Massimo Giordano (Alfredo) and Marina Poplavskaya (Violetta)/photo by Robert Millard
LA Opera closes the season with one of the most-performed and best-loved operas, “La Traviata.” This Verdi classic based on an Alexandre Dumas novel tells the tragic story of a Parisian courtesan (Violetta, played by Marina Poplavskaya and Elizabeth Futral) and the true love she is forced to give up (Alfredo, played by Massimo Giordano and Alexey Dolgov). Grant Gershon, music director of the LA Master Chorale, gets his conducting debut; and Marta Domingo directs. (For fun before you go, rent Franco Zeffirelli’s 1983 film starring none other than LA Opera’s own Placido Domingo as Alfredo.) Performances continue through June 21.
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., LA 90012, (213) 972-8001, www.laopera.com