LA Opera

Bizet's Carmen returns in a brand-new production drenched in Spanish Gothic splendor from director/designer Thaddeus Strassberger, as Domingo Hindoyan opens his inaugural season as Music Director with one of opera's most iconic scores. Carmen charms a soldier into abandoning his post; his jealousy turns fatal once she moves on to the bullfighter Escamillo.

Bernstein's satirical score follows the eternal optimist Candide through romantic disaster, natural catastrophe, and the Spanish Inquisition, anchored by songs like "Glitter and Be Gay" and "Make Our Garden Grow." Francesca Zambello directs Duke Kim and Deanna Breiwick, with Patti LuPone returning as the scene-stealing Old Lady.

King Nebuchadnezzar's war on Jerusalem collapses into betrayal and divine wrath when his adopted daughter Abigaille seizes his crown, in the opera that first made Verdi a household name. New Music Director Domingo Hindoyan conducts baritone Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar's U.S. debut opposite Angela Meade, in Thaddeus Strassberger's opulent staging of Babylon reimagined as gilded 19th-century Milan.

Princess Turandot sends failed suitors to the executioner until Calaf risks his life on three impossible riddles, in Puccini's grandest score, capped by "Nessun Dorma." David Hockney's maximalist sets return under conductor Diego Matheuz, with Ewa Płonka's acclaimed ice princess opposite Arsen Soghomonyan.

Figaro's wedding day derails when his bride Susanna exposes Count Almaviva's wandering eye, unleashing a day of disguises, secret notes, and sweet revenge in Mozart's comic masterpiece. Filmmaker James Gray directs a lavish period staging with Christian Lacroix costumes, conducted by Conductor Laureate James Conlon.