He's smooth. He's rotten. He's doomed.
All six performances of Don Giovanni (Jan 30-Feb 21) have been cancelled due to an LA County mandate as part of the effort to curb the spread of the novel Coronavirus.
If you have already purchased tickets to this performance, the amount paid for your tickets will automatically be placed on your LA Opera account. Have questions or need assistance with your tickets? Please contact the Box Office at customerservice@laopera.org or 213.972.8001 Monday to Friday, 10am to 6pm.
We look forward to returning to the stage in September 2021 for our new 2021/22 Season
A trail of unhappy women, a spur-of-the-moment murder, a dozen fleet-footed escapes, and one ominous force from beyond the grave that can’t be stopped. Yep, sounds like Don Giovanni (aka Don Juan).
Superstar bass Ildebrando D’Arcangelo returns as opera’s most notorious playboy in a visually spectacular production that pulls you into the characters’ inner thoughts and shifting emotions. And with James Conlon conducting this Mozart masterpiece and a stunning new production featuring scenery by Es Devlin (star designer of concerts for U2, Kanye West, and Beyoncé), you know it's going to be good.
“Ildebrando D’Arcangelo is a commanding presence... his mature, velvety tone suitably aristocratic with flashes of suavity and menace.”
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A scene from "Don Giovanni"
©Bill Cooper/Royal Opera HouseSwipe for More

A scene from "Don Giovanni"
Lynn Lane/Houston Grand OperaSwipe for More

A scene from "Don Giovanni"
©Bill Cooper/Royal Opera HouseSwipe for More

A scene from "Don Giovanni"
©Bill Cooper/Royal Opera HouseSwipe for More

A scene from "Don Giovanni"
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A scene from "Don Giovanni"
Lynn Lane/Houston Grand OperaCast
- Don Giovanni
- Ildebrando D'Arcangelo
- Donna Anna
- Tamara Wilson
- Donna Elvira
- Ana María Martínez
- Don Ottavio
- Bogdan Volkov
- Leporello
- Will Liverman
- Zerlina
- Janai Brugger
- Masetto
- Kihun Yoon
- Commendatore
- Morris Robinson
Ildebrando D'Arcangelo
Don Giovanni

Ildebrando D'Arcangelo made his 2011 company debut as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, returning as Don Giovanni, Escamillo in Carmen, and Banquo in Macbeth.
Hailed by critics for his stage presence and glorious basso cantabile, he has been particularly renowned for the Mozart roles of Figaro, Count Almaviva, Leporello and Don Giovanni. In recent years he has added the great Verdi roles of Attila, Fiesco in Simon Boccanegra and Banquo in Macbeth as well as Méphistophélès in both Faust and La Damnation de Faust to his repertoire.
Throughout his distinguished career he has appeared at the Vienna State Opera, Salzburg Festival, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, Opéra National de Paris, Teatro alla Scala Milan, Teatro Real Madrid and Metropolitan Opera New York with conductors including Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, Myung-Whun Chung, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Bernard Haitink, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Tugan Sokhiev and Antonio Pappano.
Tamara Wilson
Donna Anna

From: Chicago, Illinois. LA Opera: First Lady in The Magic Flute (2009, debut); Miss Jessel in The Turn of the Screw (2011). She will return as a soloist in Bach's St. Matthew Passion (2022).
The 2016 recipient of the prestigious Richard Tucker Award, soprano Tamara Wilson is quickly gaining international recognition for her interpretations of Verdi, Mozart, Strauss and Wagner. Other recent honors include a 2016 Olivier Award nomination and receipt of the "Revelation Prize" by the Argentine Musical Critics Association. Ms. Wilson is also a Grand Prize Winner of the Annual Francisco Viñas Competition held at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.
Her 2019/20 season includes performances with the Canadian Opera Company, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Oper Frankfurt and the Santa Fe Opera. In concert, she will sing Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in a special Christmas performance and television broadcast with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and debut the role of Isolde with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
Opera performance highlights in Tamara Wilson's 2018/19 season included a return to the Metropolitan Opera as the title role in Aida, the role of Leonora in Il Trovatore at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Desdemona in Otello at the Canadian Opera Company, the title role in Ariadne auf Naxos at Teatro alla Scala, and Chrysothemis in Elektra at Opernhaus Zurich. In concert Ms. Wilson presented Mahler's Symphony No. 8 at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall and at the Edinburgh International Festival, as well as with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She also sang Bruckner's Te Deum at Teatro alla Scala, and Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos with the Cleveland Orchestra. She performed her signature role of Aida at Arena di Verona followed by a special guest performance at the Santa Fe Opera's summer gala and a recital at the Song Source Festival.
Tamara Wilson opened the the 2017/18 season as the title role in Aida at the Washington National Opera in a production by Francesca Zambello. She then returned to her home company of Houston Grand Opera for her role debut as Chrysothemis in Elektra. She also made her New York Philharmonic debut in Bernstein’s Kaddish Symphony (Symphony No. 3) with Leonard Slatkin in celebration of Bernstein's Centennial.
Ms. Wilson made her acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut in Aida and London debut in Calixto Bieto’s new production of La Forza del Destino at the English National Opera, for which she received an Olivier Award nomination. She also inaugurated the new opera house in Kyoto, Japan with Seiji Ozawa as Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus.
She made her LA Opera debut in 2009 as the First Lady in The Magic Flute, returning in 2011 as Miss Jessel in The Turn of the Screw .
Learn more at TamaraWilsonSoprano.com.
"A VOICE OF STEELY BEAUTY AND GREAT POWER"
—The Houston Chronicle
She was heard at Oper Frankfurt for her first performances as the Empress in Die Frau ohne Schatten conducted by Sebastian Weigle and subsequently released by Oehms Classics. She recently debuted at the Bayerische Staatsoper and Opernhaus Zürich conducted by Fabio Luisi, both as Elisabetta di Valois in Don Carlo. She debuted at the Deutsche Oper Berlin as Amelia in Un ballo in maschera, triumphed in Act 3 of Die Walküre as Brünnhilde with Mark Wiggleworth and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales at Royal Albert Hall, and debuted with the Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev in Act 3 of Die Walküre as Sieglinde.
A noted interpreter of Verdi roles, she has been seen as Elisabeth de Valois in the five-act French Don Carlos (Houston Grand Opera); Amelia in Un ballo in maschera (Washington National Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Florida Grand Opera, and Teatre Principal de Maó in Menorca); Elvira in Ernani (Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse); Elisabetta in Don Carlo (Bayerische Staatsoper, Zurich Oper, and Oper Frankfurt); Lucrezia Contarini in I due Foscari (Théâtre du Capitole, Teatro Municipal de Santiago and Netherlands Radio Orchestra); Leonora in Il trovatore (Gran Teatre del Liceu, Houston Grand Opera, Théâtre du Capitole under Daniel Oren and Palma de Mallorca); Desdemona in Otello (Cincinnati Symphony and James Conlon); Alice Ford in Falstaff (Washington National Opera debut); Amelia Grimaldi in Simon Boccanegra (Canadian Opera Company); the title role in Aida (Opera Australia, Teatro de la Maestranza, and Teatro Municipal de Santiago); Marchesa del Poggio in Un giorno di regno (Wolf Trap Opera); and Gulnara in Il corsaro (Washington Concert Opera). Other notable performances include her debut in Norma at Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona; Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus at the Canadian Opera Company; her German debut at Oper Frankfurt in concert performances of Wagner’s early opera Die Feen as Ada under Sebastian Weigle; Elettra in Idomeneo under Harry Bicket at the Canadian Opera Company and under James Conlon at the Ravinia Festival; Donna Anna in Don Giovanni under James Conlon and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, as well as with Edo de Waart and the Milwaukee Symphony.
On the concert stage, Ms. Wilson debuted with the Cleveland Orchestra in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 under Franz Welser-Möst, the National Symphony in Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 2 (“Lobgesang”) with Matthew Halls and with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem conducted by Marin Alsop at the BBC Proms, which was recorded for commercial release.
Ana María Martínez
Donna Elvira

Grammy Award winner Ana María Martínez is considered to be one of the foremost sopranos of her time, with an international career that spans the world’s most important opera houses and concert halls.
Her repertoire encompasses opera’s most intriguing and diverse leading ladies, and she engages her audiences season after season with signature roles, spellbinding debuts, and a myriad of captivating recordings.
Ms. Martínez is constantly challenging and stretching herself as an artist. In addition to a full calendar of performances, she has recently taken on two new exciting roles that expand her presence offstage, including joining Houston Grand Opera as their first-ever Artistic Advisor as well as Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music as Artist-in-Residence for the 2019/20 and 2020/21 academic years. Equally interesting, she voiced the role of opera singer Alessandra in season three of Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle, and proudly represented her birthplace Puerto Rico as an honoree and performer in the 62nd Annual National Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City. During her travels she frequently goes into the classroom to teach and offer guidance to students, has provided candid encouragement to young singers as a contributing editor to Classical Singer magazine and her reflections were profiled in Latino Wisdom: Celebrity Stories of Hope, Inspiration, and Success to Recharge our Mind, Body, and Soul by Cathy Areu, published by Barricade Books.
Ms. Martínez was the inaugural recipient of the Pepita Embil Prize of Zarzuela at the 1995 Operalia, and in the years since has been honored to regularly share the stage in concert with Plácido Domingo. Highlights of their touring include performances at the White House, HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro for the World Cup Celebration, her debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, as well as performances at the Abu Dhabi Festival in the United Arab Emirates, Arena di Verona, Chorégies d’Orange, Teatro Real in Madrid, with the LA Opera Orchestra in honor of Domingo’s 50th anniversary, in a special concert event with the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra under the direction of Sir Andrew Davis, and for the inaugural performance at the Dubai Opera House, to name just a select few. Their recordings include a Zarzuela DVD recorded live at the Salzburg Festival entitled Amor, Vida de Mi Vida (EuroArts), the Latin Grammy Award® winning recording of Albeniz’s Merlin (Decca), as well as the Grammy nominated recording of Bacalov’s Misa Tango (Deutsche Grammophon), and the DVD Spanish Night (EuroArts) with the Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Maestro Domingo. Ms. Martínez has also performed on international concert tours with star tenor Andrea Bocelli. Highlights of their collaboration include her appearance on the Emmy nominated PBS TV special and DVD American Dream: Andrea Bocelli’s Statue of Liberty Concert (WNET/Thirteen) with the New Jersey Symphony, as well as her participation in his star-studded performance in New York’s Central Park which was recorded live, entitled Concerto: One Night in Central Park (Verve). She performs the role of Nedda opposite Andrea Bocelli in the recording of Pagliacci (Decca), and portrays the title role in Manon Lescaut (Decca) recorded opposite Andrea Bocelli with Plácido Domingo conducting the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana.
During the 2019/20 season Ms. Martínez portrays the role of Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly with Opera National de Paris, Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Metropolitan Opera. She will be heard on the concert stage with the Houston Symphony for Composer-in-Residence Jimmy López’s Dreamers Oratorio. During the 2018/19 season she joined Esa-Pekka Salonen and London’s Philharmonia Orchestra for the world premiere of Dreamers, an oratorio co-commissioned by Cal Performances and Stanford Live. Written by composer Jimmy López of Peru and librettist Nilo Cruz of Cuba, Dreamers explores the immigrant experience in the United States. She returned to LA Opera as both Elisabetta in Don Carlo and Solea in El Gato Montes opposite Plácido Domingo in the title role, the Vienna Staatsoper on the 20th anniversary of her debut with them as Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly, and Houston Grand Opera as the title role in Florencia en el Amazonas. She joined the Puerto Rico Symphony for their 60th anniversary gala concert, shared the stage with Plácido Domingo on tour in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and with the San Francisco Opera and Houston Grand Opera for gala concert celebrations, and took part in a week-long residency at DePaul University in Chicago.
Learn more at AnaMariaMartinez.com.
Bogdan Volkov
Don Ottavio

Bogdan Volkov studied singing at the Gliere Kiev Institute of Music.
In 2013 he completed his vocal studies graduating at Tchaikovsky Kiev National Academy of Music. From 2013 to 2015, he was a member of the Young Artists Program of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. During this period, he made his role debuts as the Simpleton in Boris Godunov, as Mozart in Rimsky-Korsakov's Mozart and Salieri, as Kai in Banevich's The Story of Kai and Gerda and as Vladimir Igorevich in Prince Igor. In 2014 he debuted as Lykov in a new production of Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tsar’s Bride, conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky. With this role, he took part in the Bolshoi Theatre tours to Austria, Hong Kong Arts Festival and the Lincoln Center Festival. In 2015 he was awarded the first prize and audience prize at the Paris Opera Competition. That same year, he debuted as Lensky in Eugene Onegin, working with director Dmitry Tchernyakov in his production at the Bolshoi. Since January 2016 he has been a principal soloist of the Bolshoi.
In 2016 he was awarded the second prize at Plácido Domingo’s Operalia, the World Opera Competition in Guadalajara. In 2017 he took part in the production of Weinberg`s The Idiot, singing the title role of Prince Myshkin, and he later performed in Rimsky-Korsakov's The Snow Maiden at the Bolshoi Theatre. For his performance in this role, he was awarded the national opera award. He also took part in concerts of the Bolshoi Theatre tours to Switzerland and France.
In 2017 he sang Lensky at the Festival d’Aix-En-Provence and Savonlinna Opera Festival and he made his Glyndebourne Festival debut as Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte. In 2018 he made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Tybalt in Romeo et Juliette. His future engagements include Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni in Palm Beach, The Tale of Tsar Saltan in Brussels, Fenton in Falstaff at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich and Lensky in Eugene Onegin in Vienna.
Will Liverman
Leporello

Called “one of the most versatile singing artists performing today” (Bachtrack), baritone Will Liverman is quickly gaining a reputation for his compelling performances, while making significant debuts at opera houses across the world.
He is a recipient of a 2019 Richard Tucker Career Grant and Sphinx Medal of Excellence.
After a successful Metropolitan Opera debut as Malcolm Fleet in Nico Muhly’s Marnie, Mr. Liverman returned to the Met in the 2019/20 season as Horemhab in Akhnaten and Papageno in The Magic Flute. Original engagements during the COVID-19 shortened season also included Pantaloon in Love for Three Oranges with Opera Philadelphia, Silvio in Pagliacci with Opera Colorado and Portland Opera, Marcello in La Bohème with Seattle Opera, Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Detroit Symphony, and Bach's St. Matthew Passion with the Kalamazoo Symphony.
Recent engagements include appearances with Tulsa Opera as the Pilot in The Little Prince; with Opera Philadelphia, Santa Fe Opera, and Dallas Opera as Schaunard in La Bohème; and with Santa Fe Opera as the Foreman at the Mill in Jenůfa.
Will Liverman has performed the leading role of Figaro in The Barber of Seville with Seattle Opera, Virginia Opera, Kentucky Opera, Madison Opera and Utah Opera. He originated the role of Dizzy Gillespie in Charlie Parker’s Yardbird with Opera Philadelphia, in addition to performing the role with English National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Madison Opera, and at the Apollo Theater. Other recent highlights include the role of Tommy McIntyre in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production of Fellow Travelers for its Lyric Unlimited initiative; Papageno in The Magic Flute with Florentine Opera and Central City Opera; his role debut as Marcello in La Bohème with Portland Opera; his debut with Seattle Opera as Raimbaud in Le Comte Ory; Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia and Beaumarchais in The Ghosts of Versailles with Wolf Trap Opera; Andrew Hanley in the world premiere of Kevin Puts’ The Manchurian Candidate with Minnesota Opera; Sam in The Pirates of Penzance with Atlanta Opera; the Husband in Les mamelles de Tirésias with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago; the Protestant Minister in Menotti’s The Last Savage with Santa Fe Opera; and Mr. Noye in Noye’s Fludde as a guest artist at Wheaton College.
Expanding into the concert repertoire, he performed Porgy in a concert version of the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, and was a featured soloist in Brahms’ Requiem with the Las Vegas Philharmonic, in Handel’s Messiah with the Seattle Symphony, in Carmina Burana with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, in Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, in Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the South Dakota Symphony, and at the New York Festival of Song, in addition to returning to his alma mater Wheaton College as part of the Artist Concert Series together with tenor Lawrence Brownlee.
Mr. Liverman concluded his tenure at the prestigious Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2015. He previously was a Young Artist at the Glimmerglass Festival. He holds his Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School, and a Bachelor of Music degree from Wheaton College in Illinois.
Learn more at WillLiverman.com.
Janai Brugger
Zerlina

From: Darien, Illinois. LA Opera: Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro (2010, debut) with subsequent roles including Musetta in La Bohème (2012, 2016), Pamina in The Magic Flute (2013) and Servilia in The Clemency of Titus (2019). She is an alumna of the young artist program.
A 2012 winner of Operalia and of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, she recently performed Ilia in Idomeneo with Lyric Opera of Chicago and Clara in Porgy and Bess with the Metropolitan Opera, Dutch National Opera and Cincinnati Opera, where she also performed Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro.
Her Metropolitan Opera appearances have included Liu in Turandot, Helena in The Enchanted Island, Jemmy in William Tell, Pamina in The Magic Flute and Micaela in Carmen.
Her appearances for the 2020/21 season include Musetta in La Bohème with San Francisco Opera, Mimi in La Bohème with Washington National Opera, Anne Truelove in The Rake's Progress with Lyric Opera of Chicago, and a return to LA Opera as Zerlina in Don Giovanni.
Last season, Ms. Brugger returned to the Royal Opera House Covent Garden for revival performances of Pamina in The Magic Flute. She revived the role of Liù in Turandot at Lyric Opera of Chicago, and at Palm Beach Opera she added the role of Susanna to her repertoire, finishing the season at Dutch National Opera as Servillia.
Kihun Yoon
Masetto

From: Seoul, South Korea. LA Opera: 12 roles to date including Sharpless in Madama Butterfly (2016); Scarpia in Tosca (2017); Marcello in La Bohème (2019). He was a member of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program from 2013 to 2017.
Since the 2017/18 season, he has been an ensemble member of the Oldenburgisches Staatstheater. His appearances in Oldenburg for the 2018/19 season include Alberich in Siegfried, Mephistopheles in La Damnation de Faust, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor and the leading role of Joseph De Rocher in Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking. During the 2017/18 season, he appeared there in the title role of Rigoletto and as Miecznik in Roman Statkowski's Maria.
In 2014, he made his Los Angeles Philharmonic debut under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel, as a soloist in Beethoven's Choral Fantasy. In 2015, he performed several roles in the U.S. premiere of Unsuk Chin's Alice in Wonderland with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. That same year, he performed Figaro in Giovanni Paisiello's 1782 The Barber of Seville, under the baton of James Conlon with the USC Thornton School of Music Orchestra. In 2016, he was featured as Delirio in the U.S. premiere of Florian Gassmann's 1769 comedy L'Opera Seria at Wolf Trap Opera. In 2014, he made his role debut as Escamillo in Carmen with the Aspen Opera Theater.
Morris Robinson
Commendatore

From: Atlanta, Georgia. LA Opera: Sarastro in The Magic Flute (2009, debut); Fasolt in Das Rheingold (2009, 2010); Oroveso in Norma (2015); Osmin in The Abduction from the Seraglio (2017); Zaccaria in Nabucco (2017); Sparafucile in Rigoletto (2018); Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlo (2018); Parsi Rustomji in Satyagraha (2018). Upcoming: Ferrando in Il Trovatore, Hermann in Tannhauser, Ramfis in Aida.
Morris Robinson is considered one the most interesting and sought-after basses performing today.
He regularly appears at the Metropolitan Opera, where he is a graduate of the Lindemann Young Artist Program. He debuted there in a production of Fidelio and has since appeared as Sarastro in The Magic Flute (both in the original production and in the children’s English version), Ferrando in Il Trovatore, the King in Aida, and in roles in Nabucco, Tannhäuser, and the new productions of Les Troyens and Salome. He has also appeared at the San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Dallas Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Seattle Opera, LA Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Teatro alla Scala, Volksoper Wien, Opera Australia, and the Aix-en-Provence Festival. His many roles include the title role in Porgy and Bess, Sarastro in The Magic Flute, Osmin in The Abduction from the Seraglio, Ramfis in Aida, Zaccaria in Nabucco, Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlo, Timur in Turandot, the Bonze in Madama Butterfly, Padre Guardiano in La Forza del Destino, Ferrando in Il Trovatore, and Fasolt in Das Rheingold.
Also a prolific concert singer, Mr. Robinson’s recently made his debut with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in performances of the Mahler Symphony No. 8 with its music director, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyl. His many concert engagements have included appearances with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (where he was the 2015/16 Artist in Residence), San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, L’Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, Met Chamber Orchestra, Nashville Symphony Orchestra, São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, New England String Ensemble, and at the BBC Proms and the Ravinia, Mostly Mozart, Tanglewood, Cincinnati May, Verbier, and Aspen Music Festivals. He also appeared in Carnegie Hall as part of Jessye Norman’s HONOR! Festival. In recital he has been presented by Spivey Hall in Atlanta, the Savannah Music Festival, the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Mr. Robinson’s solo album, Going Home, was released on the Decca label. He also appears as Joe in the DVD of the San Francisco Opera production of Show Boat, and in the DVDs of the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Salome and the Aix-en-Provence Festival’s production of Mozart’s Zaide.
For the reduced 2020/21 season, Mr. Robinson returns to both the Michigan Opera Theater and the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Haggen in Twilight: Gods, an innovative production of Gotterdämmerung created by Yuval Sharon. He also sings Sparafucile in a special performance of Rigolettto produced by the Tulsa Opera. He is also a member of the Atlanta Opera’s Company Players for the 2020/21 season where he will appear in various concerts, recitals, and educations outreach events throughout the year.
An Atlanta native, Mr. Robinson is a graduate of The Citadel and received his musical training from the Boston University Opera Institute. He was recently named Artistic Advisor to the Cincinnati Opera.
To learn more, visit MorrisRobinson.com.
Creative Team
- Conductor
- James Conlon
- Director
- Kasper Holten
- Scenery
- Es Devlin
- Costumes
- Anja Vang Kragh
- Original Lighting
- Bruno Poet
- Video Design
- Luke Halls
- Chorus Director
- Grant Gershon
James Conlon
Conductor

James Conlon has been LA Opera's Richard Seaver Music Director since 2006.
Since his debut that year with La Traviata, he has conducted 61 different operas and 403 performances to date with the company. Most recently, he conducted the 2020 company premiere of The Anonymous Lover (L'Amant Anonyme) by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges.
One of today’s most versatile and respected conductors, he has cultivated a vast symphonic, operatic and choral repertoire. He has conducted virtually every major American and European symphony orchestra since his debut with the New York Philharmonic in 1974. He has conducted more than 270 performances at the Metropolitan Opera. Through worldwide touring, an extensive discography and videography, numerous essays and commentaries, frequent television appearances and guest speaking engagements, Mr. Conlon is one of classical music’s most recognized interpreters.
In 2016, he became Principal Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of the RAI in Torino. He previously was Music Director of the Ravinia Festival, summer home of the Chicago Symphony (2005-2015), Principal Conductor of the Paris National Opera (1995-2004), General Music Director of the City of Cologne (1989-2002), Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic (1983-91) and Music Director of the Cincinnati May Festival (1979-2016). He has won three Grammy Awards and was awarded France’s Légion d’Honneur.
Also in the U.S. this season, Mr. Conlon continues his commitment to working with young musicians, both at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach (with Pinchas Zukerman as soloist) and at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, where he conducts Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro.
Currently in his third season as Principal Conductor of the RAI National Symphony Orchestra, Mr. Conlon focuses on 20th-century Italian composers Giuseppe Martucci, Leone Sinigaglia, and Ottorino Respighi, as well as works by Mahler, Martinů, Mozart, Mussorgsky, Wagner, and Zemlinsky. In addition, he leads the Verdi Requiem, and The Creation by Haydn. Mr. Conlon’s symphonic repertoire this season also includes three Shostakovich symphonies with three different orchestras: No. 7 (“Leningrad”), marking a return to the Gürzenich Orchester in Cologne; No. 9 with RAI National Symphony Orchestra; and No. 12 (“The Year of 1917”) with the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Galicia.
Mr. Conlon focuses on the works of Verdi this season, and conducts over 35 performances of seven works in the span of twelve months, including his 500th performance of the great Italian composer’s music. In addition to conducting Verdi in Los Angeles and Vienna, Mr. Conlon returns to the Wiener Staatsoper, after making his debut with the opera house conducting Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina in 2015, to lead performances of Falstaff in June 2018 and January 2019, and Macbeth in May 2019. He also leads the Teatro Real (Madrid) premiere of the composer’s Giovanna d’Arco in concert (with Plácido Domingo) and the Messa da Requiem with the RAI National Symphony Orchestra.
Learn more at JamesConlon.com.
Kasper Holten
Director

Born in 1973, Kasper Holten is one of Scandinavia's most sought-after stage directors today and works all over the world.
He has directed more than 65 operas, plays, musicals and operettas. His productions have been staged in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Finland, Latvia, Germany, UK, Spain, Italy, France, Austria, Russia, Argentina, Australia, USA and Japan, including at world-class companies such as the Royal Opera Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin and Teatro alla Scala in Milan. In 2010 he directed his first feature film.
He was appointed artistic director of the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen at age 26, and successfully oversaw that company's move into a new grand opera house in Copenhagen. From 2011 to 2017, he was Director of Opera at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London.
He is chairman of the board of Danish Dance Theatre, member of the advisory board for the National Gallery for Denmark, and associate professor at Copenhagen Business School and is a sought-after motivational speaker. He has been vice president of Opera Europa for several years, and been on the Danish Arts Council for Music as well as the Danish Radio and TV Board.
Kasper Holten was knighted by HM Queen Margrethe II of Denmark who also presented him with the rare medal Ingenio et Arti for artistic achievements.
Learn more at Holten.com.
Es Devlin
Scenery

Es Devlin is an artist and stage designer, known for creating large-scale performative sculptures and environments that fuse music, language and light.
She has conceived touring stage sculptures for Beyonce, U2, Adele, The Weeknd and Kanye West as well as two decades of opera, drama and dance worldwide.
She made her Royal Opera House Covent Garden debut in 2005 creating designs for Glass’s Orphée in the Linbury Studio Theatre. She has since created designs for Salome and Les Troyens (sets) directed by David McVicar, Don Giovanni directed by Kasper Holten, and Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (sets) directed by John Fulljames, for The Royal Opera on the main stage, and Alastair Marriott’s Connectome and The Unknown Soldier for The Royal Ballet.
Es Devlin grew up in Sussex. She read English at Bristol University and studied at Central St Martins and on the Motley Theatre Design Course. She has designed for theater, opera, dance, pop and events, including the 2012 Olympics Closing Ceremony. Her many opera designs include Der Freischütz, Parsifal and The Cunning Little Vixen (Royal Danish Opera), Otello (Metropolitan Opera), Carmen and Lucrezia Borgia (English National Opera), Die tote Stadt (Finnish National Opera), Carmen (Bregenz Festival), I Puritani (Amsterdam), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hamburg), Béatrice et Bénédict and Elegy for Young Lovers (Theater an der Wien), Faust (Semperoper Dresden) and La Clemenza di Tito (Liceu, Barcelona).
Ms. Devlin’s dance work includes designs for the Russell Maliphant Company and Didi Veldman. In theater, she has worked for companies including the Royal Court, Royal Shakespeare Company (including the "Spanish Golden Age Season" and Hecuba), Complicite, the Barbican and the National Theatre. She has designed and staged pop concerts for groups and artists including Kanye West, Jay Z, Muse, Take That, Lady Gaga and the Pet Shop Boys. Her exhibition and installation work includes Fifth Lion (Trafalgar Square), The Singing Tree (V&A), Mirrormaze (Peckham) and Room 2022 (Miami Art Basel 2017). She has won many awards and was made an OBE in 2015.
Learn more at EsDevlin.com.
Anja Vang Kragh
Costumes

Anja Vang Kragh began her career in fashion design, working for John Galliano (Christian Dior) and Stella McCartney.
Since 2006 she has worked extensively on theater productions in her native Denmark, with credits including Cabaret, Tartuffe, Robin Hood and The Importance of Being Earnest (Royal Danish Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (State Theatre, Helsingborg), Romeo and Juliet (Aarhus Theatre), Creature (Husets Theatre) and 69 (Holbaek Theatre). Her other opera costume designs include Drot og Marsk and Der Freischütz for Royal Danish Opera, West Side Story for Malmö Opera, Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci for Norwegian National Opera, The Flying Dutchman for Finnish National Opera and Carmen for Bregenz Festival, all directed by Kasper Holten.
She made her Royal Opera House Covent Garden debut in 2014 with Don Giovanni (Royal Opera House main stage) and L’Ormindo (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Shakespeare’s Globe), both directed by Kasper Holten. She has since returned to create the costume designs for Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, also directed by Holten.
Other work includes costume designs for staged concerts of works by Mozart (Betty Nansen Theatre, Copenhagen, and Rogaland Theatre, Aarhus), Beethoven (Rogaland Theatre), The Beatles (Østre Gasværk Teatre) and The Beach Boys and Bob Dylan (Aarhus Theatre). Film work includes costume designs for Love is in the Air (2011, directed by Simon Staho). She has exhibited in exhibitions including MINDCRAFT 18 in Milan. She works for a number of international fashion magazines, and has taught at the National School of Design in Copenhagen. In 2011 she designed the porcelain series 'Flora' for Royal Copenhagen.
Bruno Poet
Original Lighting

From: Cornwall, England. LA Opera: The Two Foscari (2012, debut); Akhnaten (2016). Upcoming: Il Trovatore (2021).
His designs for leading opera houses include Rusalka (Sydney Opera House, Australian Green Room Award), The Marriage of Figaro, Carmen (English National Opera); Peter Pan (Welsh National Opera, Komische Oper Berlin); Mahagonny, Don Giovanni, Connectome, The Two Foscari, La Donna del Lago (Covent Garden); Carmen, Don Giovanni (Oslo); The Threepenny Opera, The Two Foscari, Béatrice et Bénédict (Theater an der Wien); Rinaldo (Chicago); I Puritani (Netherlands Opera, Grand Théâtre de Genève) and productions for Opera North and Garsington Opera. Theater work includes Frankenstein (Olivier and Knight of Illumination awards); Miss Saigon, From Here to Eternity (West End); and productions for the National Theatre, RSC, Old Vic, Royal Court and Barbican. He won a second Knight of Illumination Award for his design of Sigur Ros’ world tour and also designed their 2016 world tour.
His engagements for 2020 include Alcina with the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Aida for Houston Grand Opera and Uncle Vanya in London's West End.
Luke Halls
Video Design

British video designer Luke Halls has produced video designs and animations for a wide variety of music, theater and dance performances.
Opera work includes Don Giovanni (Royal Opera House Covent Garden), Otello (Metropolitan Opera) and Carmen (Bregenz Lake Stage). Theater work includes Ugly Lies The Bone (National Theatre), The Nether (Royal Court) as well as the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Closing Ceremonies.
He has worked prolifically for music artists, creating video designs and animation for tours by Adele, Beyoncé, Pet Shop Boys, U2 and Rihanna, among others.
Learn more at LukeHalls.com.
Grant Gershon
Chorus Director

From: Alhambra, California. LA Opera: Resident Conductor since 2012, he made his LAO conducting debut with La Traviata (2009). He has conducted 15 productions to date including, most recently, The Magic Flute in December 2019.
He has additionally conducted LA Opera performances of Handel's L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato and Lee Holdridge's Dulce Rosa, as well as Madama Butterfly, Carmen, Florencia en el Amazonas, Gianni Schicchi, Wonderful Town, The Tales of Hoffmann, Tosca, The Pearl Fishers and Satyagraha.
Grant Gershon is hailed for his adventurous and bold artistic leadership and for eliciting technically precise and expressive performances from musicians. He has conducted Rigoletto, Tosca, La Bohème, La Traviata, Carmen and Madama Butterfly at Wolf Trap Opera with the National Symphony Orchestra; John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary at the San Francisco Symphony and Ravinia Festival; Vivaldi’s Griselda at Santa Fe Opera; and many concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
The 2019/20 season marks his 19th season as the Kiki & David Gindler Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale. The Los Angeles Times has said the Master Chorale "has become the most exciting chorus in the country under Grant Gershon,” a reflection on both his programming and performances. During his tenure, he has led more than 200 Master Chorale performances at Walt Disney Concert Hall in programs encompassing choral music from the earliest writings and pillars of the repertoire through to contemporary compositions. He has led world premiere performances of major works by John Adams, Esa-Pekka Salonen, David Lang, Louis Andriessen, Christopher Rouse, Steve Reich, Morten Lauridsen, Ricky Ian Gordon, Gabriela Lena Frank, Shawn Kirchner, Ellen Reid, and Chinary Ung, among many others.
Gershon and Adams have an enduring friendship and professional relationship which began 27 years ago in Los Angeles when Gershon played keyboards in the pit for Nixon in China at LA Opera. Since then, Gershon has led the world premiere performances of Adams’ theater piece I Was Looking At The Ceiling And Then I Saw The Sky, premiered his two-piano piece Hallelujah Junction (with Gloria Cheng), and has conducted performances of Harmonium, The Gospel According to the Other Mary, El Niño, The Chairman Dances, and choruses from The Death of Klinghoffer. In New York, Gershon has appeared at Carnegie Hall and at the historic Trinity Wall Street, as well as on the Great Performers series at Lincoln Center and the Making Music series at Zankel Hall.
Other major appearances include performances at the Ravinia, Aspen, Edinburgh, Helsinki, Salzburg and Vienna Festivals, the South American premiere of Il Postino in Chile, and with the Baltimore Symphony and the Coro e Orchestra Del Teatro Regio Di Torino in Turin, Italy. He has worked closely with numerous conductors, including Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, James Conlon, Gustavo Dudamel, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Simon Rattle, and his mentor, Esa-Pekka Salonen. His discography includes two Grammy Award-nominated recordings: Sweeney Todd (New York Philharmonic Special Editions) and Ligeti’s Grand Macabre (Sony Classical); and six commercial CDs with the Master Chorale. He has also led the Master Chorale in performances for several major motion pictures soundtracks including Star Wars: The Last Jedi at the request of composer John Williams. Mr. Gershon was named Outstanding Alumnus of the Thornton School of Music in 2002 and received the USC Alumni Merit Award in 2017. He is a member of the Board of Councilors for the Thornton School and the Board of Directors of Chorus America.

Read the synopsis

Synopsis
Act One
Leporello, Don Giovanni’s disgruntled servant, stands guard while his masked master pursues Donna Anna indoors. Answering her cries for help, Anna’s father, the Commendatore, challenges Giovanni to a duel. The Don easily kills the old man and escapes, unrecognized, into the night. Anna and her fiancé Ottavio swear to avenge her father’s death.
Giovanni and Leporello encounter a mysterious beauty who turns out to be Donna Elvira, a noblewoman whom the libertine had previously seduced and abandoned. Giovanni makes a hasty getaway while Leporello distracts Elvira with a list of his master’s conquests.
Giovanni’s wandering eye settles next on the peasant girl Zerlina, so he tries to separate her from her betrothed, Masetto. Just as the Don persuades Zerlina to run away with him, Elvira intervenes and convinces her to resist. Donna Anna and Don Ottavio enter, asking Giovanni to help find her father's murderer. Elvira returns and tries with some success to arouse their suspicions against him. After he leaves, Anna remembers her attacker’s voice and realizes that Giovanni was her masked assailant. She passionately urges Ottavio to act on his vow of vengeance.
Still determined to have his way with Zerlina, Giovanni arranges a ball in honor of Zerlina and Masetto. Masetto berates her for her flirtation with the Don. She attempts to mollify him, but once Giovanni returns, Zerlina’s resolve grows weak. She is only able to resist because Masetto is near. Anna, Elvira and Ottavio have now joined forces against Giovanni, and arrive at the ball wearing masks; Leporello invites them to join the revelers. A call for help from Zerlina interrupts the party. The maskers rush to rescue her. Giovanni insists that it is Leporello who is guilty, but the others know better. They warn the Don that a storm of vengeance will soon rage around him, but Giovanni mockingly defies them.
Act Two
Fed up, Leporello threatens to quit. Giovanni refuses to give up womanizing, but bribes his servant to stay. Elvira’s maid is the target of the day, and Giovanni switches clothes with Leporello to serenade the maid. Masetto arrives with a band of peasants hoping to kill Giovanni. Still disguised as Leporello, the Don encourages the peasants to split up for their search. He takes Masetto aside; once the others are out of earshot, Giovanni beats Masetto and leaves.
Meanwhile, Leporello, still wearing Giovanni’s cloak and hat, tries to elude Elvira. Anna, Ottavio, Masetto and Zerlina block his exit and, thinking they've caught Giovanni, threaten to kill the reprobate. Leporello reveals himself, begs for mercy, and rushes away. Elvira expresses dismay over Giovanni’s actions.
Leporello rejoins his master in a graveyard dominated by a statue of the fallen Commendatore. As Giovanni boisterously describes his escapades, a voice from the statue interrupts and warns the scoundrel that his laughter will be silenced by morning. To Leporello’s horror, Giovanni laughs and orders his servant to invite the statue to dinner that evening.
Ottavio tries to discuss marriage with Anna, but she says she cannot think of it in her sorrow.
Don Giovanni is sitting down to dinner when Elvira storms in and begs him to return to her. Indifferent, Giovanni demands that she leave. She runs away at the moment that the statue of the Commendatore arrives, just as invited. When Giovanni refuses to repent for his misdeeds, the Commendatore drags him to hell. The others rush in, and Leporello tells them what has happened. The libertine has received his just punishment.
Production new to Los Angeles
Performed in Italian with English subtitles
A co-production of Houston Grand Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona) and the Israeli Opera
Running time approx: 3 hours, 15 minutes, with one intermission