LA Opera Reviews

I m not sure if my experience wasn t so great because I went to a matinee showing, and so maybe the crowd demographics were different than at an evening show, but the audience really ruined the experience for me. The other attendees were really rude during the entire show. The was a cacophony of loud shooshing, constant coughing (that the orchestra and singers were not able to drown out due to the acoustics not being what they should for an performance that did not use microphones), and also there were AT LEAST 15 cell phones that went off over the course of the 2 1/2 hour performance. Note to others in the audience: You loudly going SHHHHHH!!!!! any time someone is softly whispering (which should also not be happening) is like 1000 times more distracting than the whispering itself. My friend and I were also getting really dirty looks from a lot of people there. I m not sure what that s about other than the crowd was heavy in what seemed like an older, white, conservative demographic. The seats in the orchestra section were also very uncomfortable.
The performance was mostly cool. The music was beautiful, as was the lighting. I definitely would have liked to have seen grander sets and more elaborate costuming. I wasn t a big fan of the way they chose to modernize Orpheus and Eurydice. It didn t add anything to the story.
I can t say if I d ever give this opera house another chance. It would have to be a really special show to make up for the physical and emotional discomfort my friend and I experienced.

Lovely facility, garage parking, valet service but loved the convenience of using Lyft!!!

Beautiful place! Not a place for just jeans and a T-Shirt. They keep the place clean and organized. Love this building!!

So far every production I have seen has been fantastic.

We are lucky to have such a fine cultural institution in Los Angeles. They perform mostly traditional crowd pleasers but perform one or two innovative pieces each season.

The acoustics of the Opera House are not the best. Most people do dress up

Wonderful great saw,Eurydice was so great wonderful seats great ensemble

The architecture and interior design alone is stunning. Performances are spectacular.

Incredible architecture, and very well done theater inside. Certainly the nicest I've ever been to.

LOVE the LA opera! I have seen numerous productions by the LA opera and it is always a treat

Very very very rude man answered the ticket service phone call. Didn't want to answer any of my questions just kept referring me to the webpage. People call to find out to avoid the website I hate rude people ruined my experience.

I and my wife are very amateur opera and I very much enjoy going to LA Opera, the performances there are very high quality staff and the staff are very nice and the services we really like to spend there is a real experience we highly recommend.

I had positive experience at LA OPERA. Lovely Opera music... Unforgettable experience...

Great Productions great singers. Does it get any better than that?

La Boheme
Wonderful

This is the place to go if you want to watch opera in Los Angeles. Facilities are nice. At the matinee, the crowd seem to be more dressed down, relaxed.

It was such a wonderful experience to share with my granddaughter. We loved it!

I havent gone yet but it's like an hour away and if it was closer I might consider adding some stars.

Nice house, very clean, very nice director, free breakfast,
only the situation in the Bronx denies the last star.

The Eurydice performance made me feel uneasy and left impressions of anger while leaving. The music did not match the setting on stage and some duets were either a half step apart or in different keys between the singers. The stage in some sets weren't precise in the sense of direction among the opera. They included characters that added no plot development. The Orpheus double wasn't needed at all. An extra body with no purpose. One costume during a random parade was a male trojan chest plate but with a skirt? Also, the costume designs showed a better character development than the actual characters themselves. New ideas and music were presented in this opera, but not enjoyable. They only hindered the art, instead of encouraging new presentations. Not worth the copious amount of money I spent to see and enjoy the performance. Don't recommend.

RE: MADAME BUTTERFLY...
*MINUS 5 STARS.
STORY LINE STAGING, AND PINKERTON DISAPPOINTING. (WOULDN'T HAVE MISSED HIM IF HE WAS LEFT OUT! ) THIS PERFORMANCE WAS AN INSULT TO THOSE MANY AUTHORS WHOSE CREATIONS WERE CULMINATED BY PUCCINI. JAMES CONLON'S PREVIEW PRESENTATION AND HIS ORCHESTRA WAS THE ONLY PART OF THIS EVENT WORTH ANYTHING. IT WILL BE A STRETCH TO TAKE ANOTHER CHANCE ON LA OPERA.
*HAD TO GIVE IT ONE STAR IN ORDER TO POST

during constructions, access is really bad especially when the opera is finished, everyone jam into one stair and one elevator for the garage.

This is my happiest place on earth. Every season I get very excited to see what the maestro Placido Domingo will be putting on the program. He s really spent a lot of time and effort in improving the season, and his wife has added a lot with the new stage direction and design. You really can t say enough about the orchestra and oh my gosh, there are nights when the LA Opera Choral, is superior to the performers (Norma). I ve never had a bad evening there and I look forward to the 2019-2020 season.

My wife and I are very fond of Opera and we very much like the LA Opera performances there and very high quality staff and very nice services.
We strongly advise you to go and we spend a lot of time there.

Very good opera! Wonderful production. Good opera for kids and family. Very good theme!

Went to see Placido Domingo 50th at the LA Opera.
Very nice setting, great acoustics, competent staff, all led to great experience.
But we were hungry and there was very little to eat , and even fewer places to attempt a meal
Imagine going to a gala of a lifetime, and on the way home, being forced to stop at a 7 eleven to buy a cold sandwich!!

Parking is a nightmare, get there early to avoid driving underground a million miles then across the street to another subterranean parking structure because finding your way back is difficult. I was lost for about 30 minutes wandering the levels trying to retrace my path. Great opera tho.

Absolutely brilliant on all counts! Without question my favorite production by LA Opera EVER!!! Only tiny negative, one intermission at end of Act II isn't enough. Have pity on your audience and put a much needed (and what will, no doubt, be a much appreciated) intermission at the end of Act I, as well.

I saw Placido in the founders room! What a star. I really enjoyed his presence and singing all my life and to run shoulders with this idol was heaven. The production we saw was exquisite, with acrobatics and high tech set design. Great acting as well. That's LA influence, and the new relevance of inclusive, well produced Hollywood influenced stage performance, in the Dorothy Chandler. I'll be back often!!

Bernstein's Candide was amazing but that's what I expected from Bernstein. These guys did the old man proud.

Just go. Go see an opera. You will love it. And if they ever do the open house again, go on the tour! Their backstage area is fascinating.

Come to LA Opera. Join the Opera League and experience a whole new amazing world of magic

My first experience in the opera was here $ 140 a ticket in the first rows to see 'Hansel and Gretel', an absolute disappointment that Hansel was a woman !! The voices were mimicked. Very nice, on the other hand, Dad's voice. The bear gummy bears from the best bar I've ever tasted !!

Los Angeles Opera is in the top echelon of US opera houses. The space itself, the humungous Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, is not designed for opera and the acoustics are not the equal of the Met (or pretty much any of the older European opera houses), but it's the productions, the great design and direction, and the often stellar performers that you generally see/hear there that make it worth a visit. The recent El Gato Montes , a rarely-performed zarzuela, was powerfully staged and performed, with Placido Domingo as El Gato and he was ferocious in the role. The more traditional La Traviata I saw a few days later was beautifully staged, sung, and played, no weak link from the orchestra and chorus to the leads.

Opera is not my taste, but to be fair the venue is very nice. Easy access from the underground parking ($9) and some spots on site to grab a bite. The Dorthy Chandler is an elegant theater well staffed and comfortable seating. The only downside is trying to get out of the parking lot after a show. Be patient and prepared for entitled drivers whose time is surely more valuable than yours.

I recently went to watch The Magic Flute there and it was a lovely experience. I m glad we called in earlier in the day to ask about the door opening time, because we were informed there was going to be a seminar before the show. It was quite informative and gave us a great deal of insight and information on the opera we were about to watch. The opera house was also beautifully decorated for the holidays, which made the experience even more magical.

Magnificent production of Mozart's "The Clemency of Titus".It was Mozart's last Opera and is
rarely seen.'

Grand Avenue Arts has become the hub for all that is Artistic in Los Angeles. And the Heart of its hub is the Disney Hall and the LA Opera. If you come to Los Angeles it would be a crime not to come to one of the performances at this beautiful and iconic Concert Hall. If you live in Los Angeles and have not come here then you are not using one of the most amazing resources this city has to offer. Come, enjoy, and take in LA Opera.

About Don Carlo on Saturday, September 22
The singing was excellent, but the staging was almost a concert performance in costume - the great singers come, sing their pieces and walk off. Even the poor convicts had to disappear and the Flanders delegation were statists.
The three other Don Carlo performances I remember changed the scenery for each act, only returning to the tomb scene at the end. Is our LA Opera so poor that it cannot afford more imaginative stage settings ?
Algirdas Avizienis, Santa Monica

The LA Opera is one of my favorite places to come in Los Angeles, it s a really nice place with a lot of history. I enjoy seeing Placido Domingo as a conductor or performer; he has done a great job here. If you are interested in purchasing tickets I suggest that before a season starts you purchase your tickets at their website so that you can save some money.

We saw Light at the Piazza tonight at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion with Renee Fleming. My first time at the opera. I have mix feelings about what I saw. It felt like I was watching a junior high school production but with adult, professional singers. Maybe I went in with high expectations...Everything about it seemed so simple. And Renee didn t really sang all that much. Her co star Dove Cameron was great, but didn t make up for everything else. The whole thing felt contained. Is the Opera for heavens sake! I just wanted more drama and more singing. Seeing this tonight made all the bad musicals I ve seen in the past look wonderful. The real star tonight was the venue itself. Beautiful place!

Nice complex, but LA should invest in opera scene much more. The house needs some TLC for improvements . This is a huge metropolis with a beautiful complex for the Phil, but an older building for the productions.

Had lots of fun watching El Gato Montes with Placido Domingo. Fun atmosphere!

Excellent standard of performance. Theatre is really nice, with good access to food and bev. Parking is easy, and public transport is close. Balcony seating is really high and far - not like European Opera houses...take opera glasses if you are up there.

So many excellent operas available throughout the year with the fabulous Placido Domingo

It was a lot of fun! I am normally would not consider myself an opera person, but the rendition had humor mixed into it which was nice. The costumes and all of the props and scenery were amazing.

I will definitely be going back.

World class opera performances, many times with Placido Domingo appearing.

Very nice theater. The sound is great and seats are very comfortable. It s also quite easy to navigate.

Magical ....beautiful theater ... employees very helpful..parking lot was completely full..had to walk across the street

A world-class opera company presenting both classic operas, and premieres.

I'm not the biggest opera fan, but every time I've seen one at the LAO I've been not just impressed, but moved.

Eurydice, a new opera premiering in LA, was musically, visually and emotionally stunning.

Some of the finest singers and stagecraft you will see anywhere.

Tickets as low as $25 are available, and operas are big, so you can enjoy them even from the last row!

Outstanding state of the art performances. Conlon is brilliant. Don't miss the preperformance lectures.

We went for La Bella et la Bete. It was better than I expected. The decor was beautiful. There wasn't much leg room but the seats are stadium style so I had no problem seeing over people's heads, huge plus. I'm excited to return for a different performance.

Director of LA Opera, Placido Domingo, might be known for possessing one of the best voices on the planet, but... when you see live performance , you also will experience what a true gentleman he is. He treats all colleagues on the stage with such warmness and respect, and treats audience cusually as you were friends. Beautiful premises. Enjoy!

wonderful space, great performers, 10/10 would recommend

Seats felt more auditoriumish, a little too close together for my comfort.

The open house events are fun because you get to tour the backstage, the house, and learn how everything happens from planning to the actual performance. You can experience a medley of operas. You can manipulate the props and see up close the costumes used on the performances of the current season.

Waiters and staff are very friendly. The calamari also came with two fried sardines and two sauces. It was well cooked. I also had the carpaccio which was well prepared with parmesan cheese shavings, arugula and capers

I recently went to watch The Magic Flute there and it was a lovely experience. I m glad we called in earlier in the day to ask about the door opening time, because we were informed there was going to be a seminar before the show.

Staff are hideous, uncultured and uncivilized. How ironic for an opera house. Truly misfortunate for the rest of us opera lovers.

Wonderful production of Don Carlo. Loge seating a bit tight for me, but I am a big guy. Very nice bar on 2nd floor. Missed our traditional dinner at Kendall's due to sick friend. Otherwise a wonderful afternoon.

The venue is great. The shows...well...those vary and you can't hold them against the venue. But what they have set up to keep guests engaged preshow and the quality of the venue is excellent

LA Opera has a program called 30 Club." If you are 30 or under, you can get tickets for $30 or under. Amazing seats typically in the "Founder's Section" up on the balcony. The sets are always fantastic, with lots of moving parts. The performers are really amazing. There is a long screen above the stage that captions what the performers are singing, so regardless of what language it is in, you can understand what they are saying. I recently went and saw Eurydice, which is sung in English, but the captioning made it very easy to follow along. I do not listen to opera in my everyday life, but I really do appreciate coming to LA Opera, dressing up very nice, and enjoying the show. One of my favorite parts of LA Opera is the parking on-site. I typically do not like to go into downtown LA to see shows and concerts because parking can be a nightmare, but here, it is so easy.