiligi, mezzo-soprano Roxana Constantinescu as Despina, bass-baritone Ildebrando D’Arcangelo as Guglielmo, bass Lorenzo Regazzo as Don Alfonso, mezzo-soprano Ruxandra Donose as Dorabella, and tenor Saimir Pirgu as Ferrando.
LA Opera’s 2005 production of Charles Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette (November 6-26), directed by Ian Judge, returns with soprano Nino Machaidze and tenor Vittorio Grigolo in the leading roles. Domingo will conduct this production, which also features bass Vitalij Kowaljow as Frère Laurent, baritone Vladimir Chernov as Count Capulet, bass-baritone Philip Cokorinos as the Duke of Verona, mezzo-soprano Ronnita Nicole Miller as Gertrude, and baritone Museop Kim as Mercutio.
Benjamin Brittten’s comedy Albert Herring (February 25-March 17) returns to the repertory, conducted by Conlon, and directed by Paul Curran. The opera will tenor Alek Shrader as Albert, baritone Liam Bonner as Sid, mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack as Nancy, mezzo-soprano Jane Bunnell as Mrs. Herring, baritone Jonathan Michie as Mr. Gedge, bass Richard Bernstein as Superintendent Budd, soprano Stacey Tappan as Miss Wordsworth and mezzo-soprano Ronnita Nicole Miller as Florence Pike.
Herbert Ross’ production of Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème (May 12-June 2) will close 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. Patrick Summers will conduct, with the cast also including baritone Artur Rucinski as Marcello, bass-baritone Philip Cokorinos in the dual roles of Benoit and Alcindoro, sopranos Janai Brugger-Orman and Valentina Fleer alternating as Musetta and baritone Museop Kim as Schaunard.
In addition, 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.
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