Florencia En El Amazonas Opens at LA Opera

Composer Daniel Catan's enchanting and romantic opera, Florencia en el Amazonas, directed by Francesca Zambello, returns to LA Opera tonight for the first of only six performances at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion through December 20. Inspired by the fiction of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the opera depicts a steamboat passage along the fabled Amazon that 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. Florencia en el Amazonas, which is sung in Spanish, features a cast that includes five native Spanish speakers: Chilean soprano Verónica Villarroel as the diva Florencia Grimaldi, along with Cuban-American soprano Lisette Oropesa, Argentinian-born baritone Jose Carbó, Spanish mezzo-soprano Nancy Fabiola Herrera and Mexican tenor Arturo Chacón-Cruz. The production is conducted by Grant Gershon, LA Opera's Resident Conductor, who conducted the world premiere of Daniel Catan's final completed opera, Il Postino, in Los Angeles in 2010. Francesca Zambello restages and updates a production she previously 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 (135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, 90012), by phone at 213.972.8001 or online at www.LAOpera.org. For disability access, call 213.972.0777 or email LAOpera@LAOpera.org. For more information about Florencia en el Amazonas, including full casting and ticketing information, please visit www.LAOpera.org/Florencia.

Underwriting support from the Jane and Peter Hemmings Production Fund, a gift from the Flora L. Thornton Trust. Original production supported by Edward E. and Alicia Garcia Clark, an Anonymous Donor, AT&T, and Drs. Dennis and Susan Carlyle. New co-production of LA Opera with Washington National Opera and San Francisco Opera.