This exciting company premiere marks the first time La Sonnambula has been presented in Detroit in the 37-year history of Michigan Opera Theatre. The 2008 spring season at Michigan Opera Theatre is sponsored by the Chrysler Foundation.

"We are excited to bring a Bellini masterpiece to Detroit audiences for the first time. It's such a thrill to be able to present this beautiful production with such an illustrious production team that includes such well-known names in the opera world as Renata Scotto and Richard Bonynge," says Michigan Opera Theatre General Director David DiChiera.

La Sonnambula takes place during a time when innocence, feudal lords and superstition reign over the hearts and minds of townspeople at an inn in an 1830's Swiss Village. Amina, a sleepwalker mistaken for a ghost in her nocturnal wanderings, unwittingly enters the room of mysterious stranger, Count Rodolfo. When her fiancé Elvino finds his bride-to-be sleeping in The Count's room, he immediately claims infidelity and calls off the marriage. All ends well however, when the Count's hidden identity is exposed, the truth is awakened within Elvino, and the two lovers are safely reunited.

Michigan Opera Theatre's debut production of La Sonnambula features a production team of opera superstars. Bellini's mesmerizing score is brought to life by acclaimed Australian conductor Richard Bonygne, who returns to Michigan Opera Theatre for the first time since conducting Norma in 1989. Making her Michigan Opera Theatre debut is opera heavyweight Renata Scotto, one of the most renowned stage directors in the world, known for her highly successful career as a leading soprano.

The impressive cast of La Sonnambula includes two sopranos alternating in the role of Amina, including Russian soprano Ekaterina Siurina, making her Michigan Opera Theatre debut, and Cuban-American soprano Eglise Gutierrez, who made her MOT debut as Liu in Turandot in the spring 2007 season. Charles Castronovo, who made his company debut as Rodolfo in La Bohéme in 2005, alternates the role of Elvino with Andrea Cesare Coronella, an Italian tenor making his U.S. opera debut. Andrew Gangestad, a Korean-American bass who made his Michigan Opera Theatre debut in the 2006 production of Cinderella, will alternate in the role of the mysterious Rodolfo with returning Polish bass Daniel Borowski. -- www.motopera.org