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April - May, 2017
I
n just four months, another Lyric
season will begin! The excitement
is already building, with so many
thrilling operas and special events ahead.
Everything contributes to Lyric’s ultimate
goal – to redefine what a great opera
company is all about in the 21st century.
That goal includes bringing a broad-
based repertoire to the stage of the Civic
Opera House, serving a wide range of
tastes. “Even as we work to engage new
audiences,” says general director Anthony
Freud, “one thing that will never change
is our commitment to advancing our art
form by inspiring and entertaining our
audiences with magnificent productions.”
The 2017/18 season opens with
Orphée et Eurydice
(Orpheus and
Eurydice),
Christoph Willibald Gluck’s
retelling of the Greek myth in which the
musician Orpheus braves the dangers of
the Underworld to bring his dead wife
back to earth. Lyric has produced this
work before, but not in the 1774 Paris
version (in French rather than Italian,
with the hero sung by a tenor rather
than a countertenor). Freud relishes “the
marvelous virtuosity in Gluck’s music for
Orpheus, as well as his captivating ballet
music, added to satisfy the expectations of
the 18th-century Parisians. There’s true
musical and dramatic glory in this work,
and for our audiences it’s sure to be a great
discovery and an unforgettable, deeply
affecting experience.”
Any
Orphée
production requires artists
of exceptional sensitivity and intelligence,
both to produce it and to perform it.
“We’re thrilled that the world-renowned
American choreographer John Neumeier
– in a very exciting collaboration between
Lyric, The Joffrey Ballet, LA Opera, and
Staatsoper Hamburg – will create the vital
dance element of this opera, direct the
production, and design the sets, costumes,
and lighting. Harry Bicket, one of today’s
finest interpreters of pre-1800 repertoire,
will return to conduct. Russian tenor
Dmitry Korchak, in his Lyric debut,
will sing Orpheus with all the beauty of
sound, stupendous technique, and deep
expressiveness the role requires. Andriana
Chuchman, one of the most successful
recent alumni of Lyric’s Ryan Opera Center,
will be with us again to sing Eurydice.”
Next we’ll welcome back to Lyric’s
General director Anthony Freud
reveals what Lyric audiences can look forward to
in 2017/18
By Roger Pines
John Neumeier
(above, right),
who will direct,
choreograph, and
design Gluck’s
Orphée et
Eurydice
.
KIRAN WEST/HAMBURG BALLET
Russian tenor Dmitry
Korchak debuts
at Lyric as Orphée.
Season of Delight,
Rigoletto
, with
costumes designed by
Constance Hoffman.
ROBERT MILLARD / LOS ANGELES OPERA
Quinn Kelsey (above)
returns as Rigoletto,
his signature role.