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L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O
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January 28 - February 24, 2017
The Magic Continues
As a subscriber since 1966 I must admit
that the most surprising event in my
Lyric experience happened not on the stage but in the foyer.
Lyric was presenting Berg’s
Lulu
in November of 1987 at a time when the opera was rarely performed and less than
two months after Lyric’s presentation of
Satyagraha
by Phillip Glass. It was clearly an amazing season.
During that year’s Operathon, tickets to the closed
Lulu
dress rehearsal were offered, and I jumped at the chance
to see the spectacular Catherine Malfitano in the title role.
The stunning first act ended and I planned to remain in my seat mulling over what I had just seen. Well, my plans
changed when I was surprised by the sound of what I assumed was a marching band coming from the foyer. I discovered
that director Yuri Ljubimov had decided that we were not going to escape the twisted world of
Lulu
by fleeing to the foyer,
as we went out to encounter a group of dancers costumed as the characters of
Lulu,
performing to a jazz ensemble with
the same kind of decadent gyrations we had just seen on the stage.
Albert Walavich
(Chicago)
Lyric’s Unforgettable Stars
My most exciting evening at Lyric? That’s an easy one! Back in 1986,
our subscription included
Lucia di Lammermoor
, with Edita Gruberova
and Neil Shicoff. I noticed that Plácido Domingo and June Anderson were
going to do two performances at the end of the run. I said, “Why not?”
and got two tickets in the first row of the dress circle for the first of their
performances. Gruberova and Shicoff were very good, but Domingo and
Anderson blew us away! They were both really “on.” Not to be outdone
by June’s mad scene, Plácido really cut loose in the final scene. Without
a doubt, the greatest performance I ever saw. Everyone I talked to who was
there said the same thing. An unforgettable evening, and I can’t wait
to see Plácido this season!
Donald Haavind
(Lynwood)
At a Lyric performance of
Lulu
(1987-88 season),
Albert Walavich was impressed not only by
Catherine Malfitano in the title role (left), but also
by the “happening” in the foyer during intermission.
TONY ROMANO
TONY ROMANO
TONY ROMANO
DAN REST
Donald Haavind was enraptured by the
memorable pairing of Plácido Domingo as
Edgardo and June Anderson in the title role
of
Lucia di Lammermoor
(1986).