The bright lights! The lavish costumes and scenery! The incredible music and voices!
Malibu’s No. 1 opera fan and Los Angeles Opera Chairman of the Board Marc Stern must be quite pleased with the magic that’s occurring on this year’s stage.
This year started out with a Turkish delight on the Orient Express and “The Abduction from the Seragilio.”
Set in the Roaring Twenties, the riotous staging of a beloved masterpiece married the brilliance of Mozart’s music with the flavor of a classic Hollywood comedy.
While in en route from Istanbul to Paris via the famed Orient Express, a Spanish noblewoman is held captive in the private car of notorious Ottoman royal Pasha Selim. He falls in love with the beautiful noblewoman and now it is up to her fiancé to save her before she is compromised and lost to him forever.
Next, desire can be deadly in “Solome.” Conducted by James Conlon in German with English subtitles, Salome is on stage through March 19. An embellished version of the famed biblical story, Salome becomes infatuated with John the Baptist who is a prisoner of her stepfather, King Herod. The prophet’s spiritual fervor only enflames Salome’s yearning and she is determined to have him. She uses her feminine wiles to bend the king to her will.
Accompanied by dramatic lighting creative costumes, It’s a must-see.
Up next, LAO brings you two superstars and three fabulous tales. Diana Damrau makes her Los Angeles Opera debut in “The Tales of Hoffmann.” She will be appearing as all four heroines in one lavish production.
Tenor Vittorio Gigolo returns as poet E.T.A. Hoffman, whose boozy recollections of the women he has loved and lost set the plot in motion.
Marta Domingo’s staging captures the half-remembered,
half-fantasy dream world of the composer’s final masterpiece. The man behind the music is Jacques Offenbach. Opera superstar Placido Domingo will conduct it in French with English subtitles.
It’s true fantasy in the world of Hoffman. Obsessed with prima donna Stella and aided by his muse, Hoffman travels on a fantastical journey through his ill-fated loves.
One after another, Hoffman is slowly steered away from his doomed pursuit of romance and led back to his true love of poetry.
“Tales of Hoffman” runs from March 25 – April 15.
And, of course, there is nothing like the worldwide favorite “Tosca.” Trapped between her allegiance to her rebel lover and the treacherous scheming of the police chief, Tosca is forced into a role she never imagined. The explosive triangle comes to a hair-raising conclusion in one of opera’s most intense dramas. Encore!
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect corrected information.