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L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O
April - May, 2017
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soprano roles and an aria taking the tenor
to F above high C ! “Opera companies
can produce
I Puritani
only when four
extraordinary singers are available,”
says Freud. “The two lovers, Elvira and
Arturo, will be Albina Shagimuratova,
who has enraptured our audiences in
Lucia di Lammermoor
and
Rigoletto
, and
Lawrence Brownlee, following up on his
dazzling Lyric debut in
Cinderella
. Our
Riccardo is the exceptionally gifted Ryan
Opera Center alumnus Anthony Clark
Evans, now embarked on a major career.
Two artists who made outstanding Lyric
debuts in this season’s
Lucia
– bass Adrian
Sâmpetrean and conductor Enrique
Mazzola – will be with us as well, in the
Met’s lovely traditional production.”
Any occasion to present an opera
by Mozart is cause for rejoicing. Lyric’s
Mozartian treat for 2017/18 is
Così fan
tutte,
an endlessly intriguing, thought-
provoking “school for lovers” story in
which two couples learn a great deal about
each other while singing truly heavenly
music. In addition to tremendous skill as
vocalists and musicians, “a
Così
cast needs
the ability to relate to each other on a
very intimate level,” notes Freud. “It’s the
ensemble opera par excellence, although
the solo opportunities for individual
characters are fabulous as well!”
Lyric favorite Ana María Martínez,
whose Donna Elvira in
Don Giovanni
showed her to be a masterful interpreter of
Mozart’s music and comedy, will be joined
by French mezzo-soprano Marianne
Crebassa (delightful in her debut last
season in
Romeo and Juliet
) and a new
artist at Lyric, the captivating Russian
soprano Elena Tsallagova. The cast also
includes Alessandro Corbelli, today’s
ultimate master of comic repertoire, as
Don Alfonso. “No director understands
this opera better than John Cox,” says
Freud, “and he’ll be collaborating with
the brilliant American conductor James
Gaffigan, who has rapidly ascended to the
top rank internationally.”
Charles Gounod’s
Faust,
the
tale of an old philosopher who sells
his soul to the devil in exchange for
youth, is a work Freud has loved for
his entire operagoing life, “thanks to
its overwhelmingly romantic music. Of
course, I also relish the matchlessly elegant
yet sinister characterization Gounod gives
Méphistophélès, the spirit of the devil!”
Acclaimed at Lyric for three productions
(including last season’s world premiere
of
Bel Canto
), director Kevin Newbury
will return to create Lyric’s new
Faust.
His production designer, American artist
(left)
Così fan tutte
at Lyric, 2006.
DAN REST
(far left) Among the stars of
Così fan tutte
are
Lyric favorites Ana María Martínez (Fiordiligi
– she also sings Marguerite in the final
performance of
Faust
) and Alessandro Corbelli
(Don Alfonso).
The embodiment of
Faust’s aspirations
representing his search
for life’s meaning.
Art by
Faust
production designer
John Frame.
CHRISTIAN CLAVADETCHER
Faust
stars (clockwise from
top) Benjamin Bernheim (title
role), Erin Wall (Marguerite),
and Christian Van Horn
(Méphistophélès)