PORTLAND — PORTopera’s 2013 production of La Bohème will bring together a worldly cast to portray one of the most widely recognized operas of all time. La Bohème is scheduled for three performances at Merrill Auditorium: Wednesday, July 24; Friday, July 26, and Sunday, July 28.

La Bohème portrays the passionate lives of a group of young artists living in the Latin Quarter of Paris. The audience will be drawn in as love blossoms between Mimi and Rodolfo, and feel the pain when tragedy strikes. Through the tribulations of sickness and poverty, viewers will be swept along by the emotional notes of Puccini’s score and the vocal expertise of the cast.

Soprano Michelle Johnson, praised for her “extraordinary breath control and flawless articulation,” appears as La Bohème’s Mimi. The Grand Prize winner of the 2011 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Johnson has played the title role in a number of performances including Aida at the Glimmerglass Music Festival, Manon Lescaut with the Opera Company of Philadelphia, and Suor Angelica at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.

Though making his debut with PORTopera, tenor Jeffrey Gwaltney is no stranger to the character of Rodolfo. A previous member of the Opera North Young Artist Program, Gwaltney took over as Rodolfo in a performance of La Bohème during the final dress rehearsal and was met with standing ovations on opening night. A mainstay at Washington National Opera with experience at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Glimmerglass Music Festival, Gwaltney’s expertise is sure to shine through in this role.

Soprano Alyson Cambridge, making her return to PORTopera in the role of Musetta, has been called by The Washington Post, “radiant, vocally assured, dramatically subtle and compelling, and artistically imaginative.” Past roles include Donna Elvira in PORTopera’s Don Giovanni in addition to appearances with the Metropolitan Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, and countless others. This season, she will return to the Washington National Opera in addition to debuting with the San Diego Opera, Royal Albert Hall London, and Florentine Opera.

La Bohème’s Marcello will be played by baritone Edward Parks who is becoming a familiar voice at PORTopera. Sharpless in last year’s production of Madama Butterfly, he has also appeared with the Metropolitan Opera, the Michigan Opera Theater, and the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Maestro Israel Gursky (known for previous PORTopera performances Roméo et Juliette and Hansel und Gretel) returns to Portland to lead this season’s cast in the production of La Bohème. Gursky, a rising young conductor, is known for working with the Washington National Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, and Opera Birmingham among others. He made his Lincoln Center debut last fall with a concert performance of Montemezzi’s La Nave.

In her 10th year as PORTopera’s artistic director, Dona D. Vaughn brings Paris to life with a creative touch that will capture audiences. Vaughn works with the cast of colorful characters to create the image of Paris’s Latin Quarter as a sparkling, vibrant place.

Tickets for the much-loved opera range from $41 to $105 and are available online through www.porttix.com or from noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, at the PortTIX box office, 20 Myrtle St. For more information, visit www.portopera.org.

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