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April - May, 2017
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stage Giuseppe Verdi’s
Rigoletto,
one
of the greatest dramas in the Italian
repertoire. For more than 150 years
operagoers have been riveted by the
barbed-tongued court jester Rigoletto
and his desperate attempt to avenge his
daughter Gilda, after she’s seduced and
abandoned by the licentious Duke of
Mantua. “Audiences invariably thrill to
the music of
Rigoletto
,” Freud declares,
“with so many highlights, including the
Duke’s exuberant ‘La donna è mobile,’
Gilda’s exquisite ‘Caro nome,’ and opera’s
most famous quartet.”
The dramatic power that a great
Rigoletto communicates onstage can be
truly hair-raising. Lyric has a remarkable
artist to sing the role: “All of us in
this company are immensely proud that
Quinn Kelsey, a Ryan Opera Center
alumnus and that rare singer, a true Verdi
baritone, will be returning in his signature
role. Rigoletto has been a triumph for
him at major houses across Europe and
North America.” Matthew Polenzani, one
of the foremost tenors of our time and
also a Ryan Opera Center alumnus, will
portray the Duke. These Lyric favorites
will be joined by two debuting artists:
Rosa Feola, the captivating young Italian
soprano who will portray Gilda after her
great success at the CSO last season as
Nannetta in
Falstaff
; and the charismatic
Ukrainian bass Alexander Tsymbalyuk,
who will sing Sparafucile. “I’m also
delighted that Marco Armiliato, a master
of his native Italian repertoire, will return
to conduct,” says Freud, “and that E.
Loren Meeker will direct San Francisco
Opera’s very striking, new-to-Chicago
production.”
The new
Ring
cycle – a work
described by Freud as “the most massive
challenge that any opera company
can undertake” – continues with the
second opera in Wagner’s tetralogy,
Die
Walküre.
The most passionate of the
Ring
operas,
Walküre
shows us an emotionally
The leading men of
The Pearl Fishers
are Mariusz Kwiecień
(above, as Zurga) and
Matthew Polenzani
(as Nadir – he also
sings the Duke of
Mantua in
Rigoletto
).
Season of Discovery
Costume sketches by Marie-Jeanne Lecca
for
Die Walküre
: Hunding (left) and
Brünnhilde (right).
DARIO ACOSTA
Heading the
Walküre
cast are Eric Owens
(Wotan) and Christine
Goerke (Brünnhilde).
The Pearl Fishers,
designed by
Zandra Rhodes.
KEN HOWARD/SAN DIEGO OPERA
MIKOLAJ MIKOLAJCZYK
FAY FOX