Celebrating a milestone season...

LA OPERA OPENS 25th ANNIVERSARY SEASON WITH WORLD PREMIERE OF DANIEL CATAN'S IL POSTINO

New Work Commissioned by LA Opera is Based on Novel and Film

Placido Domingo stars as the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda; Charles Castronovo sings title role

LA Opera's 2010/11 25th Anniversary Season begins with the world premiere of Il Postino, an eagerly anticipated new opera by composer and librettist Daniel Catán, opening at 6pm on Thursday, September 23, 2010.

"I am very excited to participate in the world premiere of an opera by one of today's most important composers," said tenor Plácido Domingo, LA Opera's Eli and Edythe Broad General Director, who will sing the leading role of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. "Daniel Catán's operas have been very popular throughout the United States and elsewhere, and his Florencia en el Amazonas was a great success at LA Opera in 1997. For several years, he and I had wanted to collaborate on a new work. When he told me that he was working on an operatic adaptation of Il Postino, I immediately felt that Pablo Neruda was a role that I very much wanted to bring to life."

Based on the Academy Award-winning 1994 Italian film of the same name that became a surprise hit with audiences around the world and also on the 1985 novel Ardiente Paciencia by Antonio Skármeta, Il Postino tells the story of a shy young postman in a tiny Italian fishing village, who discovers the courage to pursue his dreams through his daily deliveries to his only customer, a famous poet.

In addition to Mr. Domingo, the leading roles will be performed by tenor Charles Castronovo in the titular role of Mario Ruoppolo and soprano Amanda Squitieri as the beautiful café waitress Beatrice Russo, the object of Mario's romantic ardor. Other performers include soprano Cristina Gallardo- Domâs as the poet’s wife Matilde Neruda, baritone Vladimir Chernov as the postmaster Giorgio and mezzo-soprano Nancy Fabiola Herrera as Donna Rosa, Beatrice’s aunt. Grant Gershon, LA Opera’s Chorus Master and Associate Conductor, will conduct this new production directed by Ron Daniels, with scenery and costumes designed by Riccardo Hernandez, projections designed by Philip Bussmann and lighting designed by Jennifer Tipton. The choreographer is David Bridel. The opera, which will be sung in Spanish, will run for a total of six performances from September 23 through October 16, 2010.

Born in Mexico City in 1949 and currently residing in Los Angeles, Daniel Catán is one of the foremost composers in contemporary opera. In 1994, San Diego Opera premiered his first opera La Hija de Rappacini (Rappaccini’s Daughter), written in collaboration with librettist Juan Tovar. The success of La Hija de Rappacini led to his next opera, Florencia en el Amazonas, loosely based on the novel Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Marquez. Since its 1996 premiere, Florencia en el Amazonas has been performed by a number of major American opera companies including LA Opera, where it was produced in 1997, and it received its European premiere in 2006 in Heidelberg, Germany. Both Seattle Opera and Houston Grand Opera have presented and revived Florencia en el Amazonas, a rare achievement in contemporary opera. In celebration of its 50th anniversary, the Houston Grand Opera commissioned Catán’s third opera Salsipuedes, which had its premiere in 2004. For his fourth opera, Il Postino, the composer was inspired by a 1994 Italian film that became an international success. “I realized, from the very first time I saw the film, that it was a suitable theme for an opera,” said Mr. Catán. “It deals with Art and Love: the foundations upon which we build our lives. Love is what makes us human. Art is our most sophisticated tool for achieving that humanity. And opera is one of the most complete art forms ever imagined, for it includes music and poetry.” The film Il Postino, directed by Michael Radford, was nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture; the film's score, composed by Luis Enríquez Bacalov, won the Academy Award for Original Music Score. For his opera, for which he is both composer and librettist, Daniel Catán has drawn additional inspiration from Antonio Skármeta’s 1985 novel Ardiente Paciencia, upon which the film was based.

The design team for LA Opera’s world premiere of Il Postino includes some of today’s most celebrated artists. Scenery and costume designer Riccardo Hernandez, who made his Company debut with La Cenerentola in 2000, is known for his minimalist, suggestive design work, which garnered him a 1999 Tony Award nomination for his work on the musical Parade. His work in opera includes the world premieres of Appomattox by Philip Glass at San Francisco Opera and Amistad by Anthony Davis at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Projection designer Philip Bussmann is a German-born video artist who recently designed the video for the world premiere of Olga Neuwirth’s Lost Highway at English National Opera and the video, set and lights for Gotham Chamber Opera's production of Haydn’s Il Mondo della Luna at the Hayden Planetarium. Lighting designer Jennifer Tipton, who makes her LA Opera debut, is a two-time Tony Award winner (and a four-time nominee) as well as a MacArthur “Genius” Grant winner. Particularly known for her work in dance, she frequently designs for American Ballet Theater, winning an Olivier Award for her designs for ABT’s In the Upper Room. She recently designed lighting for George Balanchine's Jewels for the Royal Ballet, Trisha Brown's O Composite for the Paris Opera Ballet and Paul Taylor's Beloved Renegade for the Paul Taylor Dance Company.

Source: LA OPERA