L.A. OPERA NEWCOMER AIMS TO CONDUCT BUSINESS AS UNUSUAL.Byline: David Mermelstein Correspondent As the Los Angeles Opera The Los Angeles Opera is an opera company in Los Angeles, California, United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center. opens its 21st season this weekend, it also welcomes James Conlon James Conlon (born Queens, New York 1950),[1] is an American conductor. Early years Conlon grew up in a family of five children. His mother, Angeline L. Conlon, was a freelance writer. to the podium as the company's second music director. He follows Kent Nagano
A native New Yorker, Conlon, 56, comes to L.A. by way of Europe, where for more than 20 years he held senior conducting jobs, primarily in Cologne and Paris. In America, Conlon has led Cincinnati's annual May Festival since 1979. He has been music director of the Ravinia Festival, the summer home of the Chicago Symphony, since 2005. Last year, he led the premiere of Tobias Picker's ``An American Tragedy'' at the Metropolitan Opera in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . Conlon opens the season in L.A. with two operas by Verdi: ``La Traviata La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It takes as its basis the novel La dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils, published in 1848. ,'' featuring soprano Renee Fleming and tenor Rolando Villazon, and ``Don Carlo,'' with a cast that includes tenor Salvatore Licitra Salvatore Licitra (born 1968) is an Italian tenor. Early life and debuts Born in Bern, Switzerland, to Sicilian parents, Licitra grew up in Milan. He fell into opera by accident. and mezzo-soprano mezzo-soprano: see soprano. Dolora Zajick Dolora Zajick, born 24 March 1952 in Salem, Oregon, is an American mezzo-soprano who specialises in the Verdian repertoire. Oregon born but Nevada raised, Zajick studied voice with Ted Puffer. . The ``Don Carlo'' is a new production directed by Ian Judge. The ``Traviata'' uses Marta Domingo's old staging (just replaced at the end of last season with her new production) and is being filmed by Decca for release on DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. . Later this season, Conlon conducts a new production of Kurt Weill's ``The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny'' and Wagner's ``Tannhauser.'' Conlon, whose contract with L.A. Opera runs for three seasons, spoke with the Daily News about his past achievements, hopes for the present and future plans. Following are excerpts from that conversation. Q: How did you become music director at L.A. Opera? A: Through Placido Placido may refer to any of the following: People Placido is a traditional Spaniard clan name (see Clan Placido) and it is now a common given name and a less common surname. It is also a fairly common surname in Southern Italy. Domingo's invitation. He called me out of the blue. I was in Paris, and I told him I was just getting rid of two enormous jobs. I was leaving Paris and had recently left Cologne. I was looking to reduce my workload, but his enthusiasm was so infectious, it was hard to resist. When he talked about all the possibilities and innovations he had in mind, I began to get enthusiastic, too, and one thing led to another. Q: What attracted you to the job? A: I'm a fish in water in the theater; I love it. I've spent my life splitting my time between opera and symphonies. You can actually have a very satisfying life conducting symphonies without having your own orchestra, because you can pick the projects you want. But I have learned that you can't really wrap your hands around operas unless you're music director. As a guest conductor, you don't have the impact you do as music director. So when Placido called, and we talked about what my dreams and goals were, and he said yes to everything, well, then there was nothing to say no to. Q: You've been closely associated lately with music squelched squelch v. squelched, squelch·ing, squelch·es v.tr. 1. To crush by or as if by trampling; squash. 2. by the Holocaust. Can audiences expect to see that interest manifested in future programming at L.A. Opera? A: Over the past dozen years or so, I've been identified with what in German is called Entartete Musik (literally, degenerate music Degenerate music (German: Entartete Musik) was a label applied in the 1930s by the Nazi government in Germany to certain forms of music that it considered to be harmful or decadent. ), but Mozart, Verdi and Wagner have been lifelong passions. Nobody talks about loving Beethoven, but if you love something different, that makes news. What you're going to see from me is what any music director must do, which is protect the musical values of the core repertory that has made opera a great art form. Yet audiences' ears should be constantly open to things they've never heard. So you can expect a lot of Wagner and Italian repertory balanced with what I hope will be a very significant presence of works that we should know but don't because of the Nazis. I guess the short answer is that you can expect to see some of this, and when you do, it will be right up there beside Wagner, Mozart and Puccini, which is where it belongs. Q: For over 20 years, you enjoyed a very successful career in Europe. What made you return to America? A: I came back for a combination of personal and professional reasons, mostly personal. My wife and I love Europe, and we could have spent the rest of our lives there. But we wanted our two girls to get an American education, so we'll be here at least another 10 years. Also, I wanted to give something back to where I came from. I am very enthusiastic about American musical life, but I'm also concerned with the future. If I have one goal, it's to put all the energy I have into reaching more people. The greatest paradox in American classical music American classical music is music written in the United States but in the European classical music tradition. In many cases, beginning in the 18th century, it has been influenced by American folk music styles; and from the 20th century to the present day it has often been today is that we produce more great musicians than any other country and, at the same time, every arts institution I know is fighting to keep its audience or make it grow. Europe is beginning to face the same challenges, but it's quite different -- and besides which, I was not born there. I was born here. LA TRAVIATA Where: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is one of the halls in the Los Angeles Music Center (which is one of the three largest performing arts centers in the United States). The Music Center's other halls include the Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theatre, and Walt Disney Concert Hall. , 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A. When: 6 p.m. Saturday; 7:30 p.m. Tuesday; 2 p.m. Sept 17. Tickets: $50 to $350. (213) 972-8001. DON CARLO Where: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A. When: 4 p.m. Sunday; 7 p.m. Wednesday; 2 p.m. Sept. 16; 7 p.m. Sept. 20; 7 p.m. Sept. 24; 7 p.m. Sept. 28; 12:30 p.m. Oct. 1. Tickets: $30-$220. (213) 972-8001. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: JAMES CONLON |
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