Los Angeles Opera News

Faithfully following Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning play, André Previn's opera tells the story of Blanche DuBois, a fading though still attractive Southern belle whose poise is a persona she presents to shield others, but most of all herself, from her delusions of grandeur. Moving into her sister's cramped apartment, and creating all the wrong kinds of sparks with her crude and cruel brother-in-law, the dark truths about Blanche's past begin to emerge, and her world comes apart at the seams in a downward spiral.

Six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald brings her acclaimed portrayal of Billie Holiday in the Broadway smash LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR & GRILL to HBO tonight, March 12 (9:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT).

Popular radio host Alan Chapman will join several members of the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra for an intimate evening of chamber music and related discussion at the University Club of Santa Barbara on Tuesday, April 5. Featuring a performance of Felix Mendelssohn's brilliant String Quintet No. 2, Op. 87, the program will begin at 7:30 pm. Wine and dessert will be served. Tickets cost $100.

Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore returns to the Met stage on March 10 starring Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak and Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo as the two young lovers, Adina and Nemorino. Italian conductor Enrique Mazzola makes his company debut leading performances of Bartlett Sher's 2012 staging. Alessandro Corbelli sings the role of Dulcamara, the loveable con man who sells the “magic elixir” of love, along with Adam Plachetka as the sergeant Belcore, who attempts to court Adina. Mario Chang and Pietro Spagnoli sing the last two performances on April 2 and 7 as Nemorino and Dulcamara respectively.

NEW DRAMATISTS,Tony® Honor recipient and the nation's premier playwright development laboratory, will honor six-time Tony Award winning actress, Audra McDonald with their 2016 Distinguished Achievement Award at its 67th Annual Spring Luncheon tribute. The event will be held Thursday, May 12 at the New York Marriott Marquis.

Four up-and-coming opera singers will showcase their talents as The Metropolitan Opera Rising Stars Concert Series comes to  Mayo Performing Arts Center on Saturday, April 2, 2016 at 8 PM. Tickets are $29 - $59.

Several stage names are among the recipients of the newly renamed 2016 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Awards, to be presented at The Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center tonight, March 2, 2016.

The 33rd season of the Schwabacher Debut Recitals continues on Sunday, March 6 at the new Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater with bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch and pianist John Churchwell.

Lawrence Edelson, Artistic and General Director of Opera Saratoga, announced the program for the 2016 Summer Festival, which will run from May 28th through July 17, 2016.

Six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald brings her acclaimed portrayal of Billie Holiday in the Broadway smash “Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill” to HBO, with the exclusive presentation scheduled to debut SATURDAY, MARCH 12 

Grammy Award-winning trumpet player Chris Botti will perform with the New York Philharmonic, led by Andy Einhorn in his Philharmonic debut, Monday, April 11, 2016, at 7:30 p.m.

The Met's new production of Puccini's MANON LESCAUT opens February 12 with Kristine Opolais as the seductive, tragic heroine and Roberto Alagna in a role debut as her ardent lover, the Chevalier des Grieux.

Ana María Martínez will sing her first Met performances of Cio-Cio-San in Puccini's Madama Butterfly on February 19 and 22, replacing Hei-Kyung Hong, who is ill. Hong is scheduled to sing the performances on February 25, March 2 and 5, as previously announced.

 The Dallas Opera resumes the 2015-2016 Season in early spring with Jules Massenet's heart-wrenching and seductive tale of love, lust, and spectacularly bad choices: MANON, opening March 4, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. in the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House for the first of four performances.

Washington Concert Opera is proud to continue its season of Italian masters with Gaetano Donizetti's LA FAVORITE in its original, rarely performed, French version (with English supertitles). At the height of his career and his creative genius, Donizetti wrote LA FAVORITE - one of the few operas with a mezzo-soprano in the title role. Set amidst the Moorish invasion of medieval Spain, it is filled with the passions of war, love, and sacrifice. 

New York Festival of Song's contemporary song series NYFOS Next -- dubbed 'invaluable' by The New Yorker and The New York Times -- enters its sixth season and continues its new format: a three-concert February mini-festival in the intimate state-of-the-art recital hall at OPERA America's National Opera Center. The Thursday concerts take place today, February 4, as well as February 11, and 18, 2016 at 7:00 p.m.

The Met's new production of Puccini's MANON LESCAUT opens February 12 with Kristine Opolais as the seductive, tragic heroine and Roberto Alagna in a role debut as her ardent lover, the Chevalier des Grieux.

The Los Angeles Master Chorale, led by Artistic Director Grant Gershon, presents two performances of Verdi's towering Requiem, a work National Public Radio calls a 'thrilling opera in disguise,' with acclaimed guest soloists Amber Wagner, soprano, Michelle DeYoung, mezzo soprano, Issachah Savage, tenor, and Morris Robinson, bass, today, January 30, 2 pm, and tomorrow, Sunday, January 31, 2016, 7 pm, at Walt Disney Concert Hall. A stunningly theatrical staple of the choral repertoire, Verdi's work is a tumultuous, tortured, terrifying spectacle that has thrilled audiences since its debut in 1874.

OPERA America, the national service organization for opera, is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2016 National Opera Trustee Recognition Awards. Now in its ninth year, these awards honor outstanding trustees of U.S. opera companies for their exemplary leadership, generosity and audience-building efforts on behalf of their respective opera companies.