Los Angeles Opera has announced its 2026-27 season, which features five mainstage production, plus a starry lineup of recitals and special events.
The season will open October 17–November 7 with Georges Bizet's Carmen, starring mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb as the titular cigarette-factory-worker-turned-smuggler. She will be joined by tenor Joshua Guerrero as Don José, the soldier whom she leads into a life of crime. Rounding out the principal cast are soprano Kathleen O'Mara as Micaëla and bass-baritone Liam James Karai as Escamillo. Domingo Hindoyan will inaugurate his tenure as LA Opera's Music Director conducting the new production directed and designed by Thaddeus Strassberger.
Next up will be Leonard Bernstein's Candide (November 21—December 13), in a revival of a 2018 production directed by Francesca Zambello. Tenor Duke Kim will star as Candide opposite soprano Deanna Breiwick as Cunegonde. Broadway legend Patti LuPone will also feature as the Old Lady, a role which she previously played in a concert performance with the New York Philharmonic in 2004. LuPone is no stranger to the LA Opera, where she has performed numerous concerts and recitals, and also played Samira in a 2015 production of The Ghosts of Versailles. Candide will be conducted by Resident Conductor Lina González-Granados
In the new year, the company will present Verdi's Nabucco (February 27–March 21, 2027), conducted by Hindoyan. Telling the story of the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem and the subsequent Babylonian captivity, Nabucco was a breakout hit for the young Giuseppe Verdi, and the chorus "Va, pensiero" in the third act became something of an unofficial anthem for the Italian unification movement of the mid-19th century. Baritone Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar stars as Nabucco, the King of Babylon, with bass Stephano Park as the Jewish priest Zaccaria. Soprano Angela Meade will make her role debut as Abigaile, Nabucco's ambitious daughter who makes a move to seize the throne from her father.
Puccini's Turandot will be revived in April 17–May 9, 2027, in Garnett Bruce's production with designs by David Hockney, which had its LA Opera premiere in 2024. Soprano Ewa Płonka will star as the titular Princess, who challenges all suitors for her hand to answer her three riddles, and face decapitation if they answer any incorrectly. Tenor Arsen Soghomonyan will play the mysterious Prince who takes up her challenge, with bass Peixin Chen as the prince's father Timur, and soprano Juliana Grigoryan as the servant Liù.
Closing out the season with a comedy, Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro will performed May 29–June 20, 2027, starring bass-baritone Michael Sumuel in his signature role as the wily barber Figaro. Soprano Sydney Mancasola plays the intended bride Susanna, with baritones Lucas Meachem and Jarrett Ott sharing the role of the Count who attempts to sabotage their union. Susanna and Figaro join forces with the Countess (soprano Erica Petrocelli) and the page boy Cherubino (mezzo-soprano Kayleigh Decker) to thwart the Count with various zany schemes, involving myriad disguises and mistaken identities. James Conlon, who assumes the title of Conductor Laureate, will conduct the production by James Gray, with sets by Santo Loquasto and costumes by Christian Lacroix.
The season will also include a series of Off Grand presentations, at different venues across the city. These will include a Halloween screening of Mario Bava's cult film Hercules in the Haunted World, with live accompaniment by the LA Opera Orchestra and singers; Baroque ensemble Les Talens Lyriques in a concert of music by Monteverdi, Cavalli, and Falconieri; and the world premiere of Paola Prestini's The Old Man and the Sea, presented in collaboration with Beth Morrison Projects. Additionally, recitals will be given by mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, soprano Erin Morley, tenor Lawrence Brownlee, and soprano Sondra Radvanovsky.
For more information, visit LAOpera.org.
