LA Opera to Open 2022/23 Season With New Production of LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR

LA Opera will open its 2022/23 season with a new production of Lucia di Lammermoor, Gaetano Donizetti's spellbinding tale of marriage, madness and murder. Lina González-Granados leads the proceedings in her debut outing as the company's new Resident Conductor. Performances will take place from September 17 through October 9, 2022, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

In director Simon Stone's powerful new staging, a co-production with the Metropolitan Opera, the story is updated to a present-day world of desperation and decline. The gorgeously moody musical score masterfully conveys a young woman's isolation and instability as she slips into a terrifying world of delirium. Two extraordinary sopranos who launched their careers at LA Opera will take on the iconic title role: Amanda Woodbury, who's now a star at the Metropolitan Opera, and Liv Redpath, who recently made her role debut as Lucia at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Tenor Arturo Chacón-Cruz, a longtime company favorite, returns as Lucia's beloved Edgardo, with baritone Alexander Birch Elliott as Enrico and bass-baritone Eric Owens as Raimondo.

"I'm especially excited for our audiences to begin their relationship with our Resident Conductor, Lina González-Granados, an astonishingly insightful and commanding artist," said Christopher Koelsch, LA Opera's president and CEO. "Throughout the coming seasons, I feel confident she'll make an indelible impact on the company and our community. I'm also happy to welcome director Simon Stone for his company debut. One of my primary goals for the company is to explore contemporary resonances in the pinnacles of the repertoire. There's a reason they're called the 'classics,' after all: they speak to audiences across the ages. With Lucia di Lammermoor, as with all of his work across film, theater and opera, Simon brings an unsparing, impactful and ultimately unforgettable exploration of the extremes of human behavior."

LA Opera's mask policy, along with a state-of-the-art air filtration system and enhanced cleaning protocols, remains in place to ensure the safest possible experience for audiences, the company's top priority.

The Performers

The title role is shared by sopranos Amanda Woodbury (September 17, 21, 24) and Liv Redpath (September 28; October 2, 9). Both are former members of LA Opera's Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program who now regularly perform in the world's important opera houses. Tenor Arturo Chacón-Cruz returns as Edgardo, his eighth leading role with LA Opera. Baritone Alexander Birch Elliott makes his company debut as Enrico and bass-baritone Eric Owens is Raimondo, his first return to LA Opera since his 2012 appearance as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly.

Additional soloists include tenor Anthony Ciaramitaro (a recent alumnus of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program) as Arturo, Lucia's ill-fated bridegroom. Two current young artists with the company will make their LA Opera debuts in this production: mezzo-soprano Madeleine Lyon as Alisa and tenor Anthony León as Normanno.

The Creative Team

Making his LA Opera debut, stage director Simon Stone updates the opera's action to a present-day Rust Belt town rattled by financial insecurity and drug dependency. The scenery is designed by Lizzie Clachan, with costumes designed by Blanca Añón, lighting designed by James Farncombe and projections designed by Luke Halls, all of them making their first appearance with LA Opera. The LA Opera Chorus is led by Jeremy Frank in his first outing as the company's new Chorus Director. The choreographer is Kitty McNamee and the fight and intimacy director is Andrew Kenneth Moss.

Performance Dates, Times and Address

There will be six performances of Lucia di Lammermoor at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, located at 135 North Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012:

• Saturday, September 17, 2022, at 6pm
• Wednesday, September 21, 2022, at 7:30pm
• Saturday, September 24, 2022, at 7:30pm
• Wednesday, September 28, 2022, at 7:30pm
• Sunday, October 2, 2022, at 2pm
• Sunday, October 9, 2022, at 2pm

Tickets

Tickets for Lucia di Lammermoor begin at $20 and are on sale now.

Tickets can be purchased online at LAOpera.org, by phone at 213.972.8001, or in person at the LA Opera box office at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (135 N. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles CA 90012). For disability access, call 213.972.0777 or email LAOpera@LAOpera.org.

Masks are required at all times for all patrons and visitors in all indoor spaces at LA Opera, except while eating and drinking in designated areas.

More information is available at LAOpera.org/Lucia.

Note: This production contains adult subject matter and depictions of violence and drug use.

About LA Opera

Los Angeles is a city of enormous diversity and creativity, and LA Opera is dedicated to reflecting that vibrancy by redefining what opera can be. Through imaginative new productions, world premiere commissions, and inventive performances that preserve foundational works while making them feel fresh and compelling, LA Opera has become one of America's most exciting and ambitious opera companies.

In addition to its mainstage performances at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the company explores unusual repertoire each season through the LA Opera Off Grand initiative, featuring performances in a variety of venues throughout Los Angeles. The LA Opera Connects initiative offers a robust variety of educational programming and community engagement offerings that reaches people throughout every corner of Los Angeles County. The company also offers a multitude of online content via its LA Opera At Home digital offerings, which launched in March 2020. Learn more at LAOpera.org.