# Chicago Lyric Opera Announces 2013/14 Season... or is that 1913/14?



## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

Always on the conservative side in programming, they have outdone themselves this time. You know a company is conservative when their token 20th century work is Madama Butterfly. 

Below are my semi-serious, semi-snarky thoughts to voice my semi-enthusiasm:

Otello - Botha  
Madama Butterfly - Patricia Racette, Lovely...as we already know...from many a previous production... 
Parsifal - Paul Groves  - I'm a huge, huge fan, but last time I saw him was Iphigenie en Tauride. I haven't been following his career the last few years but had no idea he'd moved into Wagner, much less Parsifal.
La Traviata - Marina Rebeka  A new name to me, neutral. Anyone know her?
Die Fledermaus - Holiday fluff, who cares?! :devil:
The Barber of Seville - Nathan Gunn. Saw him in the Barber here last time around. Back then, they found an excuse to have him take of his pants as well as his shirt, but I don't know if he's kept up his gym membership. 
Rusalka - Ana Maria Martinez. Love her, but we want Renee!
La Clemenza di Tito - :clap: Polenzani and DiDonato  Now we're talkin'!!


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

Cavaradossi said:


> La Clemenza di Tito - :clap: Polenzani and DiDonato  Now we're talkin'!!


well, this one's become really popular these days. DiDonato as Sesto, hmmm. I like her in comedy a lot better. How's Majeski's Vitellia? That's a :devil: of a role to cast, although a fantastic one. So much vitriol!


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

This season they are staging.

Wozzeck
The Merry Widow
Nabucco
Der Rosenkavalier
Romeo and Juliet
And a complete new opera Bel Canto.

Not that bad even if I would appreciate if they could stage an unusual older opera too.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Cavaradossi: Not very imaginative but I guess it safely sells seats.
I'll take the first 3 (though I hate that puppet and have seen it 4 times so far). You can have the rest.


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

Things are looking up for Chicago! Some exciting offerings just announced for the next season, and - incredibly for Chicago - no Verdi or Puccini in sight. The Verdi-centric era of previous general director William Mason is well and truly over.

_Lyric's 2016-17 season at a glance

•"*Das Rheingold*," the prologue to Wagner's "Ring" tetralogy, will mark the role debut of *Eric Owens* as the chief god Wotan. Save for Stefan Margita as Loge and Rodell Rosell as Mime, most of the other singers announced so far will be newcomers: Samuel Youn as Alberich, Tanja Ariane Baumgartner as Fricka, Okka von der Damerau as Erda, Wilhelm Schwinghammer as Fasolt and Tobias Kehrer as Fafner. The late Johan Engels' set designs will be realized by Robert Innes Hopkins, the costumes by Marie-Jeanne Lecca, the lighting by Fabrice Kebour. As previously announced, "Die Walkure" will open in 2017-18, "Siegfried" in 2018-19 and "Gotterdammerung" in 2019-20. *Lyric plans to mount three complete "Ring" cycles beginning in April 2020.*
"Rheingold" will have six performances, Oct. 1-22.

•*Albina Shagimuratova* - the Russian soprano who was the discovery of Lyric's 2012-13 season, when she sang Gilda in Verdi's "Rigoletto" - will portray the hapless Lucia in the new-to-Chicago production of *"Lucia di Lammermoor." Piotr Beczala *will portray Edgardo, with baritone Quinn Kelsey as Enrico. The production, designed by Paul Brown, is co-owned by the companies of Florence and Geneva. Seven performances, Oct. 15-Nov. 6.

•Dramatic soprano *Christine Goerke* (Lyric's Brunnhilde-to-be) will portray Cassandra in the new *"Troyens," *with mezzo-soprano Sophie Koch as Dido and tenor Brandon Jovanovich as Aeneas. Other roles will be taken by Okka von der Damerau, Lucas Meachem and Christian Van Horn. Lyric chorus director Michael Black will be preparing the extensive choral component. Five performances, Nov. 13-Dec. 3.

•The acclaimed Italian bass *Ferruccio Furlanetto *will return to Lyric as *Massenet's Don Quixote*, with mezzo Clementine Margaine as Dulcinea and baritone Nicola Alaimo as Sancho Panza. Davis conducts and Matthew Ozawa directs the production, which originated at the San Diego Opera. Six performances, Nov. 19-Dec. 7.

•Arriving just before the holidays, Lyric's new production of "*Zauberflote"* will divide the role of Tamino between tenors Andrew Staples and Matthew Polenzani. German soprano Christiane Karg (heard earlier this season in Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro") will sing Pamina. Others in the cast include Kathryn Lewek (Queen of the Night), Adam Plachetka (Papageno) and Christof Fischesser (Sarastro). Completing the production team will be designers Dale Ferguson and Damien Cooper. Eleven performances, Dec. 10-Jan. 27.

•Lyric is sharing director Kevin Newbury's production of *"Norma*" with the companies of Toronto, Barcelona and San Francisco. *Sondra Radvanovsky *will portray the eponymous Druid priestess, opposite tenor Russell Thomas as Pollione, and mezzo Elizabeth DeShong as Adalgisa. Seven performances, Jan. 28-Feb. 25.

•Also new to Chicago will be the *"Carmen"* co-production that director-choreographer Rob Ashford originally staged for Houston Grand Opera. The roles of the Gypsy femme fatale and her lover Don Jose will be double-cast. Russian mezzo Ekaterina Gubanova and Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja will sing the first round of performances; Georgian mezzo Anita Rachvelishvili and tenor Jovanovich the second. Others appearing include soprano Eleanora Buratto as Micaela and bass-baritone Van Horn as Escamillo. Eleven performances, Feb. 11-March 25.

•*Mariusz Kwiecien* last portrayed the title role in *"Eugene Onegin*" in Lyric's 2007-08 season, when Robert Carsen's production was seen for the first time in Chicago. The Polish baritone will be back for Lyric's revival of Carsen's admired staging, this time with soprano Ana Maria Martinez as Tatiana, tenor Charles Castronovo as Lensky and bass Dmitry Belosselskiy as Gremin. Nine performances, Feb. 26-March 17.

•Completing the season will be "*My Fair Lady*," another Robert Carsen production, this one from Paris' Theatre du Chatelet. Conductor and cast will be announced later._


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## gardibolt (May 22, 2015)

Very excited that I'll finally get to see a Ring Cycle, albeit spread over four years instead of four days. But I will see it again as a proper cycle in 2020 if I have anything to say about it.


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