LIVERMORE, CALIF. – The Tri-Valley’s own professional opera company, the Livermore Valley Opera, celebrating its 30th Anniversary season, will present Verdi’s operatic masterpiece Otello. Details and other special events are as follows:
Verdi’s Otello
- March 5, 2022; 7:30pm, Opening night
- March 6, 2022; 2pm
- March 12, 2022; 7:30pm
- March 13, 2022 2pm
- Opening Night Dinner at Uncle Yu’s at the Vineyard, 4:00pm. (Separate ticket purchase required.)
Verdi’s Otello is an ambitious production and the crowning work of a master composer at the peak of his creative powers. Verdi’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragic story of deceit, jealousy and rage is an opera that ranks among his most demanding, both vocally and dramatically.
“Otello is arguably Verdi’s greatest operatic achievement,” says Erie Mills, LVO’s Artistic Director. “It is an opera that involves a big chorus, which we wanted to showcase, and a dynamic cast. And, it's LVO's 30th Anniversary season, something that deserves to be celebrated with a big production.”
Rising tenor Limmie Pulliam will make his debut with Livermore Valley Opera in the title role of Otello. Known for his captivating stage presence and his “stentorian, yet beautiful,” sound, the Los Angeles Times lauded his debut with L.A. Opera as Manrico in Verdi's Il Trovatore for his "healthy, focused, ringing tenor."
Also debuting with LVO is Cuban-American soprano Elaine Alvarez as Desdemona, Otello’s wife, about whom Opera Now Magazine said, “Her imposing, dusky soprano speaks from the soul.” Returning to The Bankhead stage is bass-baritone Philip Skinner as Jago, Otello’s ensign, who in 2016 thrilled LVO audiences in the title role of Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman about which the San Francisco Chronicle said “Skinner brought robust vocal tone and tragic grandeur to the [Dutchman]."
Stage Director Candace Evans, known internationally for the clarity of her story telling and praised by Opera News for her “flawless sense of timing,” and hailed for her direction of LVO’s production of Eugene Onegin (2019), is sure to do justice to Verdi’s tour de force.
The performances will be expertly accompanied by a stellar onstage orchestra, conducted by LVO’s maestro, Music Director and Conductor Alexander Katsman.
Sung in Italian with English supertitles.
Special Events
Opening Night Dinner at Uncle’s Yu’s at the Vineyard, March 5
Opening Night Dinner event at Uncle Yu's at the Vineyard, conveniently located one-half block from the Bankhead Theater. Tickets are $95, and are available through Bankhead Theater box office. Opera performance tickets are a separate purchase.
The welcome reception with wine and appetizers begins at 4:00pm and dinner seating at 4:30 pm. The wine sponsor for the event is Longevity Wines, a family-owned, urban winery and certified minority-owned business based in the Livermore Valley wine region.
Pre-opera talk
Included in the ticket price is an engaging lecture before each performance at 6:30pm and 1:00pm, one hour prior to curtain time, presented by Liesl McPherrin, LVO's new Community Outreach Director.
Ticket Pricing
Adults $20-$95. Tickets can be purchased through the LVO website at www.LVOpera.com. Special ticket pricing: $20 for age 20 and younger; $40 for age 40-21.
Performance & Box Office Location:
Bankhead Theater
2400 First Street, Livermore, CA 94550
Bankhead Ticket Office: 925-373-6800
COVID-19 Policy: The Bankhead Theater requires patrons to be fully vaccinated, have proof ID, and wear masks while inside the theater. LVO and the Bankhead Theater want all patrons to be safe and have taken the following precautions: The Bankhead’s HVAC system exchanges the air in the theater 9.2 times each hour, providing fresh air in the theater every 6.5 minutes. The HVAC system is upgraded with high-quality MERV-13 filters, designed to trap very fine particles, potential allergens, bacteria, and particles that carry viruses.
Visit the LVO website at www.LVOpera.com for more information.
About the Professional Performers
Performer biographies are available on the LVOpera.com website, Season and Events page for Otello.
About Music Director and Conductor Alexander Katsman
Alexander Katsman is the Music Director of Livermore Valley Opera. As alumni of the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, Mr. Katsman received his M.M. from St. Petersburg Riemsky-Korsakov State Conservatory and his B.M. cum laude from Mussorgsky College of Music in St. Petersburg, Russia. Mr. Katsman serves on conducting faculties of Bay Area Summer Opera Theater Institute and Opera Academy of California. He is also on the coaching staff at the San Francisco Conservatory.
About LVO
Livermore Valley Opera was founded in 1992, and presents fully-staged operas at Livermore’s Bankhead Theater in the spring and fall. This gem of a theater features excellent lines of sight and acoustics, helping the opera to attract talented singers and stage directors for their performances.
LVO is a professional opera company and a 501(c) 3 non-profit charitable arts organization. For more information, visit LVOpera.com.
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