New L.A. Opera music director, Domingo Hindoyan, begins with 'Carmen'

Domingo Hindoyan had just moved to Switzerland, a serious culture shock for a 20-year-old kid from Venezuela, when he discovered a filmed concert of Christian Ferras performing Jean Sibelius’ violin concerto in 1965. As a violinist himself, Hindoyan was captivated by the French musician’s “earthy” playing — but as he kept re-watching the tape, he found his eyes drawn to the 29-year-old conductor, Zubin Mehta. “I just was impressed,” says Hindoyan, “how he was conducting so precise and so beautiful the Sibelius concerto. I said: ‘There is something going on.' " Hindoyan, 46, now finds himself the music director of L.A. Opera in a city — and a concert house — shaped by Mehta’s baton. He begins his new role with a production of Georges Bizet’s “Carmen” starting Saturday at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.