Broad Stage's Celebrity Opera Series Concludes with Angela Gheorghiu and Vittorio Grigòlo

The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage's 2018 Celebrity Opera Series concludes with the great opera stars Angela Gheorghiu and Vittorio Grigòlo, joining forces for a concert of thrilling arias and duets on Tuesday, May 1 with world-renowned conductor, Eugene Kohn. Performing together at The Broad Stage for the first time, this is an exclusive pairing of two international icons in concert.

Angela Gheorghiu's magnificent voice and dazzling stage presence have established her as a unique international opera superstar. She has appeared on over 80 recordings, released through the labels Decca, EMI, and Deutsche Grammophon. The internet age has only propelled her further into the soprano stratosphere. Her performance of Habanera from Bizet's Carmen has garnered over six million views on YouTube. All her performances and recitals have confirmed Ms. Gheorghiu's status as one of the most beloved stars of opera.

Ms. Gheorghiu previously performed at The Broad Stage in 2016, 2015 and 2013. The Los Angeles Times said, "Revelatory... bewitching, thoughtful, alluring, [and] surprising. Everyone went wild, and it was hard to keep track of the number of bouquets laid at her feet."

Born in Arezzo, Italy, Vittorio Grigòlo is the quintessential Italian tenor. He began his vocal career as a soloist in the Sistine Chapel Choir and he is now considered one of the finest tenors of his generation. He has performed principal roles in the world's most prestigious opera houses and his exceptional vocal and dramatic talents have been widely praised since 2010, when he made his debuts at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, as the Chevalier des Grieux in Manon and at the Metropolitan Opera the same year as Rodolfo in La Bohème

This March, Anthony Tommasini said in the New York Times, "Grigòlo is the reason to see the Met'sLucia." The New York Times called his performance, "fearless...Mr. Grigòlo was in the zone with a fervor that no one else matched. [He] put everything on the line for that final scene. The field of opera could use a little more of Mr. Grigòlo's animalistic intensity."

The Celebrity Opera Series is made possible by generous support from The Lloyd E. Rigler-Lawrence E. Deutsch Foundation. The Foundation continues to make contributions to strengthen the concert series at The Broad Stage and enrich the cultural life of Los Angeles.

Tickets are on sale now at thebroadstage.org or by calling 310-434-3200.

About Angela Gheorghiu
Superstar Angela Gheorghiu, the most glamorous and gifted opera singer of our time, was born in the small Romanian town Adjud. From early childhood it was obvious that she will become a singer, her destiny was music. She attended the Music School in Bucharest and graduated the National University of Music Bucharest, where she studied with the remarkable music teacher Mia Barbu. Ms. Gheorghiu's magnificent voice and dazzling stage presence have established her as a unique international opera superstar.

She made her international debut in 1992 at Covent Garden as Mimì in La bohème and in the same year made debuts at the Metropolitan Opera and at the Vienna State Opera. It was at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden that she first sang her much acclaimed Violetta in La Traviata in 1994, when for the first time in television and operatic history the BBC cleared out its schedules to broadcast the opera live. Since her Royal Opera debut she has appeared at the world's leading opera houses and concert halls around the world, her repertory including Mimì in La bohème, Violetta in La traviata, Juliette (Roméo et Juliette), Nedda (Pagliacci), Adina (L'elisir d'amore), Amelia in Simon Boccanegra, Charlotte in Werther, Tosca, Magda in La rondine, Marguerite in Faust and Adriana Lecouvreur.

She has recorded widely for EMI Classics/Warner Classics and Decca and has received numerous international artistic honours, including La Médaille Vermeille de la Ville de Paris and the awards of Chevalier and Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the European Cultural Award for Music and the Victoire d'Honneur Award.

She played the title role in Benoît Jacquot's film Tosca and sang Juliette in a film for Online Classics. Engagements of the last years include Mimì (La Scala, Milan, Royal Opera, Vienna State Opera, Paris Opéra, Metropolitan Opera, New York, Hamburg), Tosca (Royal Opera, Berlin State Opera, San Francisco, Vienna, Metropolitan Opera), Magda (Royal Opera), Marguerite (Royal Opera, Vienna State Opera), Adriana Lecouvreur (Royal Opera, Vienna State Opera, Paris Opéra) and Charlotte (Vienna, Salzburg Festival), and concerts in Los Angeles, Paris, Dublin, Vienna, Salzburg.

In the history of opera, Angela Gheorghiu shines as a rare phenomenon: not only a singer/actress with an exceptional vocal technique and profound dramatic and musical intelligence, but also a magnetic communicator who penetrates the hearts and minds of a panoramic spectrum of audiences ranging from demanding connoisseurs to informal congregations. She has brought the very highest values of operatic art to a vast worldwide community on an unusually broad scale.

Future engagements include various concerts in Europe and North America, as well as opera performances in London (Tosca) and Dresden (Tosca, La bohème).

About Vittorio Grigòlo
From boy soloist in the Sistine chapel to principal tenor in the world's most prestigious opera houses, Vittorio Grigolo is the quintessential Italian tenor.

Born in Arezzo and raised in Rome, he performs the leading roles in both Italian and French operas. His repertoire includes Traviata, La Bohème, Rigoletto, Elisir d'amore, Lucia di Lammermoor, Faust, Roméo et Juliette, Manon, Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Werther and Tosca.

Vittorio is a successful recording artist with a platinum debut album, a Grammy-nominated recording of Bernstein's West Side Story and four albums with Sony Classical.

Live concert performances include his "Italia... Un Sogno" tour around Italy and the Concert pour la prise de la Bastille under the Eiffel Tower. His solo recital at The Metropolitan Opera was reviewed as "a truly unforgettable evening" (Latinos Post) with his voice described as "an attractive, ardent and supple instrument that he wielded to passionate effect" (New York Times).

Big screen appearances include The Duke in Andrea Andermann's acclaimed live broadcast of Rigoletto from Mantua and the live, global broadcasts of La Bohème from both The Metropolitan Opera and The Royal Opera, London.

In September 2017 Vittorio was given the singular honour of performing a beautiful new romanza in memory of and named after his late friend and mentor, the great Luciano Pavarotti, at his 10th anniversary memorial concert.

Recent recognition: the Caruso Award and the Tiberini d'Oro (2015), the Distinguished Artistic Leadership Award - The Atlantic Council (2016) and the NIAF Special Achievement award (2017)

Upcoming events include Gianni Schicchi / L'Heure Espagnole in Paris and L'Elisir d'Amore in Munich.

About Eugene Kohn, Conductor
Eugene Kohn was immersed in opera from a very young age, accompanying the vocal classes of such "golden age" stars as Giovanni Martinelli and Maria Jeritza. He became the conducting "protégée" of the Metropolitan Opera's Fausto Cleva, and in the 1970's began performing in public as recital accompanist to some of opera's greatest voices: Renata Tebaldi, Giuseppe DiStefano, Franco Corelli, Maria Callas, and the young Luciano Pavarotti.

Kohn had the opportunity to study the central European symphonic repertoire with Erich Leinsdorf, and was assistant in symphonic, choral, and operatic repertoire to Thomas Schippers. Several years of conducting regional symphony orchestras and opera companies led to his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1980, conducting "La Gioconda". His reengagement at the MET for several different productions led to debuts in major international theatres.

While based in Europe through the 1980's and 1990's Kohn conducted at the opera houses of Vienna, Hamburg, Berlin (both), Barcelona, Rome, Naples, Paris, Buenos Aires, etc. He held the position of Principal Guest Conductor at the Bonn Opera, where he broadened his German repertoire with productions of "Fliegende Hollaender", "Rosenkavalier", "Zauberfloete", "Fidelio" etc. He also served for eight years as Music Director of the Puerto Rico Symphony, increasing their repertoire with cycles of Mahler, Stravinsky, and Bruckner.

For the last ten years Kohn has divided his time equally between symphony and opera. He is also active as Music Director for concerts worldwide with Plácido Domingo, a collaboration of several decades well documented on DVD and recordings. He tours as Music Director for tenor Andrea Bocelli, and has conducted as well for Brynn Terfel, Anna Netrebko, and Angela Gheorghiu, Recently he debuted with the Leipzig Gewandhaus in a Verdi Gala featuring Placido Doingo. This season he will conduct another concert with featuring Vittorio Grigolo and Angela Georghiu in Santa Monica.

Kohn has precorded for EMI, Sony, and DECCA, and can also be seen as screen actor in Zeffirelli's film "Callas Forever" (with Jerermy Irons and Fanny Ardant) where he recreates his real life role from years earlier as Ms. Callas' accompanist.

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