Live video broadcast brings a new tenor to ‘La Traviata’

In a dark trailer filled with monitors and blinking lights, a crew of nearly 20 technicians has its attention fixed on a performance of Verdi’s “La Traviata” unfolding on eight separate screens.

The live video feeds are coming from eight cameras inside the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, where operators are constantly adjusting framing and focus to capture the action on stage.

Director Matthew Diamond calls out shots to the camera operators via headset from the trailer just outside the hall, punctuating each cut with a snap of his fingers.

“We’re on Shot 67. Now 68,” he says, consulting his script of shots. He also has an eye on the score of “La Traviata,” with an assistant conductor sitting to his right, guiding him through the music.

On his left, an assistant director is preparing camera operators for shots to come.

“He’ll cross down right to center,” Diamond says into his headset, referring to a singer onstage. “Then he’ll lift his left arm with a glass.”

He then interjects: “OK, people, we need to watch our framing!”

Producing live opera requires coordination among teams working at breakneck speed, but capturing all that commotion on camera and broadcasting it digitally have developed into an art form of its own.

The ordered chaos of the control room has become an increasingly common presence at major opera houses seeking to broaden their reach on digital platforms.

On Wednesday evening, Los Angeles Opera will present its first live digital simulcast with a free outdoor screening of “La Traviata” at the Santa Monica Pier. The company has presented digital broadcasts to cinemas and outdoor venues before, but they have all been pre-taped.

Although larger companies, such as the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Royal Opera in London, have already established live HD programming, L.A. Opera — whose audiences tend to be local — has taken a more conservative and targeted approach.

“I want to proceed cautiously. I don’t want to allocate resources to it that would take away from the main event,” said Christopher Koelsch, president and chief executive of L.A. Opera.

He said that the opera is looking for partners for its digital initiatives and that such projects need to break even “or close to it.”

With “La Traviata,” the company is launching a new series of biannual live screenings intended to expand its footprint beyond downtown L.A.

Funding for the project is coming largely from the county, with Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky spearheading the series.

A spokesman for Yaroslavsky’s office said the county was giving L.A. Opera about $250,000 annually, plus $169,000 for start-up costs, for the digital project.

Putting together a live simulcast is a time-consuming endeavor that requires weeks of preparation. On Saturday, the crew went through a dry run of the opera — a kind of technical dress rehearsal.

Diamond said in a separate interview that he was cutting together the footage from Saturday into a DVD that he would show L.A. Opera leaders in advance of the live screening Wednesday. He will then use their feedback to fine-tune his shooting script.

The director, a veteran of live TV who has directed a number of Metropolitan Opera broadcasts, said his job is to translate what’s onstage into a compelling show for the screen without losing the energy of live performance.

“There’s nothing improvised about it,” he said. “Everything is worked out in advance.”

Each scene is broken down into camera shots, with music cues and specific blocking. To avoid obstructing views, cameras are located to the sides and back of the hall, as well as in the founder’s circle level and in the orchestra pit. A scene in Act 2 featuring an emotional showdown between the romantic protagonists Violetta and Alfredo will begin in wide shot and then switch to a series of progressively tighter shots to convey the intensity of the scene.

After Alfredo hurls a handful of money in the air in a fit of rage, the shot goes wider to reveal the entire cast.

The live video transmission will be beamed from downtown to Santa Monica Pier via satellite. English subtitles will be added from the same feed used to project the titles in the Chandler.

Plácido Domingo, the company’s general director, has a supporting role in “La Traviata” and has figured prominently in the company’s past digital screenings. The singer, 73, was the subject of a 40th-anniversary gala concert that was broadcast to cinemas in 2008. He also starred in “Il Postino,” which had outdoor HD screenings in downtown L.A. and Costa Mesa in 2010. It was later broadcast on PBS and released on DVD.

L.A. Opera is live-streaming its pre-performance lectures, which are hosted by music director James Conlon and other opera scholars. The company is also exploring digital avenues for its audio library of recorded operas.

Koelsch, the opera’s president, said the company records many of its productions live and is in the “early to mid-planning phase” of releasing a number of those recordings.

Producing live video simulcasts can be challenging. The L.A. Philharmonic launched live cinema broadcasts in 2011 but ended the series just two seasons later. At the time, the orchestra said it wasn’t able to garner the sponsorship required to continue the project.

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‘Opera at the Beach’

What: Los Angeles Opera’s “La Traviata,” broadcast live from Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

Where: Santa Monica Pier

When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday (opens for picnicking at 5:30 p.m.)

Tickets: Admission is free, but tickets are required, available at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion box office or at the pier Wednesday night

Info: (213) 972-8001, https://www.laopera.org/operaatthebeach (live streaming on this page)