LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Opera opens its 2024-25 season Sept. 21 with Puccini鈥檚 鈥淢adama Butterfly鈥 reimagined in a film studio and said Saturday it will present the company premiere of Osvaldo Golijov鈥檚 鈥淎inadamar" while reducing its offerings from six main-stage productions to five.
Mario Gras's 鈥淏utterfly鈥 staging, first seen at Madrid鈥檚 Teatro Real in 2017, stars Karah Son as Cio-Cio-San and Jonathan Tetelma as Pinkerton in their company debuts. James Conlon conducts in the start of his 19th season as music director.
鈥淏ecause it鈥檚 set on this vintage Hollywood soundstage, the director, Martin Gas, he contextualizes the ersatz vision of Japan because he puts a frame around it,鈥 LA Opera CEO Christopher Koelsch said. 鈥淏ecause of the Hollywood connection, even though it was not conceived for us, it feels particularly apt for this city.鈥
Revenue has recovered from the coronavirus pandemic shutdown, with three main-stage productions thus far this season generating $5.2 million. The six main-stage productions in 2022-23 brought in $9.4 million; the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season resulted in just under $7 million from four stagings.
鈥淲hat I鈥檓 trying to do is build resiliency and strength for the organization in the long term,鈥 Koelsch said.
鈥淎inadamar (Fountain of Tears)鈥 opens on April 26, 2025, starring Ana Mar铆a Mart铆nez and Daniela Mack in a Deborah Colker staging that first appeared at the Scottish Opera in 2022, was at the Detroit Opera and Welsh 好色tv Opera last year and is scheduled for the Metropolitan Opera this fall.
鈥淭hat鈥檒l be our ninth main-stage opera in Spanish in the company鈥檚 38-year history,鈥 Koelsch said.
Ian Judge鈥檚 2005 staging of Gounod鈥檚 鈥淩om茅o et Juliette鈥 will be revived starting Nov. 2 with Duke Kim and Amina Edris in their debuts.
Michael Cavanagh鈥檚 production of Mozart鈥檚 鈥淐os矛 fan tutte,鈥 first seen at the San Francisco Opera in 2021, opens March 8, 2025, with Conlon leading a cast that includes Erica Petrocelli and Rihab Chaieb.
Tomer Zvulun鈥檚 staging of Verdi鈥檚 鈥淩igoletto,鈥 which premiered at the 2019 Houston Grand Opera, opens May 31, 2025, with Quinn Kelsey, Rosa Feola in her company debut and Ren茅 Barbera.
