Los Angeles Opera

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The Los Angeles Opera is a world-class opera company in Los Angeles, California, United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center. Its general director is the Spanish tenor Plácido Domingo (his contract has just been extended through the 2010-2011 season). Kent Nagano was elected the company's first chief conductor in 2001 and was later given the title of music director in 2003, a post which he held until 2006. James Conlon took over as music director for the 2006/2007 season.

The Los Angeles Opera company, which made its debut in 1986 with a production of Verdi's Otello starring Plácido Domingo, traces its roots back to the Los Angeles Civic Grand Opera, which was formed in 1948. It presented staged productions through the 1950s. Shortly after its third production at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the company abandoned its own production projects and recreated itself as the Music Center Opera Association by bringing opera from other cities to the Music Center, notably the New York City Opera. The NYCO brought productions to Los Angles every fall from 1966 to 1982.

In 1984, the Music Center Opera Association hired Peter Hemmings and gave him the task of creating a local opera company which would once again present its own productions. This led to the forming of the Los Angeles Opera. Hemmings stepped down as General Director in 2000, with Plácido Domingo assuming leadership of the company following season. (In fact, Domingo was already involved in the creation of the company and served as its artistic consultant since 1984.)

The Los Angeles Opera gives between seventy and one hundred performances a year. It offers productions in the standard operatic repertory as well as new and rarely-staged operas. During the 2003-2004 season, the company performed the world premiere of Nicholas and Alexandra, with music composed by Deborah Drattell and text by Nicholas von Hoffman. The company has also turned to theater and cinema world for directors of its productions. During the 2001-2002 season, it mounted a production of Lohengrin, directed by Austrian actor Maximilian Schell and a double bill of Duke Bluebeard's Castle and Gianni Schicchi, directed by filmmaker William Friedkin.

More recent productions have included La Boheme in the 2004-2005 season and I Pagliacci in the 2005-2006 season with Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna, Massenet's Manon in 2006-2007 featuring Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón, and an all-star La Traviata to open the 2006-2007 season with Renée Fleming, Rolando Villazón and Renato Bruson. Other frequent and notable guests with the company have included Kiri Te Kanawa, Samuel Ramey, Violeta Urmana, Bryn Terfel, Hildegard Behrens, Denyce Graves, Frederica Von Stade, Sumi Jo, Deborah Voigt, James Morris, Maria Ewing, Susan Graham, Karita Mattila, and Ferruccio Furlanetto.