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L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O
January 28 - February 24, 2017
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Offstage Romances
I love opera and Lyric because of my foreign-born parents and the Saturday afternoon
broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera with the thought-provoking and stimulating
commentaries of Milton Cross. Every Saturday when I was between the ages of six
and eleven, my parents would listen to the radio broadcasts
and “force” me to join them. Only after signoff could I go
out and play with the boys and girls on my block in the
Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago.
During my university years, I would occasionally
purchase seats in the upper balcony and enjoy the music and
voices that permeated the opera house. After my marriage
in 1965 to my spouse of 51 years, Myrna Hankin Mazur,
and her supporting me financially and in every other fashion
through graduate school, we religiously attended four or five
productions annually – moving from the upper to the
lower balcony.
When I began my career as a professor of urban studies,
we made certain that our budget allowed for a season
subscription in the dress-circle area. Our love for Lyric can
be summed up in the many superb performers, conductors, choruses, and
stage presentations. We eagerly look forward to the announcements of each
season’s presentations and the special productions that we take our eleven-
and nine-year-old grandchildren to see and hear. Grandparents, parents,
guardians and more pass much on to their loved ones – we are passing
our love of Lyric and its productions to our heritage.
Edward H. Mazur, Ph.D.
(Chicago)
World-Class Performances
My first opera,
Faust,
was 67 years ago at the
Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. I was ten years old
and I didn’t understand much, but it didn’t matter.
The music was fantastic! Since then I’ve loved opera.
Twenty-nine years ago my family immigrated to
Chicago. Our friend gave us tickets to
La forza del
destino
at Lyric. I was very excited! I never heard
such a wonderful performance before. Usually
there were a couple of good voices and others were
mediocre – here all the voices were good. World-
class singers appeared at Lyric. I loved the decor,
which was very simple and delicate. And I could
enjoy opera as never before. For several years I’ve
been a subscriber, and three of my grandchildren
love opera as I love it.
Anna Churin
(Oak Park)
METROPOLITAN OPERA ARCHIVES
Legendary radio announcer
Milton Cross, whose years as host
of the Met broadcasts were highly
influential in developing Edward
Mazur’s love of opera.
Artists featured in Lyric’s 1987-88 production
of
La forza del destino
so admired by Anna
Churin included, left to right, Giuseppe
Giacomini (Don Alvaro), Leo Nucci (Carlo),
and Susan Dunn (Leonora).
DAN REST