Orange County Register

Dear Blognescenti:

Time is short. So, here it is. The unadulterated L.A. Opera season announcement, fresh off the internets. It’s a long slog, but I know you can’t get enough:  

Plácido Domingo Announces LA Opera’s 2009/10 Season

Highlights include Three Complete Ring Cycles,
Conducted by James Conlon and Staged by Achim Freyer

L’Elisir d’Amore (The Elixir of Love) (Revival)
Siegfried (Company Premiere)
Tamerlano (Company Premiere)
Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) (Production New to LA Opera)
Götterdämmerung (The Twilight of the Gods) (Company Premiere)
Die Gezeichneten (The Stigmatized) (U.S. and Company Premiere)
Das Rheingold (Revival, as Part of Ring Cycle)
Die Walküre (Revival, as Part of Ring Cycle)

Recovered Voices Presentation of Die Gezeichneten is First Staging
of Any Opera by Franz Schreker in Western Hemisphere

Stars of the Season to Include Patricia Bardon, Robert Brubaker,
Graham Clark, Sarah Coburn, Michelle DeYoung, Joyce DiDonato,
Plácido Domingo, Juan Diego Flórez, Martin Gantner, Jill Grove, Nathan Gunn, Eric Halfvarson, Gordon Hawkins, Alan Held, James Johnson, Anja Kampe, Dmitry Korchak, Vitalij Kowaljow, Nino Machaidze, Lucas Meachem,
Bejun Mehta, Bruno Praticò, Ruggero Raimondi, John Treleaven,
Rolando Villazón, Linda Watson and Jennifer Wilson

Recital Appearances by Thomas Hampson and Renée Fleming
(LOS ANGELES, CA) January 15, 2009 — Plácido Domingo, LA Opera’s Eli and Edythe Broad General Director, announced the details of the Company’s 2009/10 Season today. Mr. Domingo and his team have prepared an artistically diverse and adventurous season that features eight operas, including four Company premieres and one U.S. premiere. Six productions will be conducted by James Conlon, the Company’s Richard Seaver Music Director. Season highlights include new productions of Siegfried and Götterdämmerung, the final two installments of Wagner’s four-part Der Ring des Nibelungen. These two works will enter the Company’s repertory individually, returning as the season concludes with three complete Ring cycles, the first ever to be presented in Los Angeles, celebrated with the citywide Ring Festival LA. The season will feature the Company premiere of George Frideric Handel’s Tamerlano, starring Plácido Domingo, and the U.S. premiere of Franz Schreker’s The Stigmatized (Die Gezeichneten) as part of the Company’s Recovered Voices project, which highlights the works of composers affected by the Holocaust. This will be the first time that an opera by Schreker will be staged in the Western Hemisphere. In addition, the season features appearances by several of the most celebrated singers of our time, including tenors Rolando Villazón and Juan Diego Flórez, soprano Anja Kampe, baritone Nathan Gunn and bass Ruggero Raimondi, as well as recitals by two of America’s greatest vocalists: baritone Thomas Hampson and soprano Renée Fleming.

In addition, Mr. Domingo announced that Classical KUSC FM 91.5 will once again broadcast LA Opera on Air, a series of radio broadcasts from the Company’s current 2008/09 Season recorded live in performance. The radio broadcasts, which will be distributed nationally by the WFMT Radio Network and internationally via XM Satellite Radio, are scheduled to begin airing on Classical KUSC FM 91.5 in mid-May of 2009, after the final Metropolitan Opera broadcast of the spring, and will be hosted by 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.

The 2009/10 Season will open on September 12, 2009, with the regular season continuing through April 25, 2010, and concluding with three full cycles of the Ring following from May 29, 2010, through June 26, 2010. During this time, LA Opera will present eight operas and two recitals for a total of 50 performances. Productions include a season-opening revival of Gaetano Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore (The Elixir of Love) that features tenor Rolando Villazón and bass Ruggero Raimondi in his Company debut; new productions of Richard Wagner’s Siegfried and Götterdämmerung (The Twilight of the Gods) directed and designed by Achim Freyer; the Company premiere of George Frideric Handel’s Tamerlano starring tenor Plácido Domingo and countertenor Bejun Mehta; Giaochino Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) featuring a double cast that includes baritones Nathan Gunn and Lucas Meachem, tenors Juan Diego Flórez and Dmitry Korchak, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and soprano Sarah Coburn; and the U.S. premiere of Franz Schreker’s The Stigmatized (Die Gezeichneten) starring tenor Robert Brubaker and soprano Anja Kampe. The season will conclude with three presentations of Wagner’s complete Ring cycle (Der Ring des Nibelungen). James Conlon, LA Opera’s Richard Seaver Music Director, will conduct all but two productions, with William Lacey conducting Tamerlano and Michele Mariotti conducting Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Grant Gershon will be the Associate Conductor / Chorus Master throughout the season.

“Even during this challenging era, we have managed to create an artistically satisfying season of which all of us at LA Opera should be proud,” said Plácido Domingo. “Our season will include well-known masterpieces as well as rarely heard operas by Handel and Schreker. We are also looking forward to the final two installments — Siegfried and Götterdämmerung — of Wagner’s monumental four-opera Ring cycle, with three complete Ring cycles to follow at the conclusion of the season. I am especially proud to present many of the greatest talents from the international operatic scene on our stage. I am thankful to our generous supporters, including our wonderful Board of Directors, the Board of Supervisors of Los Angeles County and Board Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky in particular, who have made it possible for us to continue to present world-class productions during these difficult economic times.”

 “Next season’s productions of the second half of Wagner’s Ring, followed by the first complete Ring cycles in our city, coupled with the county-wide Ring Festival LA, comprise a landmark in the artistic history of Los Angeles,” said James Conlon. “When I came to LA Opera in 2006, I had hopes that Los Angeles would become a hub of Wagnerian activity, and I am proud that we are well on our way. This is a significant moment for me personally also, as this is the first Ring cycle I will have conducted in the United States. I am equally gratified to present Franz Schreker’s The Stigmatized (Die Gezeichneten). Schreker’s 13 operas were immensely successful between 1910 and 1930, with productions mounted in dozens of European cities. However, to this day, not a single Schreker opera has been staged in the Western Hemisphere. I am proud that LA Opera will host this American premiere. The Stigmatized is part of our ongoing Recovered Voices project, in which we present significant early 20th-Century operas that disappeared from the stage during the Nazi era in Europe. I am deeply appreciative for the continuing, enthusiastic support from LA Opera’s leadership for this important and artistically rewarding project.”

“This season is a testament to Plácido Domingo’s artistic vision and to the unwavering support and guidance of our incredible Board of Directors,” said Chairman and CEO Marc I. Stern. “We are only too aware of the challenges that we face in these troubled times, but we are unwavering in our commitment to present opera of the highest possible caliber to our audiences, and I am pleased that Los Angeles will continue to be the home of world-class performances.”

LA Opera’s 2009/10 Season will open on Saturday, September 12, 2009, with a revival of Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore (The Elixir of Love) (seven performances: September 12 through 30, 2009) conducted by James Conlon. The cast will include tenor Rolando Villazón as Nemorino, soprano Nino Machaidze in her U.S. debut as Adina, baritone Nathan Gunn as Sergeant Belcore and bass Ruggero Raimondi as Doctor Dulcamara. The charming production was originally created by director Stephen Lawless for LA Opera in 1996 and revived in 1999, and has proven popular elsewhere as well, with acclaimed performances in Washington, Geneva, Madrid and Houston.

James Conlon conducts Siegfried (five performances: September 26 through October 17, 2009), the third installment of the Company’s new Ring cycle, directed and designed by Achim Freyer. Tenor John Treleaven will perform the title role, with soprano Linda Watson as Brünnhilde, bass Vitalij Kowaljow as the Wanderer (Wotan), tenor Graham Clark as Mime, bass Eric Halfvarson as Fafner, baritone Oleg Bryjak as Alberich, mezzo-soprano Jill Grove as Erda and soprano Stacey Tappan as the Woodbird. 

LA Opera commemorates the 250th anniversary of the death of George Frideric Handel with the Company premiere of Tamerlano (five performances: November 21 through December 1, 2009). Tenor Plácido Domingo returns to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion stage for his 21st role at LA Opera, as the Sultan Bajazet opposite countertenor Bejun Mehta in the title role. The cast also includes soprano Sarah Coburn (Asteria) and mezzo-soprano Patricia Bardon (Andronico). Conductor William Lacey will lead an orchestra that will include such period instrumentation as two harpsichords, two theorbos and baroque guitar. The highly acclaimed production originated at Washington National Opera, where it was seen in 2008. Earlier that same year, when Plácido Domingo made his role debut as Bajazet at the Teatro Real in Madrid, it became the 126th role of his career.

A perennial favorite, Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) (ten performances: November 29 through December 19, 2009) returns to the LA Opera stage in a delightful Emilio Sagi production from the Teatro Real in Madrid. Baritones Nathan Gunn and Lucas Meachem share the role of the wily Figaro, with tenors Juan Diego Flórez and Dmitry Korchak as Count Almaviva, and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and soprano Sarah Coburn alternating in the role of Rosina. Michele Mariotti will conduct.

The conclusion of Wagner’s four-part Ring cycle, Götterdämmerung (five performances: April 3 through 25, 2010), is conducted by James Conlon in another new production directed and designed by Achim Freyer. Soprano Linda Watson and tenor John Treleaven return as Brünnhilde and Siegfried, respectively, with bass Eric Halfvarson as Hagen, baritone Gordon Hawkins as Alberich, mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung as Waltraute, bass-baritone Alan Held as Gunther and soprano Jennifer Wilson as Gutrune.

James Conlon conducts the U.S. premiere of The Stigmatized (Die Gezeichneten) by Franz Schreker (four performances: April 10 through 24, 2010). The Stigmatized is part of the Company’s celebrated multi-year Recovered Voices project, devoted to reviving the works of composers who were suppressed by the Third Reich. This will be the first Schreker opera to be staged in any manner in the Western Hemisphere. The cast includes tenor Robert Brubaker, soprano Anja Kampe and baritones Martin Gantner and James Johnson. The work will be staged by Olivier Tambosi, who directed LA Opera’s 2007 production of Jenůfa.

From May 29 through June 26, 2010, LA Opera will present three full presentations of Wagner’s four-part Der Ring des Nibelungen, the first time that the complete Ring cycle will be seen in Los Angeles. LA Opera is partnering with more than 50 of the city’s premiere cultural and educational organizations to present Ring Festival LA (April 15 through June 30, 2010) a citywide celebration of Wagner and the Ring that will include a wide variety of special exhibitions, performances, symposia and special events.

The season will also feature recitals by two of the greatest artists of our time. Baritone Thomas Hampson, who last appeared with LA Opera as Marcello in La Bohème in 1987, will make his long awaited return with a recital on October 3, 2009. On December 12, 2009, soprano Renée Fleming will return for her third recital presented by LA Opera and her first appearance here since opening the 2006/07 season in La Traviata.

LA Opera’s acclaimed education and community outreach programs for the 2009/10 Season include In-School Operas performed by professionals and students together, free student matinee performances of Il Barbiere di Siviglia on the main-stage and special performances of Who Wants to Be an Opera Singer? in the Grand Hall and on tour in venues throughout Southern California. Other highlights include “Opera Tales” productions, touring to numerous public libraries throughout the county, as well the expansion of regular Library Project offerings, accredited In-Service Teacher Trainings, Opera Camp, Voices for Tolerance choral training and other community education programs and partnerships.  A complete listing of education and community programs will be available in the spring.

The complete 2009/10 Season schedule is attached.  Subscriptions for the 2009/10 Season are available by phone and by mail and range in price from $100 to $1,425. Subscribers can receive up to 35% off of the price of single ticket prices. For further information, please visit LA Opera’s website at www.laopera.com or call Audience Services at (213) 972-8001.  All performances will take place at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Music Center, 135 North Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012.  For disability access, call (213) 972-0777 or e-mail wehelpyou@laopera.com. 

All programs, artists and dates are subject to change.
Artist headshots and production photographs are available on the Los Angeles Opera Press Gallery: http://www.laopera.com/press/photo.htm
Rolex is the Official Timepiece of LA Opera.
Silversea is the Official Cruise Line of LA Opera.
Lufthansa is the Official Airline for LA Opera’s Ring
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2009/10 SEASON: CASTING AND CALENDAR

* denotes LA Opera debut artist         
† denotes Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Program member
‡ denotes Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Program alumnus
● denotes Operalia winner
L’ELISIR D’AMORE  (THE ELIXIR OF LOVE) Revival – LA Opera Production
Music: Gaetano Donizetti
Libretto: Felice Romani, based on Eugène Scribe’s libretto for Auber’s Le Philtre, based on Silvio Malaperta’s Il Filtro
World Premiere: May 12, 1832, Milan, Italy (Teatro Canobbiana)

Conductor: James Conlon     Nemorino: Rolando Villazón● / TBA
Director: Stephen Lawless     Adina: Nino Machaidze*
Designer: Johan Engels     Belcore: Nathan Gunn
Original Lighting Design: Paul Pyant   Dr. Dulcamara: Ruggero Raimondi*
       Giannetta: Valerie Vinzant†

       
SEVEN PERFORMANCES
Opening Performance: Saturday, September 12, 2009 at 6:00 PM
Evening Performances: September 15, 22, 25, 30 at 7:30 PM
Matinee Performances: September 20, 27 at 2:00 PM
Sung in Italian with English Supertitles

James Conlon conducts the season-opening revival of L’Elisir d’Amore, starring fast-rising Georgian soprano Nino Machaidze in her U.S. debut as Adina, baritone Nathan Gunn as Sergeant Belcore and the great Italian bass Ruggero Raimondi in his Company debut as Dr. Dulcamara. The simple farm worker Nemorino sets out to win the heart of the wealthy landowner Adina — all with a little help from Dr. Dulcamara’s miraculous “elixir of love.” With sparkling gaiety and genuine warmth, Donizetti’s bel canto masterpiece beautifully counterpoises tragic and comic elements to create an opera of both heartfelt poignancy and unfettered joy.

 

SIEGFRIED  Company Premiere – New Production
Music and Libretto: Richard Wagner
World Premiere: August 16, 1876, Bayreuth, Germany (Festspielhaus)

Conductor: James Conlon     Siegfried: John Treleaven
Director/Scenery Designer: Achim Freyer   Mime: Graham Clark
Costume Designer: Achim Freyer/Amanda Freyer   Wanderer (Wotan): Vitalij Kowaljow
Lighting Designer: Brian Gale/Achim Freyer  Fafner: Eric Halfvarson
        Alberich: Oleg Bryjak
        Erda: Jill Grove
        Brünnhilde: Linda Watson
        Woodbird: Stacey Tappan
     
FIVE PERFORMANCES
Opening Performance: Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 1:00 PM
Evening Performances: October 7, 17 at 5:30 PM
Matinee Performances: October 4, 11 at 2:00 PM
Sung in German with English Supertitles

LA Opera continues its extraordinary new production of Wagner’s monumental Ring cycle, directed and designed by the internationally celebrated artist Achim Freyer, with the presentation of the final two operas in the cycle during the 2009/10 season. Freyer previously staged two exceptional productions for LA Opera, La Damnation de Faust and Bach’s Mass in B Minor, and his work has been hailed as vividly theatrical, exhilaratingly irreverent and meticulously prepared. Siegfried grows up in isolation, unaware that he is descended from the gods and destined to become the greatest of all heroes. In this most enchanting of all Wagner operas, Siegfried slays the dragon Fafner and claims the beast’s enormous hoard, including a magical ring. Siegfried awakens and woos the sleeping Brünnhilde, who becomes our hero’s bride in a soaring, triumphant duet.
THOMAS HAMPSON IN RECITAL  
Saturday, October 3, 2009, at 7:30pm

Baritone Thomas Hampson is one of the most recognized, popular and sought-after singers before the public today. In a career now in its third decade, his versatility, imagination and vocal charisma have set new standards on the operatic stages and concert halls the world over. Brought up in Spokane, Washington, he has devoted his life to music, performing in opera, operetta, musical, oratorio and recital, as well as in the fields of recording, research and pedagogy. A particular passion of Thomas Hampson is the world of song as the diary of every culture. His over 25 recordings of songs in various languages have garnered him virtually all the major recording prizes available.
TAMERLANO  Company Premiere - Production from Washington National Opera
Music: George Frideric Handel
Libretto: Nicola Francesco Haym, after Agostino Piovene’s librettos for Il Tamerlano and Il Bajazet
World Premiere: October 31, 1724, London (King’s Theatre, Haymarket)

Conductor: William Lacey*    Tamerlano: Bejun Mehta*
Director: Chas Rader-Shieber*    Bajazet: Plácido Domingo
Designer: David Zinn*     Asteria: Sarah Coburn
Lighting Designer: Christopher Akerlind*   Andronico: Patricia Bardon*
        Irene: Jennifer Holloway*
        Leone: Ryan McKinny

FIVE PERFORMANCES
Opening Performance: Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 7:30 PM
Evening Performances: November 23, 25, December 1 at 7:30 PM
Matinee Performance: November 28 at 2:00 PM
Sung in Italian with English Supertitles

Handel’s rarely-performed work, starring Plácido Domingo, recounts the tale of the Turkish sultan, Bajazet, who has been defeated and taken prisoner by Tamerlano, the Tartar emperor. Bajazet would rather die than remain captive; only his great love for his daughter Asteria prevents him from taking his own life. Tamerlano, however, is in love with his prisoner’s daughter, who accepts his marriage proposal in order to take revenge by murdering him on their wedding night. The riveting tale of enslavement, love, infidelity and suicide unfolds with tragic grandeur in a theatrically vital modern-dress interpretation by director Chas Rader-Shieber, and conducted by William Lacey.

 
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA (THE BARBER OF SEVILLE)   Production from Teatro Real (Madrid)
Music: Gioachino Rossini
Libretto: Cesare Sterbini, based on the play Le Barbier de Séville by Beaumarchais
World Premiere: February 20, 1816, Rome (Teatro Argentina)

Conductor: Michele Mariotti*     Figaro: Nathan Gunn
Production: Emilio Sagi     Figaro: Lucas Meachem* (Dec. 5, 12, 19m)
Director: Javier Ulacia     Count Almaviva: Juan Diego Flórez
Set Designer: Llorenç Corbella*    Count Almaviva: Dmitry Korchak*● (Dec. 5, 12, 19m)
Costume Designer: Renata Schussheim*   Rosina: Joyce DiDonato*●
       Rosina: Sarah Coburn (Dec. 5, 12, 19m)
       Doctor Bartolo: Bruno Praticò*
       Doctor Bartolo: Philip Cokorinos (Dec. 5, 12, 19m)
       Don Basilio: Andrea Silvestrelli       Don Basilio: Ryan McKinny (Dec. 5, 12, 19m)
       Berta: Kerri Marcinko
       Berta: Ronnita Miller† (Dec. 5, 12, 19m)
       Fiorello: José Adán Pérez*†
       Fiorello: Daniel Armstrong‡ (Dec. 5, 12, 19m)
        
       
TEN PERFORMANCES
Opening Performance: Sunday, November 29, 2009 at 2:00 PM
Evening Performances: December 2, 5, 9, 16 at 7:30 PM; December 19 at 8:00 PM
Matinee Performances: December 6, 13 at 2:00 PM; December 19 at 1:00 PM; December 12 at 12:00 PM
Sung in Italian with English Supertitles

A critically praised production from Madrid’s Teatro Real brings the immortal Figaro once again to the LA Opera stage. Emilio Sagi’s inventive staging moves from a crisp black-and-white opening to a sparklingly colorful finale in a delightful production that emphasizes the opera’s riotous comedy. Rossini’s bel canto fireworks are performed by a marvelous double cast of performers, led by Nathan Gunn and Lucas Meachem as Figaro, Juan Diego Flórez and Dmitry Korchak as Count Almaviva, Joyce DiDonato and Sarah Coburn as Rosina and Bruno Praticò and Philip Cokorinos as Doctor Bartolo.
RENÉE FLEMING IN RECITAL
Saturday, December 12, 2009, at 7:30pm

As “the people’s diva,” renowned soprano Renée Fleming continues to charm audiences throughout the world with her superb vocal intelligence, exquisite musical grace, and voice of “liquid gold.” Her artistry has taken her to the world’s capitals and great opera houses, captivating audiences everywhere she goes. Ms. Fleming last appeared with LA Opera in 2006 as Violetta in the season-opening production of La Traviata, after two previous recital appearances presented by the Company in 2002 and 2005.
GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG (THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS)   Company Premiere – New Production
Music and Libretto: Richard Wagner
World Premiere: August 17, 1876, Bayreuth, Germany (Festspielhaus)

Conductor: James Conlon     Brünnhilde: Linda Watson
Director/Scenery Designer: Achim Freyer   Siegfried: John Treleaven
Costume Designer: Achim Freyer/Amanda Freyer   Hagen: Eric Halfvarson
Lighting Designer: Brian Gale/Achim Freyer  Gunther: Alan Held
       Gutrune: Jennifer Wilson*
       Alberich: Gordon Hawkins
       Waltraute: Michelle DeYoung
       First Norn: Jill Grove
       Second Norn: Michelle DeYoung
       Third Norn: Melissa Citro
       Woglinde: Stacey Tappan
       Wellgunde: Lauren McNeese
       Flosshilde: Beth Clayton

FIVE PERFORMANCES
Opening Performance: Saturday, April 3, 2010 at 1:00 PM
Evening Performance: April 21 at 5:30 PM
Matinee Performances: April 11, 17, 25 at 1:00 PM
Sung in German with English Supertitles

Wagner’s epic Ring cycle comes to its explosive finale with Götterdämmerung. Siegfried and Brünnhilde fall victim to the treachery of the cursed ring and the machinations of the evil Hagen. When Siegfried is murdered, Brünnhilde sacrifices herself to be reunited with him in death. With the ring returned to its source in the Rhine, the reign of the gods comes to an end and the natural order of the world is restored.
DIE GEZEICHNETEN (THE STIGMATIZED) U.S. Premiere – New Production
Music and Libretto: Franz Schreker
World Premiere: April 25, 1918, Frankfurt am Main

Conductor: James Conlon     Alviano Salvago: Robert Brubaker*
Director: Olivier Tambosi     Carlotta Nardi: Anja Kampe
       Count Tamare: Martin Gantner
       Duke Adorno: James Johnson
       Guidobald Usodimare: Joel Sorenson
       Menaldo Negroni: Beau Gibson
       Micheletto Cibo: Hyung Yun
       Julian Pinelli: Ben Wager*
       

FOUR PERFORMANCES
Opening Performance: Saturday, April 10, 2010 at 7:30 PM
Matinee Performance: April 18 at 2:00 PM
Evening Performances: April 22, 24 at 7:30 PM
Sung in German with English Supertitles

With the celebrated multi-year Recovered Voices project, LA Opera has played a leading role in bringing to light several little known or nearly forgotten works by composers who struggled to make their voices heard under the Third Reich. LA Opera now presents the U.S. premiere of Franz Schreker’s The Stigmatized (Die Gezeichneten), the first time that an opera by Schreker will be staged in the Western Hemisphere. Born in 1878 to a Jewish father and a Catholic mother, the Austrian composer Franz Schreker met with “overnight” success after the 1912 premiere of his second opera Der ferne Klang (The Distant Sound). His fourth opera, Die Gezeichneten, which followed in 1918, moved him to the front ranks of contemporary opera composers. A central figure in the remarkable flowering of opera in early 20th-Century Austria that included Zemlinsky, Berg, and Korngold, he succumbed to a stroke in March 1934 after being hounded by the Nazis and forced out of his position as director of the Berlin Hochschule, the most prestigious academic musical position in Germany. All of his music was banned by the Nazis after his death. In The Stigmatized, the misshapen Alviano (tenor Robert Brubaker) has created an idyllic island of great beauty as an escape from his tortured existence. A beautiful painter, Carlotta (soprano Anja Kampe), mistakes her pity toward him for love; she then turns to a handsome rival, the debauched Tamare (baritone Martin Gantner), with disastrous results.
DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN (THE RING OF THE NIBELUNG)   L.A. Premiere of Complete Cycle
Music and Libretto: Richard Wagner
World Premiere of Cycle: August 13, 14, 16 and 17, 1876, Bayreuth, Germany (Festspielhaus)

Conductor: James Conlon     
Director/Scenery Designer: Achim Freyer   
Costume Designer: Achim Freyer/Amanda Freyer   
Lighting Designer: Brian Gale/Achim Freyer  
       
Ring Cycle Cast:
Vitalij Kowaljow  Wotan (Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried)
Linda Watson   Brünnhilde (Die Walküre, Siegfried, Götterdämmerung)
John Treleaven    Siegfried (Siegfried, Götterdämmerung)
TBA   Sieglinde (Die Walküre)
Plácido Domingo  Siegmund (Die Walküre)
Michelle DeYoung  Fricka (Das Rheingold, Die Walküre); Second Norn/Waltraute (Götterdämmerung)
Eric Halfvarson  Fafner (Das Rheingold, Siegfried); Hunding (Die Walküre); Hagen (Götterdämmerung)
Gordon Hawkins   Alberich (Das Rheingold, Siegfried, Götterdämmerung)
Graham Clark  Mime (Das Rheingold, Siegfried)
Jill Grove  Erda (Das Rheingold, Siegfried); First Norn (Götterdämmerung)
Arnold Bezuyen  Loge (Das Rheingold)
Morris Robinson  Fasolt (Das Rheingold)
Ellie Dehn   Freia (Das Rheingold); Gerhilde (Die Walküre)
Wayne Tigges  Donner (Das Rheingold)
Beau Gibson  Froh (Das Rheingold)
Stacey Tappan   Woglinde (Das Rheingold, Götterdämmerung); Woodbird (Siegfried)
Lauren McNeese  Wellgunde (Das Rheingold, Götterdämmerung)
Beth Clayton  Flosshilde (Das Rheingold, Götterdämmerung)
Alan Held  Gunther (Götterdämmerung)
Jennifer Wilson  Gutrune (Götterdämmerung)
Susan Foster  Helmwige (Die Walküre)
Erica Brookhyser† Waltraute (Die Walküre)
Margaret Thompson Rossweisse (Die Walküre)
Buffy Baggott   Siegrune (Die Walküre)
Jane Gilbert  Grimgerde (Die Walküre)
Ronnita Miller†   Schwertleite (Die Walküre)
Melissa Citro  Ortlinde (Die Walküre); Third Norn (Götterdämmerung)

CYCLE 1:
Das Rheingold  Saturday, May 29, 2010 at 7:30 PM
Die Walküre   Sunday, May 30, 2010 at 6:00 PM
Siegfried   Thursday, June 3, 2010 at 6:00 PM
Götterdämmerung  Sunday, June 6, 2010 at 5:00 PM

CYCLE 2:
Das Rheingold  Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 7:30 PM
Die Walküre   Wednesday, June 10, 2010 at 6:00 PM
Siegfried   Sunday, June 13, 2010 at 12:00 PM
Götterdämmerung  Wednesday, June 16, 2010 at 6:00 PM

CYCLE 3:
Das Rheingold  Friday, June 18, 2010 at 7:30 PM
Die Walküre   Sunday, June 20, 2010 at 12:00 PM
Siegfried   Wednesday, June 23, 2010 at 6:00 PM
Götterdämmerung  Saturday, June 26, 2010 at 5:00 PM
Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen is a monumental experience that tells a unified story, drawn from Norse mythology, over the course of four complete operas: Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung. The plot concerns an epic struggle to win control of a magic ring that gives its bearer the power to rule the world. Created by the evil dwarf Alberich, the ring is successively possessed by Wotan, the king of the gods, then by the dragon Fafner, and eventually by Wotan’s grandson, Siegfried. Ultimately, the ring comes into the possession of Siegfried’s widow Brünnhilde, who returns the ring to its source, thus ending the reign of the gods. One of the most influential theatrical works ever created, it is the culmination of Wagner’s unique musical style and the embodiment of his concept of Gesamtkunstwerk or “complete work of art.” LA Opera’s Richard Seaver Music Director, James Conlon, who has conducted the Ring to acclaim in Europe, will lead his first Ring in America.

In addition to presenting the Ring cycle at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, LA Opera will also join forces with more than 50 cultural and educational institutions in Los Angeles to present Ring Festival LA. Southern Californians and cultural tourists from around the world will be able to enjoy a wide variety of special exhibitions, performances, symposia and special events all centered on LA Opera’s presentation of Wagner’s Ring cycle, the first time that the epic masterwork will be presented in its entirety in Los Angeles. Ring Festival LA events will take place in a wide variety of venues throughout Southern California from April 15 through June 30, 2010, with each organization providing its own unique point of view on the influences of Wagner’s art and philosophy from the 19th Century to the present day.

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