Lyric Opera 2018-2019 Issue 10A Renee Fleming Gala

P R O F I L E S | L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O 16 | March 23, 2019 PATRICK SUMMERS Previously at Lyric: Anna Bolena (2014/15). e American conductor is artistic and music director of Houston Grand Opera, where he has led more than 60 works. His 2018/19 season at HGO includes e Flying Dutchman, Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas, and the world premiere of Tarik O’Regan and John Caird’s e Phoenix. Other highlights include conducting the company’s first Ring cycle; collaborating on the world premieres of André Previn’s Brief Encounter, Christopher eofanidis’s e Refuge, Jake Heggie’s It’s a Wonderful Life, The End of the Affair, and ree Decembers , Carlisle Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree and Prince of Players, and Tod Machover’s Resurrection ; leading the American premiere of Weinberg’s e Passenger, both at HGO and on tour to the Lincoln Center Festival; and nurturing the careers of many major artists, among them Joyce DiDonato, Christine Goerke, Ana María Martínez, Ryan McKinny, and Albina Shagimuratova. Summers has a long association with San Francisco Opera and was honored in 2015 with the San Francisco Opera Medal. His work at SFO includes conducting Jake Heggie’s Moby Dick, recorded and telecast on PBS’s Great Performances. Last summer he conducted La favorite at Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu, and he returned to SFO during the 2018 holiday season for Jake Heggie s It’s a Wonderful Life . LAWRENCE BROWNLEE Previously at Lyric: Arturo/ I puritani (2017/18); Charlie/ Charlie Parker’s Yardbird, recital with Eric Owens (both 2016/17); Don Ramiro/ Cinderella (2015/16). One of the most outstanding lyric tenors of his generation, the Ohio native began the current season with two evenings of duets with bass- baritone Eric Owens hosted by e Cliburn (Fort Worth), followed by a night of arias at Amsterdam s Concertgebouw. He also sang his first Nadir/ e Pearl Fishers (Houston), reprised his portrayal of Don Ramiro/ Cinderella (Paris), and embarked on a 12-stop duo recital tour with Eric Owens. Later this season Brownlee stars as Elvino/ La sonnambula (Berlin, Zurich), Ilo/Rossini’s Zelmira (Washington), and Arturo/ I puritani (Liège). World renowned as an interpreter of bel canto works, Brownlee has triumphed in that repertoire at the Metropolitan Opera (where he starred opposite Renée Fleming in the company premiere of Rossini’s Armida , now on DVD), San Francisco, La Scala, Munich, Vienna, Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Brussels, and the Salzburg Festival. He recently returned to Mozart, singing Belmonte/ e Abduction from the Seraglio at Houston Grand Opera. A role written for him, Charlie/Daniel Schnyder’s Charlie Parker’s Yardbird , was a great success at Opera Philadelphia (world premiere), Lyric, New York’s Apollo eater, and London’s English National Opera. Among his recordings are “Virtuoso Rossini Arias” (Grammy Award nominee) and his latest album “Allegro lo Son,” featuring arias by Donizetti and Bellini. QUINN KELSEY Previously at Lyric: 17 roles since 2003/04, most recently title role/ Rigoletto (2017/18); Enrico Ashton/ Lucia di Lammermoor (2016/17); Count di Luna/ II trovatore (2014/15). A Ryan Opera Center alumnus and 2015 winner of the Metropolitan Opera’s Beverly Sills Award, the Hawaiian baritone is in great demand for Verdi, Puccini, and French roles internationally. Except for Enrico/ Lucia di Lammermoor (Munich’s Bavarian State Opera in June), Kelsey’s 2018/19 season is exclusively Verdi. He began with Amonasro/ Aida and Germont/ La traviata (both at the Metropolitan Opera), before starring as Rigoletto in Zurich, where he premiered a new production in 2016. He also previously sang that role in London, Toronto, Oslo, Santa Fe, Paris, and San Francisco. Following the Fleming Gala he will sing his first Ford /Falstaff (Dallas) and return to Honolulu as Germont, a role that recently introduced his artistry to London’s Royal Opera. Kelsey’s achievements in Verdi also include the title role/ Falstaff (Matsumoto, Japan), Ezio/ Attila (San Francisco), Paolo/ Simon Boccanegra (Rome), Montfort/ Les vêpres siciliennes (Frankfurt), and Rodrigo/ Don Carlo (Washington). His reper- toire also encompasses Sancho/ Don Quichotte (Toronto), Zurga/ e Pearl Fishers (London), Athanaël/ aïs (Edinburgh, Melbourne), and the Forester/ e Cunning Little Vixen (under Ozawa in Florence and in Matsumoto, Japan). Kelsey has presented recitals at Carnegie Hall s Weill Recital Hall and London’s Wigmore Hall, and has performed Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with Michael Tilson omas and the San Francisco Symphony (CD, Grammy winner). ERIC OWENS Previously at Lyric: Seven roles since 2007/08, most recently Wanderer/ Siegfried (2018/19); Wotan/ Die Walküre (2017/18); Wotan/ Das Rheingold  recital with Lawrence Brownlee (both 2016/17). e celebrated American bass-baritone’s successes in Wagner roles include Wotan/ e Wanderer (Lyric), the Dutchman (Washington), and Alberich (Metropolitan Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, DVD). is season he returns to the Met for another major Wagner role, Hagen/ Götterdämmerung , and reprises Porgy (Amsterdam). In recent seasons Owens has triumphed at the Met in three other roles: Vodník/ Rusalka (new produc- tion), Jaufré/Kaija Saariaho’s L’amour de loin (new production, company premiere), and Orest/ Elektra (new production), all seen worldwide in HD. Recent highlights also include Méphistophélès/ e Damnation of Faust with the New Zealand Symphony and Orest at the Verbier Festival; Philip II/ Don Carlo (Opera Philadelphia); and bass soloist/ Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (Berlin Philharmonic). Owens has earned repeated successes premiering contemporary works, such as Goldenthal’s Grendel (Los Angeles), John Adams’s A Flowering Tree (Vienna’s New Crowned Hope Festival, CD) and Doctor Atomic (San Francisco, Amsterdam, Met, Lyric, CD, DVD). His operatic versatility encom- passes e Magic Flute (Paris); Norma (Covent Garden); Rigoletto and Il trovatore (Los Angeles); and Macbeth, Lost in the Stars, and e Rape of Lucretia (Glimmerglass Festival, where Owens has been artistic adviser since 2017). e Houston Grand Opera Studio alumnus serves Lyric as a Community Ambassador and the Curtis Institute as codirector of the Curtis Vocal Studies Department and Curtis Opera eatre. SONDRA RADVANOVSKY Previously at Lyric: Seven roles since 2002/03, most recently title role/ Norma (2016/17); title role/ Anna Bolena (2014/15); title role/ Aida (2011/12). e acclaimed American soprano is a favorite in all the major international opera houses. She made history two seasons ago as the first singer to portray Donizetti’s three Tudor queens in a single Metropolitan Opera season. Among her many bel canto successes are Elisabetta/ Roberto Devereux in Toronto; Norma at the Met, San Francisco, Toronto, Munich, and Barcelona; and Lucrezia Borgia in Washington. Earlier this season Radvanovsky starred as Tosca at the Met, Vienna, and Munich. Having debuted her portrayal of Maddalena/ Andrea Chénier at Barcelona s Gran Teatre del Liceu last season, she returns to that role in May at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. One of today’s most celebrated Verdians, Radvanovsky will star as Luisa Miller in Barcelona in July. She has also been acclaimed in recent sea- sons as Aida (Met, Opéra National de Paris), Amelia/ Simon Boccanegra (Paris, Opéra de Monte Carlo), Leonora/ Il trovatore (Paris), and Amelia/ Un ballo in maschera (Zurich Opera House). On recordings, Radvanovsky can be heard in Verdi scenes alongside Dmitri Hvorostovsky and on a solo disc of Verdi arias. She appears on DVD in Norma (Barcelona), Il trovatore (Met), and Alfano’s Cyrano de Bergerac (Valencia). Radvanovsky has been heard