Placido Domingo gives voice to Woody Allen opera

Placido Domingo will star in a return to Los Angeles of Woody Allen's first opera production, Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, the opera house said on Tuesday.

Allen first staged Gianni Schicchi at the Los Angeles Opera in 2008, adapting Puccini's work based on a side character in Dante's Inferno and transplanting the story to a more modern era with allusions to Italian cinema and a fast-paced comic style reminiscent of the director's films.

The British baritone Thomas Allen - no relation to the director - performed in the title role in 2008. Domingo will star in the latest staging of Gianni Schicchi at the Los Angeles Opera, which opens as the season debut on Sept 12.