It is a curious thing, the Los Angeles Opera's February-March schedule.
Music director Kent Nagano is not only conducting both Puccini's "Madama
Butterfly" and Strauss' "Die Frau ohne Schatten," but he is doing so one
after another, on consecutive nights (and at matinees), like this: Feb.
21 (B), 22 (F), 24 (B), 25 (F), 26 (B), 27 (B), 28 (F), 29 (B)...

There is a more leisurely schedule for the rest of the long "Butterfly"
run, through March 14, but of the 21 performances scheduled for the two
operas, only one - the Feb.  15 matinee - is assigned to Laurent Pillot,
Nagano's assistant from Lyon Opera days.  On that day, Nagano will be
in Berlin, to conduct his Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester in a program of
Bach, Schoenberg ("Friede auf Erden"), Widmann ("Cantus Firmus"), and
Orff's "Carmina Burana." That's Sunday, already Monday in LA, and yet
on Wednesday, he'll be conducting "Butterfly" back in this time zone.

On March 7, Nagano is conducting a 2 p.m.  "Butterfly" matinee in LA,
and hosts an 8 p.m.  Berkeley Symphony "Under Construction" reading
session of new works by local composers - a mere 400 miles north of the
Music Center.  While Nagano is acting as an MC, his assistant here,
George Thomson, conducts new works by Kurt Rohde, Steven Clark, and
others.

Asked to confirm the schedule, the man who has been known to conduct on
consecutive nights in Berlin, Los Angeles and Berkeley said "yes," with
relish.  "It will be a long fixed residence in LA," Nagano added, "with
an extended rehearsal/performance period.

"They are both projects which are particularly important to me, allowing
the company to realize an important wish which I shared with Placido
Domingo since the beginning [of their partnership there three years ago].
We'll have Robert Wilson in LA for one his rare appearances in the US,
his first with the Opera [for "Butterfly"], and we'll realize a David
Hockney production ["Frau"]; I have been hoping to collaborate with him
for a long time."

The longer-than-usual reharsal period will begin Jan. 14, a full month
before the "Butterfly" premiere.  (But allowing Nagano to slip back to
Berlin for a Feb. 1 DSO concert of Bach and Brahms.)

Seven "Frau" and 13 "Butterfly" performances require only one stalwart
conductor, but there will be three sopranos - Veronica Villarroel, Angela
Maria Blasi, and Xiu Wei Sun - alternating as Cio-Cio-San.  John Matz
sings all but four Pinkertons, leaving Valter Borin the rest.  Suzuki's
role is shared by Susanna Poretsky and Margaret Thompson; Sharpless' is
by Alan Opie and Andrej Breus.  The 1993 Paris production by Wilson uses
Stephanie Engeln's sets and Frida Parmeggiani's costumes.

For "Frau" performances, there is a single cast, with Inga Nielsen as
the Empress, Robert Dean Smith the Emperor, Linda Watson the Dyer's Wife,
Doris Soffel the Nurse, and Wolfgang Brendel as Barak.  The Hockney-John
Cox production originally premiered in Covent Garden, in 1992.

Janos Gereben/SF
www.sfcv.org
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