For those Angelenos who have been paying attention - distracted, perhaps, with snapping pictures of Disney Hall, saving their homes from fires or tracking the unfulfilled wedding vows of celebrities - I want to mention once again that L.A. has quietly joined the ranks of the world's top opera venues. In fact, the Los Angeles Opera, under Plácido Domingo, has now quite taken over the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. You may as well start calling it "The Opera House."
Kiri Te Kanawa in Vanessa, which comes to L.A. this November. Photo by Carol Pratt/Washington Opera.Last week, a confident troupe of opera executives, including Domingo (in the role of prudent general director) and Marc Stern (the chairman) announced an expansive 2004-05 season that includes 10 productions and 100 total performances (compared to 67 this year). Four productions will be entirely new, with three never seen here before. As Stern put it, "We're putting on over twice the opera."Having weathered the difficult economic climate (along with some trying production glitches) over the last couple of years, the company has emerged "young and healthy," in the words of Domingo. He affirmed the company had reached a five-year settlement with the musicians' union, and Stern made a point of trumpeting the newfound cooperation amid the Music Center tenants these days (not the case when the Pavilion was packed with three resident companies - the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Opera and Master Chorale - angling for rehearsal and performance time).
The best news was the announcement of recent profit. The company actually ran a small surplus on the 2002-03 season - one of the few major arts organizations in the nation that can make that claim. Stern pointed out that when Domingo signed up with L.A. Opera in 2000, the company's budget was $22 million. In 2004-05 that budget will have grown to $48 million. This year, he added, 40,000 more tickets were sold compared to that first Domingo season.
Next season's highlight may be a Der Rosenkavalier directed by Maximilian Schell and designed by Downtown artist Gottfried Helnwein, and including sopranos Adrianne Pieczonka and Elizabeth Futral. There will be audience favorites - Carmen, Aida, La Bohème - along with some interesting excursions. Samuel Barber's Vanessa, and two by Stephen Sondheim, Sweeney Todd and a summer special starring actor Jeremy Irons, A Little Night Music, will hit the stage. Sweeney Todd was chosen to lure famed bass-baritone Bryn Terfel into his first L.A. visit. Also intriguing is Richard Strauss's offbeat comedy-romance, Ariadne Auf Naxos, directed by William Friedkin, who staged the wonderful Duke Bluebeard's Castle/Gianni Schicchi double bill in 2002.
Fans know that the real measure of L.A. Opera prestige is the list of international greats who now include the Pavilion in their itineraries. Along with those already mentioned, next year proffers Simone Alberghini, Kate Aldrich, María Bayo (who just finished a lovely turn as Euridice here), Rosalind Elias, Franco Farina, Renée Fleming (again in recital), Susan Graham (in recital), Allan Glassman, Angelika Kirchschlager, Richard Leech, Catherine Malfitano, Milena Kitic, Anna Netrebko (who just finished singing Lucia here), Kurt Rydl, Erwin Schrott (last season's wonderful Giovanni), Kiri Te Kanawa, Verónica Villarroel and a host of others.Those paying attention might say, "We've arrived."