NYC Opera presents Jonathan Miller’s production of “La traviata” at BAM in February
New York City Opera – in the company’s first performances in its Brooklyn Academy of Music residency – presents a production by acclaimed director Jonathan Miller of Verdi’s always-popular La traviata, February 12-18 at BAM’s Howard Gilman Opera House. Miller’s take on Verdi’s tragic masterpiece has already been lauded at Glimmerglass Opera and Vancouver Opera, with Opera News judging his work “a sublimely memorable experience…inviting both singer and audience to experience the power of words and music more directly.” The cast includes soprano Laquita Mitchell – a Brooklyn native hailed for her “powerful” voice by the New York Times – as Verdi’s fascinating titular heroine.
The ever-penetrating work of Jonathan Miller returns to BAM after his contemporary 2009 staging of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, which the New York Times found fresh and “disarming.” Miller’s take on Verdi’s opera of love and life – both lost and found – focuses on the psychological drama between the characters, powerfully conveyed with stark realism. Of his characteristic approach to La traviata, Miller told the Vancouver Sun that he has “a simple formula… It’s nothing more really than reminding singers of what they know already and have forgotten, a re-directing of their attention to Chekhovian detail – the little, negligible actions which are made considerable.”
The cast for New York City Opera’s La traviata features soprano Laquita Mitchell in her role debut as Violetta, the doomed courtesan who fights for love even as she battles tuberculosis. The young native of New York City was a grand prize winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2004 and is an alumna of the Houston Grand Opera Studio. She has sung Puccini under Plácido Domingo at Los Angeles Opera and starred as Bess in San Francisco Opera’s Porgy and Bess in 2009, with Opera News reporting that she “dazzled the audience with her purity of tone and vivid theatrical presence.” The cast also includes Canadian tenor David Pomeroy, making his City Opera debut as Alfredo, Violetta’s love. Also making her company debut is director/choreographer Elena Araoz. The sets and costumes are by Isabella Bywater, with lighting design by Robert Wierzel.
Tickets for La traviata and other productions in New York City Opera’s 2011-2012 season can be purchased by phone at (212) 870-5600 or online at www.nycopera.com
La traviata
February 12, 1:30 p.m.
February 14, 7:30 p.m.
February 16, 7: 30 p.m.
February 18, 7:30 p.m.
Howard Gilman Opera House at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, New York
www.BAM.org
Running Time: 2 hours, 43 minutes. Performed in Italian with English supertitles.
Sponsors and Supporters
New York City Opera’s production of La traviata at the Brooklyn Academy of Music is made possible with the generous support of Charles R. Wall. Leadership support is provided by John and Penelope Biggs.
$25 tickets to La traviata on Sunday, February 12, 2012 are made available thanks to the generosity of The Reed Foundation. $25 tickets to La traviata on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 are made available thanks to the generosity of Charles R. Wall.
New York City Opera gratefully acknowledges Emilie Roy Corey, Michael and Mary Gellert, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, Charles R. Wall, and several anonymous donors for their leadership support of our 2012 Season. The 2012 Season is also made possible, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts. Special thanks to American Airlines, the Official Airline of New York City Opera.
NYCO subscriptions and tickets
Subscriptions and single tickets for New York City Opera’s 2011-2012 season can be purchased by phone at (212) 870-5600 or online at www.nycopera.com.