LA TRAVIATA and More Set for Opera San José 2025–26 Season
Opera San José’s 42nd season opens with Mozart’s Così Fan Tutte.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Apr. 14, 2025
Opera San José has revealed the programming for the company’s 42nd season, which will include classic Italian operatic favorites that all explore the question, “What is love?” The 2025-2026 season will feature four productions, presented September 2025 through May 2026, at the majestic California Theatre in downtown San José.
2025–2026 SEASON
COSÌ FAN TUTTE
Music by Mozart | Libretto by Da Ponte
September 14-28, 2025
Sung in Italian with English and Spanish supertitles
Kicking off the company’s 42nd season, Mozart’s beloved romantic comedy Così Fan Tutte captivates audiences with irresistible charm and dazzling comedic wit. When two young couples are entangled in a scheming philosopher’s loyalty test, their love is turned upside down in a whirlwind of mistaken identities and scintillating secrets. As the cynical Don Alfonso wagers that their devoted girlfriends will stray by the end of the day, the young men confidently accept the challenge—only to expose unexpected revelations about love, fidelity, and attraction. Ricardo José Rivera stars as Guglielmo and Dale Travis stars as Don Alfonso in this sparkling comedy. Other roles to be announced. Internationally acclaimed tenor Alek Shrader makes his OSJ directorial debut, with Music Director and Principal Conductor Joseph Marcheso leading Mozart’s brilliant and effervescent score.
MADAMA BUTTERFLY
Music by Puccini | Libretto by Illica & Giacosa
November 16-30, 2025
Sung in Italian with English and Spanish supertitles
Set in early 20th-century Japan, Puccini’s opera classic Madama Butterfly tells the tragic story of young geisha Cio-Cio-San, who sacrifices everything for the love of an American naval officer, only to face heartbreaking betrayal. Puccini’s soaring music captures the young woman’s hopes and despair as she agonizingly waits for the return of her feckless lover. Directed by 2024-25 OSJ resident stage director Michelle Ainna Cuizon and conducted by Joseph Marcheso, this emotionally charged opera features César Delgado as the unfaithful officer Pinkerton and Emily Jensen in her OSJ debut as Cio-Cio-San.
CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA & PAGLIACCI
Music by Mascagni | Libretto by Targioni-Tozzetti & Menasci
Music and Libretto by Leoncavallo
February 15 – March 1, 2026
Sung in Italian with English and Spanish supertitles
Opera’s iconic double bill – two verismo tragedies, Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci – brings raw passion and operatic intensity to the California Theatre. In Cavalleria Rusticana, a Sicilian village is torn apart by love and jealousy, culminating in a dramatic duel of honor, and features Mascagni’s sweeping melodies including the beloved “Intermezzo.” Including the electrifying aria “Vesti la giubba,” Pagliacci follows a traveling troupe of performers whose personal betrayals spill onto the stage, blurring the line between reality and performance. This timeless pairing features Maria Natale’s return to OSJ as Santuzza, with Kidon Choi as the intense Tonio. Celebrated composer/conductor Alma Deutscher, who conducted The Magic Flute and her own opera rendition of Cinderella at OSJ, returns to conduct, with OSJ General Director/CEO Shawna Lucey directing this thrilling double opera production.
LA TRAVIATA
Music by Verdi | Libretto by Piave
April 19 – May 3, 2026
Sung in Italian with English and Spanish supertitles
Verdi’s La Traviata brings a tragic love story to life as the glamorous courtesan Violetta falls deeply in love with the devoted Alfredo, a passion that is challenged by societal expectations and extracts enormous personal sacrifice. Set against the backdrop of the construction of the Eiffel Tower, this production delves into the heart of glittering French society and a scandalous affair that defies convention. Filled with iconic melodies, breathtaking duets, and high-stakes drama, La Traviata continues to enthrall audiences with its emotional depth and stunning music. Former OSJ Resident Conductor Johannes Löhner makes his principal conducting debut, while OSJ's Inaugural Resident Director Tara Branham directs the production. Mikayla Sager, who was seen last season as Mimì in OSJ’s La Bohème, returns as the lovestruck courtesan Violette, with former Artist-in-Residence WooYoung Yoon as her young lover.
Focused on uplifting artists of San José, Opera San José has collaborated once again with Local Color, a woman-powered, non-profit organization focused on keeping emerging and established artists active, employed, and engaged in San José, to create the 2025-2026 Opera San José season artwork. The brilliant collages of images that represent each opera were created by Erin Salazar, a San José-based artist, muralist, seamstress, community organizer, and public art curator. She was the Knight Foundation Inaugural Public Space Fellow in 2019, received California State Senator Jim Beall's Woman of the Year award for creative enterprise in 2018, and was named one of KQED’s Bay Brilliant Women to Watch in 2017, among other accolades.
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