LA Opera Opens 2011/12 Season with Company Premiere of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin

Photos courtesy Los Angeles Opera.; Clive Barda ROH, Oksana Dyka (soprano)

James Conlon to Conduct. September 17 through October 9, 2011

Plácido Domingo, LA Opera's Eli and Edythe Broad General Director, has announced that LA Opera's 2011/12 Season will open with the Company premiere of Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, opening at 7:30pm on Saturday, September 17, 2011, and running for six performances through Sunday, October 9. "I am delighted to open our new season with the Company premiere of a beautiful and incredibly compelling Russian masterpiece," said Mr. Domingo. "This will be only the second time that LA Opera has presented an opera by Tchaikovsky, after our 2001 performances of The Queen of Spades, and I know that many of our audiences have been eagerly awaiting these performances." James Conlon, LA Opera's Richard Seaver Music Director, will conduct all performances of Eugene Onegin. Eugene Onegin is based on the verse novel of the same name by Alexander Pushkin, one of the greatest works of Russian literature. Tchaikovsky composed the score and also wrote the libretto of his opera, in collaboration with poet Konstantin Shilovsky, creating a romantic masterpiece in which a naïve girl's letter to an arrogant gentleman sets off an unstoppable series of events, leading to a chilling duel and the termination of a love affair that was never meant to be.  In the leading roles, Slovakian baritone Dalibor Jenis and Polish soprano Oksana Dyka will make their LA Opera debuts as Eugene Onegin and Tatiana. Russian mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk, who made her Company debut in 2010 as Fricka in Die Walküre, returns as Olga, with Russian tenor Vsevolod Grivnov making his Company debut as Lensky. The principal cast also includes American bass James Creswell, a former member of LA Opera's Resident Artist program, as Prince Gremin. The production was originally created by the late director Steven Pimlott in 2006 for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and will be staged in Los Angeles by Francesca Gilpin. The scenery and costumes were designed by Antony McDonald and the lighting designer is Peter Mumford. Choreographer Ulrika Hallberg will recreate the original choreography of the late Linda Dobell. The Associate Conductor and Chorus Master is Grant Gershon.

Mr. Domingo also announced that the September 17 Opening Night performance will be broadcast live on Classical KUSC 91.5fm as part of the expanded "LA Opera on Air" radio series. For six consecutive seasons, LA Opera and Classical KUSC have partnered to bring the excitement of live performances to KUSC listeners. The live broadcast of Eugene Onegin, co-hosted by Duff Murphy and Kimberlea Daggy, will also be streamed online live at www.kusc.org. Classical KUSC will also present a live broadcast of LA Opera's opening performance of Mozart's Così fan tutte on September 18 at 2pm.

LA Opera's performances of Eugene Onegin will take place at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles CA 90012, on the following dates:

Saturday, September 17, at 7:30pm, Wednesday, September 21, at 7:30pm, Sunday, September 25, at 2pm, Saturday, October 1, at 7:30pm

Thursday, October 6, at 7:30pm Sunday, October 9, at 2pm

Tickets range from $20 to $270 and can be purchased at the LA Opera Box Office at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, by phone at (213) 972-8001 or online at www.laopera.com. For disability access, call (213) 972-0777 or email wehelpyou@laopera.com.

Eugene Onegin will be sung in Russian with projected English translations. It is a joint production of the Finnish National Opera (Helsinki) and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (London).