Program Features Two Nights of French and Italian Operatic Favorites
Led by Emmanuel Villaume

TUESDAY, JULY 29 AND THURSDAY, JULY 31, AT 8 PM

United's Thursdays

World-renowned coloratura soprano Sumi Jo returns to the Hollywood Bowl stage in a program of French and Italian operatic favorites with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, led by Emmanuel Villaume, on Tuesday, July 29, at 8 pm and Thursday, July 31, at 8 pm. The concert includes Jo singing favorite arias by Charpentier, Delibes, Offenbach, Rossini and Verdi, surrounded by operatic orchestral selections performed by the Philharmonic. No one who saw last season's Los Angeles Opera production of Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann will soon forget Jo's show-stopping performance as the mechanical doll Olympia, whose breathtaking high-wire act of an aria is just one of the numbers on what promises to be a memorable program.

Called "a voice from above" by the great 20th-century conductor Herbert von Karajan, the Korean coloratura soprano made her debut in Italy in 1986 as Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto. Since then, her international career and extensive repertory, which runs the gamut from opera, oratorio, operetta, and orchestral music, have been captured on 48 recordings, including 10 solo albums. Jo's credits include debut and return performances on major stages throughout Europe and the United States, including Le Comte Ory and Fra Diavolo at La Scala, The Magic Flute and Un ballo in maschera at the Salzburg Festival, and The Magic Flute at the Vienna State Opera and the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Born in Seoul, South Korea, in 1962, SUMI JO withdrew from Seoul National University in 1983 to study in Italy. She attended the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome and graduated after three years of study in keyboard and vocal music. She soon came to the attention of Herbert von Karajan, for whom she sang the role of Oscar in Un ballo in maschera, as a result of an audition in 1988. Since then, she has performed many great coloratura roles such as Queen of the Night, Lucia, Zerbinetta, Fiorilla, and Amina at the world's major opera houses, under conductors such as Sir Georg Solti, Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, and Richard Bonynge. Sumi Jo last performed at the Hollywood Bowl in 2000.

Conductor EMMANUEL VILLAUME is the Music Director of the Spoleto Festival in South Carolina and has appeared at many of the world's major opera houses while maintaining an active symphony schedule. Villaume began his musical studies at the Strasbourg Conservatory and continued his education in Paris where he received degrees in literature, philosophy and musicology. At the age of 21, he was appointed Dramaturg of the Opera du Rhin and during his tenure there, came to the attention of Spiros Argiris, Music Director of the Spoleto Festival in Italy. He has appeared with the Montreal Opera, Sarasota Opera, and Bonn Opera and has led the orchestras of the Bastille Opera, Monte Carlo Philharmonic, Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, Teatro alla Scala, and La Fenice. Villaume last appeared at the Hollywood Bowl in 2001.

One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of just under 18,000, the HOLLYWOOD BOWL has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since its official opening in 1922, and, in 1991 gave its name to The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, a resident ensemble that has filled a special niche in the musical life of Southern California. A hit from its very first season, the Hollywood Bowl has remained popular and accessible to a wide cross-section of Southern California's diverse population. To this day, $1 buys a seat at the top of the Bowl for many of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's concerts. While the Bowl is best known for its sizzling summer nights, during the day California's youngest patrons enjoy "SummerSounds: Music for Kids at the Hollywood Bowl," the Southland's most popular summer arts festival for children, now in its 35th season. Attendance figures over the past several decades have soared: in 1980 the Bowl first topped the half-million mark and last summer, close to one million admissions were recorded. It is no wonder that the Bowl's summer music festivals have become as much a part of a Southern California summer as beaches and barbecues, the Dodgers and Disneyland.

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

Tuesday, July 29, 8:00 PM

Thursday, July 31, 8:00 PM

HOLLYWOOD BOWL (2301 N. Highland Ave. in Hollywood)

An Evening With Sumi Jo

LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC

EMMANUEL VILLAUME, CONDUCTOR

SUMI JO, SOPRANO

SAINT-SAËNS: Bacchanale from Samson and Dalila

CHARPENTIER: Prelude to Act III from Louise

CHARPENTIER: "Depuis le jour" from Louise (with Ms. Jo)

DELIBES: Bell Song from Lakmé (with Ms. Jo)

OFFENBACH: Barcarolle from The Tales of Hoffmann

OFFENBACH: "Les ouiseaux dans la charmille" from The Tales of Hoffmann (with Ms. Jo)

BERLIOZ: Hungarian March from The Damnation of Faust

ROSSINI: Overture to The Barber of Seville

ROSSINI: "Una voce poco fa" from The Barber of Seville (with Ms. Jo)

VERDI: Overture to La forza del destino

VERDI: "Sul fil d'un soffio etesio" from Falstaff (with Ms. Jo)

VERDI: "È strano… Ah fors'è lui… Sempre libera" from La traviata (with Ms. Jo)

United's Thursdays

Tickets ($1 - $77) are on sale now at the Hollywood Bowl box office, by calling Ticketmaster at 213.480.3232, at all Ticketmaster outlets (Robinsons May, Tower Records and Ritmo Latino locations), or online at hollywoodbowl.com. Groups of 12 or more may be eligible for a 20% discount, subject to availability; call 323.850.2050 for further details. For general information or to request a brochure, call 323.850.2000.

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