FLORENCIA EN EL AMAZONAS Returning to LA Opera

Florencia en el Amazonas, an enchanting and romantic opera by composer Daniel Catán, returns to LA Opera for six performances at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion from November 22 through December 20, 2014. In the exquisitely beautiful opera, which was inspired by the fiction of Gabriel García Márquez, a steamboat passage along the fabled Amazon becomes a poignant voyage of discovery for all of the travelers on board. Among the passengers is a celebrated prima donna, returning to her homeland in hopes of reuniting with the great love of her life.

Chilean soprano Verónica Villarroel returns as the diva Florencia Grimaldi, her seventh leading role with LA Opera. "This opera is particularly touching and magical and I just love it," says Ms. Villarroel. "It's about a singer coming back to her home country after a long absence. I know what that's like, having had a career of more than 30 years myself. Every human being has that question mark, that mystery: 'Why did I make this decision and not another? What would my life have been like if I had made another choice?' Florencia has lived life, had a career, and is going back to where she first discovered love. Her transformation, through this journey, is so beautiful."

Florencia en el Amazonas, which is sung in Spanish, features a cast that includes five native Spanish speakers. Cuban-American soprano Lisette Oropesa will make her company debut as Rosalba, an aspiring young journalist who hopes to write a biography of the elusive diva. Baritone José Carbó, born in Argentina and raised in Australia, will make his first L.A. appearance as the shapeshifting river spirit Riolobo. Also included in the cast are Mexican tenor Arturo Chacón-Cruz, Spanish mezzo-soprano Nancy Fabiola Herrera, American baritone Gordon Hawkins and American bass-baritone David Pittsinger.

The production will be conducted by Grant Gershon, LA Opera's Resident Conductor, who conducted the world premiere of Daniel Catán's final completed opera, Il Postino, in Los Angeles in 2010. Francesca Zambello will restage and update a production she first directed at LA Opera in 1997.

Tickets start at $18 and can be purchased in person at the LA Opera Box Office at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, by phone at 213.972.8001 or online at www.LAOpera.org. For disability access, call 213.972.0777 or email laopera@laopera.org.

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