Angela Meade and Russell Thomas star in a spectacular production conducted by Music Director James Conlon and designed by David Hockney
(Los Angeles) April 18, 2024 — From May 18 through June 8, LA Opera will present one of the grandest of all operas: Giacomo Puccini's spectacular Turandot, starring Angela Meade and Russell Thomas. Conducted by Music Director James Conlon, the new-to-Los Angeles production features stage designs by the iconic artist David Hockney, long associated with Southern California.
"I’ve been looking forward to this production for many years," said Christopher Koelsch, LA Opera's president and CEO. "David Hockney has been part of the LA Opera family since the company’s earliest seasons, designing landmark productions of Tristan und Isolde and Die Frau ohne Schatten for us. It is a special delight to now present, for the first time in Los Angeles, his astonishingly beautiful production of Turandot."
About Turandot
Hiding out in enemy territory, a prince on the run encounters a captivating beauty who scorns love. With nothing to lose, he enters an all-but-impossible contest, risking his life to win her hand. But after claiming his victory, he faces an even greater challenge: melting Turandot’s icy heart.
Composer Giacomo Puccini’s untimely death in 1924 left Turandot, his final opera, unfinished. Shortly after Puccini’s passing, composer Franco Alfano was commissioned to create an ending for the world premiere production at Milan's La Scala in 1926. This now standard finale is what will be heard in these performances.
Meet the Cast
The cast is led by a quartet of artists whose frequent previous appearances in Los Angeles have made them audience favorites. Soprano Angela Meade sings the incredibly demanding title role, with tenor Russell Thomas (LA Opera's Resident Artist) as Calaf, soprano Guanqun Yu as Liu and bass Morris Robinson as Timur.
The cast also includes baritone Ryan Wolfe as Ping and bass Alan Williams as the Mandarin—both of them members of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program—along with tenor Julius Ahn as Pong, tenor Terrence Chin-Loy in his company debut as Pang and tenor Ashley Faatoalia as Emperor Altoum.
The Creative Team
Music Director James Conlon conducts his first LA Opera performances of Turandot. Garnett Bruce directs a celebrated production featuring scenic design by world renowned artist David Hockney and costumes by Ian Falconer. Gary Marder will recreate the original lighting designs of Thomas J. Munn. The director of the LA Opera Chorus is Jeremy Frank and the artistic director of the Los Angeles Children's Chorus is Fernando Malvar-Ruiz. The choreographer is Kitty McNamee and the fight and intimacy director is Andrew Kenneth Moss.
Click here to download production photos and artist headshots.
Performance Dates, Times and Address
There will be six performances of Turandot presented at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, located at 135 North Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012:
- Saturday, May 18, 2024, at 7:30pm
- Sunday, May 26, 2024, at 2pm
- Thursday, May 30, 2024, at 7:30pm
- Sunday, June 2, 2024, at 2pm
- Wednesday, June 5, 2024, at 7:30pm
- Saturday, June 8, 2024, at 7:30pm
Tickets
Tickets begin at $34 and are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased online at LAOpera.org, by phone at 213.972.8001, or in person at the LA Opera box office at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (135 N. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles CA 90012). For disability access, call 213.972.0777 or email LAOpera@LAOpera.org.
More information about the production is available at LAOpera.org/Turandot.
Turandot is sung in Italian with an English translation projected above the stage.
About LA Opera
Los Angeles is a city of enormous diversity and creativity, and LA Opera is dedicated to reflecting that vibrancy by redefining what opera can be. Through imaginative new productions, world premiere commissions, and inventive performances that preserve foundational works while making them feel fresh and compelling, LA Opera has become one of America’s most exciting and ambitious opera companies.
In addition to its mainstage performances at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the company explores unusual repertoire each season through the LA Opera Off Grand initiative, featuring performances in a variety of venues throughout Los Angeles. The LA Opera Connects initiative offers a robust variety of educational programming and community engagement offerings that reaches people throughout every corner of Los Angeles County. The company also offers a multitude of online content via its LA Opera On Now digital offerings, which launched in 2020. Learn more at LAOpera.org.
LA Opera Media Contact
Marlene Meraz
Director of Communications
mmeraz@laopera.org
213.972.7554
Production made possible by generous support from
The Alfred and Claude Mann Fund
Barbara Augusta Teichert
Additional generous support from
The Estate of Cat Pollon
David Niemetz and the De Marchena-Huyke Foundation
LA Opera Orchestra generously underwritten by
Terri and Jerry Kohl
LA Opera is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the greater Los Angeles community.
