Ravinia celebrates opera with Mozart's Così fan tutte and The Marriage of Figaro featuring the Chicago Symphony Orchestra led by James Conlon and joined by all-star casts as well as members of the Chicago Symphony Chorus. Both operas will be presented in the Martin Theatre and will receive two performances, Così on Aug. 5 and 7 and Figaro on Aug. 6 and 8. Cosi fan tutte features 'one of America's finest artists and singers' (New York Times), mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, portraying Despina; Grammy Award winning soprano Ana Maria Martinez, who last appeared at Ravinia with Plácido Domingo at the festival's 2007 Gala, as Fiordiligi; Romanian mezzo-soprano Ruxandra Donose, who recently appeared as Veronica Quaife in The Fly at L.A. Opera, making her Ravinia debut as Dorabella; Russian baritone Rodion Pogosov, who made his Metropolitan Opera debut playing Papageno in the 2004 production of Die Zauberflöte, portraying Guglielmo in his festival debut; and Albanian tenor Saimir Pirgu, who made his US debut singing Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi at LA Opera, conducted by Conlon and directed by Woody Allen, appearing as Ferrando in his festival debut.
