Dallas Opera Opens 2012-13 Season With AIDA

The Dallas Opera is will present the initial production of the 2012-2013 "Pursuits of Passion" Season: Giuseppe Verdi's passionate and moving 19th century masterpiece, AÏDA, one of the most powerful and popular works in the entire opera canon. AÏDA opens on Friday, October 26, 2012 in the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center in the Dallas Arts District. The occasion also marks the Dallas Opera's 2012-2013 Season Celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the composer's birth.

The Linda and Mitch Hart Season Opening Night Performance will begin at 7:30 PM; it will be preceded by FIRST NIGHT red carpet arrivals and fashions (beginning at 6:00 PM) with the theme "Arts and Sports Together" honoring women's basketball great Nancy Lieberman and featuring a host of athletes and celebrities from the world of sports. The Red Carpet will be capped off by a lively pre-performance reception in Nancy B. Hamon Hall and in the Winspear lobby.

The performance itself will be followed by a late-evening, black-tie dinner. For tickets and information about FIRST NIGHT 2012, contact Dallas Opera Special Events Manager Morgan Vaughn at morgan.vaughn@dallasopera.org.

Subsequent performances of AÏDA are scheduled for October 28(m), 31, November 3, 9, and 11(m), 2012. Full season subscriptions are still available, beginning at just $75, and single tickets start at a new low price of $19. Contact the Dallas Opera Ticket Services Office at 214.443.1000 or purchase online, 24/7, at dallasopera.org.

"Season after season our audiences have clamored for this captivating work," says Dallas Opera Artistic Director Jonathan Pell, "which many believe to be the perfect opera. However, we were determined not to give in to the temptation to revive AÏDA again (the last TDO production was in 1997) until we had a stage and a cast that could do justice to this Verdian 'jewel in the crown.'
"Here on the spacious stage of the magnificent Winspear Opera House, with a cast led by the phenomenal Texas-born soprano Latonia Moore, the winner of the Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition (in addition to the 2005 Maria Callas Debut Artist of the Year Award for her TDO debut in Carmen), patrons will have a chance to fall in love with AÏDA like never before."

Latonia Moore's performance is made possible with support from The Charron and Peter Denker Rising Stars Endowment Fund.

"The timing couldn't be better," adds Dallas Opera General Director and CEO Keith Cerny. "Following Miss Moore's unexpected and acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut in this title role last March, she was instantly the talk of the opera world. It's our good fortune to have scheduled her return to Dallas just as her star is ascending to the highest heights."