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GENERAL D I RECTOR ’ S L ETTER
Thanks to Sir Andrew Davis, Creative Consultant Renée Fleming,
the Lyric staff, and everyone contributing to our productions,
as well as our extraordinary volunteer boards, all of us will
recall the 60th Anniversary season with joy and gratitude
for many years to come.
Lyric Opera of Chicago celebrated its 60th Anniversary in 2014/15 with a season that any
major international opera company would envy. It acknowledged our past while savoring
our present and looking forward to an exciting future. It was a joy for me to work with music
director Sir Andrew Davis in presenting the season to our devoted Lyric audience, who
responded with great enthusiasm from first production to last.
Mozart’s
Don Giovanni
has a special association with this company: we produced it for
the legendary “calling card” performances in 1954, and half a century later it opened our
50th anniversary season. It was only fitting to launch our season-long celebration of
Lyric’s 60th anniversary by premiering a new production of this masterpiece. A wonderful
preview was provided at the annual
Stars of Lyric Opera at Millennium Park
concert, which
showcased the entire
Don Giovanni
cast. Mariusz Kwiecień starred in the title role, which he
has made his own internationally. Among the other exceptional Mozartians collaborating
with him onstage were Ana María Martínez, Marina Rebeka, and Kyle Ketelsen. The
production, in a brilliant contemporary updating by Goodman Theatre artistic director
Robert Falls, was superbly conducted by Sir Andrew, one of today’s pre-eminent
Mozart interpreters.
For only the second time in our history we were able to program
Capriccio
, the glorious
final stage work of Richard Strauss. With this production, our desire to present Renée Fleming
in one of her incomparable Strauss portrayals came to fruition at long last. Renée’s radiant
characterization of Countess Madeleine was the focal point of a stellar cast featuring
Bo Skovhus, William Burden, Peter Rose, Audun Iversen (debut), and— in a welcome
return to Lyric after 25 years—Anne Sofie von Otter. Sir Andrew’s passion for this work
resulted in luminous playing by the Lyric orchestra for a production lovingly directed by
Peter McClintock.
After successes at The Metropolitan Opera and San Francisco Opera, Sir David McVicar’s
blazing production of Verdi’s
Il Trovatore
returned to Lyric, where it had premiered in 2006.
Authoritatively conducted by Asher Fisch, it was strongly cast with artists who had all
triumphed previously at Lyric: Yonghoon Lee, Stephanie Blythe, Andrea Sivestrelli, and two
Ryan Opera Center alumni who now enjoy impressive international careers—Amber Wagner
and Quinn Kelsey.
Audiences in 2008 were so enthralled by Francesca Zambello’s production of the Gershwins’
Porgy and Bess
that its return engagement was assured. Joining conductor Ward Stare were
an unforgettable couple, Eric Owens and Adina Aaron (debut), who broke all hearts in the title
roles. Memorable, too, were Eric Greene and Jermaine Smith from the 2008 cast, as well as a
current member of Lyric’s Ryan Opera Center Ensemble, Hlengiwe Mkhwanazi (debut).
Certain works await revival on Lyric’s stage until the company can engage the right
protagonist. One of those works,
Anna Bolena
, previously heard here in only one season
(1985, with Dame Joan Sutherland), returned starring Sondra Radvanovsky, who in recent
years has made a specialty of the title role. In a thought-provoking production by Kevin
Newbury, we welcomed back Jamie Barton and John Relyea while also presenting the
Lyric debuts of Bryan Hymel and conductor Patrick Summers.
After his magnificent
Parsifal
at Lyric (2013/14), director John Caird returned with a riveting
staging of Puccini’s
Tosca
. Lyric’s revival boasted a debuting conductor, Dmitri Jurowski, and
two casts of internationally celebrated artists, each closely associated with this opera: Tatiana
Serjan/Hui He, Brian Jagde/Jorge de León, and Evgeny Nikitin/Mark Delavan.
Wagner’s
Tannhäuser
brought back to the Lyric stage a work unheard here since the 1988/89
season. As with
Anna Bolena
, we waited for a singer who could truly command the central
role. We were fortunate indeed in the performance of Johan Botha, widely regarded
as today’s most successful Tannhäuser. Joining him in Tim Albery’s profoundly moving
production were Amber Wagner, Gerald Finley, Michaela Schuster, and John Relyea. This
quintet of principals provided a feast of thrilling singing, matched by the Lyric orchestra and
chorus led by Sir Andrew in his first
Tannhäuser
.
Anthony Freud
General Director
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