Quinn Kelsey and Hui He/Photo: Dan Rest

RECOMMENDED

On paper, at least, the first cast of Lyric Opera’s production of Verdi’s “Aida” that opened in January looked as if it would be the premier cast, and indeed, had a lot going for it with Verdi heroine extraordinaire Sondra Radvanovsky as Aida, Italian tenor Marcello Giordani as Radames and mezzo soprano Jill Grove as Amneris. And yet for all of its superb singing, somehow the dramatic intricacies of the love-pyramid aspect of the opera left much to be desired.

The second time is the charm, as it were, for those who want high drama with glorious singing. Making a spectacular Lyric Opera debut is Chinese soprano Hui He, all that you could ever ask for in an Aida. Not only does He sing with a voice powerful enough to fill the rafters of the Civic Opera House—a rare find these days—but she does it with purity of tone and with immense attention to Verdi’s dynamic markings. Her pianissimo high notes float beautifully; He never feels the need to show off how loud she can bring off her high notes as Radvanovsky likes to do. He is also able to flesh out the character of this tormented lovesick princess who keeps her dignity while serving as a slave in the court of a country with which her own nation is at war. Read the rest of this entry »

David Daniels, center/Photo: Dan Rest

RECOMMENDED

Long before the renaissance of Handel’s operas being performed in their complete form, virtually everyone knew an aria or two from his opera “Rinaldo.” Such pieces, in fact, as they were heard in vocal recitals and on recording anthologies were the only glimpse many opera lovers had into this vast world at a time when Handel operas by and large were still largely unknown to contemporary audiences.

The first Handel opera ever performed at Lyric Opera was, in fact, a concert version of “Rinaldo” back in 1984, and a year later for the Handel tricentennial Lyric staged its first Handel, though not an opera, his oratorio “Samson.” Lyric Opera has come a long way from those days when singers would stand statically and wobble their way through Handel’s vocal lines with excessive vibrato at a snail’s pace. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo: Robert Kusel

RECOMMENDED

In the world of musical theater, the genre is divided between B.S.B. (Before Show Boat) and A.S.B (After Show Boat), so revolutionary a work was “Show Boat” when it first premiered nearly eighty-five years ago. So revolutionary, in fact, that we have to almost remind ourselves that “Show Boat” began life as a 1926 novel by Edna Ferber.

Composer Jerome Kern read “Show Boat” upon its publication and immediately became excited about transforming the story to the musical stage. He even called a journalist friend to arrange a meeting with Ferber, who told Kern that she couldn’t imagine her dark tale taking life as a musical comedy. Kern won her over and soon hired a then largely unknown thirty-year old librettist by the name of Oscar Hammerstein II to write the book and lyrics for the show. Read the rest of this entry »

Darren Criss (#4) with Team StarKid

With our criteria shifted back to artistic accomplishment in theater, dance, comedy and opera this year, our task got infinitely tougher. Because while the number of performing venues grows at a steady rate, the increase in the number of noteworthy artists seems to grow exponentially. For everyone we name on the list below, we had to leave off five, an embarrassment of riches for Chicago. We made a conscious effort to introduce a meaningful number of new faces to the list this year; the necessary absences should not be construed as a loss of worthiness as a consequence. We often find trends when we do the research these lists require; this year we’re starting to see a more meaningful effort to redefine performance itself in the internet age, from the runaway success of StarKids, to the more calculated endeavors of Silk Road. So what defines a “player”? Consider it some complex stew of career achievement, recent “heat” and, in some cases, rising stardom.

Written by Zach Freeman, Brian Hieggelke, Sharon Hoyer and Dennis Polkow

Read the rest of this entry »

Anthony Freud, general director of Lyric Opera of Chicago, announced today the repertoire, principal singers, conductors, directors, and designers for Lyric’s 2012-13 season. This was Freud’s first news conference since becoming Lyric’s general director on Oct. 1, 2011. Joining Freud for today’s announcement was Sir Andrew Davis, Lyric’s music director; and Lyric’s creative consultant, Renée Fleming (via Skype).

Lyric’s 2012-13 subscription season will offer 68 performances of nine different operas beginning Saturday, October 6, 2012, and concluding Saturday, April 6, 2013.  Read the rest of this entry »

Charles Castronovo/Photo: Dan Rest

RECOMMENDED

The perfect Mozart opera? Most would pick “The Marriage of Figaro,” some “Don Giovanni,” perhaps a handful even “Così fan tutte,” all Mozart collaborations with brilliant librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte. And yet, for comedy, fantasy and intrigue, “The Magic Flute” has to top the list. A product of those much romanticized last months of his short life, this is Mozart at his most witty, his most charming and at the full height of his soon-to-be-silenced miraculous musical powers.

The memorable August Everding production that Lyric Opera is still using dates back to the mid-1980s and has frankly had more revivals than I can count with casts of various quality levels. After a quarter of a century of use here and elsewhere, apparently some of the pieces could barely be repainted and lighting had to be adjusted to compensate for the age of some of the scenery. If so, this is never obvious in the current revival. Read the rest of this entry »

Amber Wagner, Brandon Jovanovich/Photo: Dan Rest

RECOMMENDED

During the recently ended Bill Mason era at Lyric Opera, the philosophy was that works of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss had to alternate for attention to contain costs of the huge orchestra needed for these works. This year, however, the Strauss opera presented, “Ariadne auf Naxos,” employs a chamber orchestra, yet nonetheless was left to stand as the single season ambassador to represent the vast canvas of German Romanticism.

This production was originally mounted for soprano Deborah Voigt, who had sung the role here in 1998 and was to have sung this revival, “Ariadne” being one of her signature roles. However, soon after a Chicago Symphony concert over the summer spotlighting Strauss and Wagner roles associated with her where Voigt was having obvious vocal trouble, she abruptly withdrew from these performances with a statement that she was “focusing increasingly on dramatic soprano roles and thus has decided to drop the part from [her] repertory for the time being.” Read the rest of this entry »

Susanna Phillips/Photo: Dan Rest

It is telling that in a series of promotional videos that Lyric Opera music director Sir Andrew Davis and creative consultant Renée Fleming made to promote the new season, Davis admits that he is not partial to the bel canto repertoire before he nonetheless waxes on about the melodic appeal of Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor.”

The strategy for the company’s new production of “Lucia” is to depend on the vision of a former Lucia, Catherine Malfitano, to direct, apparently with the hope that the drama she once brought to the role—the actual singing of it was never her strength—would somehow translate to another portrayal and to an entire production. Would that it were so.

Instead, the end result comes off as a bewildering affair, marked by portrayals that seem detached as to what their specific character—to say nothing of anyone else’s—is doing in this opera. Read the rest of this entry »

Renee Fleming/Photo: Andrew Eccles

RECOMMENDED

 Although billed annually as “Stars of Lyric Opera at Millennium Park,” there have been some years where the billing has had a noticeable dog star or two. But this year, the first such concert since soprano Renée Fleming was named creative consultant at Lyric Opera, Fleming’s presence as the reigning superstar soprano in the world today boosts up the luminosity factor of this pre-season concert considerably.  

Coming as it does on the eve of the tenth anniversary of 9/11—an occasion when Fleming soothed the soul of the nation with the balm of her voice at services at Ground Zero—Fleming offers “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Carousel” as an opening piece and commemoration of that occasion. Read the rest of this entry »

Nadia Krasteva/Photo: Dan Rest

RECOMMENDED

For those Lyric Opera subscribers who missed the October performances of “Carmen” and instead have tickets to the March performances, there is good news: this recast incarnation is a far stronger production.

The fall production had been planned around the Lyric debut of mezzo-soprano Kate Aldrich in the title role a mere five years after the company had last presented the popular warhorse, only to have Aldrich cancel due to complications from a pregnancy. Lyric’s solution was to cast the Carmen it had originally scheduled for a single matinee that Aldrich could not make—Iowa mezzo-soprano Katharine Goeldner—in all of the Carmens that Aldrich was originally scheduled to sing.

The result was a Carmen with a pleasing voice and stage presence, but a seductress in search of seductiveness, a low-energy temptless temptress. It is fascinating that Bulgarian mezzo-soprano Nadia Krasteva is neither more attractive—nor does she have a better voice—than Goeldner, but my, oh my, what a difference dramatically, which in this iconic role, counts for so much. This is a Carmen with swagger and attitude, a creature of wild and reckless freedom, which is not only what attracts Don José to her, but remains her lasting appeal to audiences. Read the rest of this entry »