Lyric Opera 2018-2019 Issue 14 West Side Story

12 | May 3 - June 2, 2019 A Season to Sing About Excitement is building for the 2019/20 season at Lyric! With so many brilliant artists, so many unforgettably passionate stories, so much glorious music, and one memorable production after another, you’re sure to be enthralled by every performance you attend. You can pick from the central composers of the repertoire – Mozart, Wagner, Verdi, Puccini – while also discovering works by such outstanding contemporary composers as Jake Heggie and Jeanine Tesori. Lyric’s general director Anthony Freud and music director Sir Andrew Davis aim to establish an artistic pattern within each season, and 2019/20 is no exception. For example, the company will be moving in two new directions: producing a new or recent work every season (more on that below) and inaugurating a series of early Verdi operas, which will continue for at least ve seasons. “ e early operas of Verdi present a fantastic range of repertoire,” says Freud, “and they’re not frequently performed. e nest among them have real dramatic coher- ence, and the music is fantastic! We can produce these operas at the highest level, with outstanding singing and conducting.” e early-Verdi series will be launched with Luisa Miller , not heard at Lyric since 1981. It’s one of the strongest Verdi works of this period – a powerful romantic drama, in which an innocent village girl falls in love with a nobleman who’s already engaged to be married. As with all the operas next season, “the cast is as good as it gets,” declares Freud. He looks forward to Bulgarian soprano Krassimira Stoyanova’s return in the title role, after her wonderful Lyric debut as Amelia in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra . Also returning to Lyric’s stage are Joseph Calleja (Luisa’s beloved Rodolfo), Quinn Kelsey (Miller, Luisa’s father), and Christian Van Horn (Count Walter, Rodolfo’s father), all great favorites here. “To have Alisa Kolosova, our beautiful Olga in Eugene Onegin two seasons ago, in the small but important role of Federica is luxu- ry casting,” adds Freud, “and I’m very pleased that the marvelous young American bass Soloman Howard will debut with us as Wurm, the opera’s villain – he’ll also be Fafner in our Ring cycle.” Enrique Mazzola, who brought such power, elegance, and energy to Lucia di Lammermoor and I puritani in recent seasons, returns to conduct Luisa Miller . Two other hugely popular Italian works will also be part of 2019/20. “If you asked someone to name the greatest comic opera,” says Freud, “most people would say Rossini’s e Barber of Seville ,” which will open the season in exhilarating style. Broadway’s Rob Ashford will return to Lyric ’ s general director Anthony Freud introduces the delights of 2019/20 e leading trio of Verdi’s Luisa Miller: (left to right) Krassimira Stoyanova (Luisa), Joseph Calleja (Rodolfo), and Quinn Kelsey (Miller). ROBERT KUSEL CORY WEAVER/SAN FRANCISCO OPERA KEN HOWARD SIMON FOWLER/DECCA Lyric will present Francesca Zambello’s production of Luisa Miller , which originated at San Francisco Opera.