Lyric Opera 2018-2019 Issue 3 Idomeneo

L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O 18 | October 13 - November 2, 2018 Davis has longstanding working relationships with a number of Lyric stars from the 2018/19 season: Erin Wall [Elettra/ Idomeneo ]: “I’ve worked with her a lot. A glorious sound, a fantastic sense of phrase. ere are certain Mahler symphonies I wouldn’t do without her. She completely owns the title role of Massenet’s aïs ; she first learned it when understudying Renée Fleming here. She’s now singing it with me all over the world.” Matthew Polenzani [Title role/ Idomeneo ]: “Perfection. Lately it’s been extraordinary to see him expanding his repertoire. His range, both vocally and dramatically, has just exploded. e Pearl Fishers last season was phenomenal, and his Idomeneo for us will be definitive.” Christine Goerke [Brünnhilde/ Siegfried ]: “Unlike some people with huge voices, she can be unbelievably nimble with hers. She’s a dream for a conductor, a really exceptional musician, who still sings Mozart to keep the voice in trim. And dramatically she’s awesome.” Eric Owens [Wanderer/ Siegfried ]: “His voice is so rich and expressive. Like Christine, he’s an extraordinary human being, someone with such breadth of intellect and emotion -- he has everything that makes a great artist.” Alice Coote [Prince/ Cendrillon ]: “She’s extraordinarily creative and collaborative. And she’s funny! Our Cendrillon rehearsals in Barcelona were great. She brought real depth to the Prince, and vocal glory as well. In that moment where the two of them sing in unison, she and Lyric’s Cendrillon, Siobhan Stagg, will be glorious.” Davis isn’t performing with Renée Fleming at Lyric this season, but the two have worked a great deal together at Lyric and other houses internationally. He cherishes their association for many reasons. “Of course, her voice is one of the most beautiful sounds ever heard on God’s earth. She’s also a very imaginative musician who really thinks about text. She’s been able to sing such a wide repertoire – we’ve done Rusalka, aïs, La traviata, e Marriage of Figaro, Otello, e Merry Widow , but also Ravel’s Shéhérazade and Berg’s Altenberg Lieder . She has a fantastic appreciation of style. She’d also never dream of showing up for anything unprepared – it’s total professionalism. For so many young singers, she’s been such a great example.” Singers love collaborating with Davis. “I have been blessed to have worked with Sir Andrew on quite a few occasions,” says Matthew Polenzani, “and making music with him as always been a great joy to me. He is sensitive to style, but loves romance. He communicates nuance and shapes lines with care and thoughtfulness. I find that our musical minds seem to be in sync, which makes for the possibility of spontaneity, and I treasure that while I’m on stage. I’m a richer, happier musician because of the work we’ve done together. Best of all though, Sir Andrew is a great colleague. He’s a lovely man, with an easy-going style, and it makes for a great experience off the stage as well.” e Lyric orchestra has a particular appreciation for great singing. Davis delights in asserting that “I never have to encourage this orchestra to listen to singers, because they’re incredible listeners. In standard repertoire that they’ve been playing for years, it’s easier, but they listen like crazy.” Operatic conductors don’t collaborate exclusively with solo singers – they’re working with choristers as well. Davis hugely appreciates everything the Lyric chorus has to offer. “A great opera chorus will have many of the qualities you find in a great opera orchestra. Our choristers respond to stylistic needs, and they’re renowned for their ability to do anything directors ask of them. By the time I get to them, so much of the work has already been done for me. With some operas I won’t even have a chorus piano rehearsal, but our chorus master, Michael Black, is a genius and I completely trust him.” Davis hopes that any production will enable singers to engage in constant, in-depth collaboration with all the other stakeholders – orchestra, director, conductor. “Opera is such an extraordinary synthesis between different artistic disciplines. We’re doing music drama , in which music and staging are inseparably a single thing, with every element communicating with the same intention and the same inspiration.” Roger Pines, Lyric’s dramaturg, contributes regularly to opera-related publications and recording companies internationally. He is also a frequent adjudicator for important vocal competitions. Pines has appeared annually on the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts’ Opera Quiz for the past decade. To Sir Andrew Davis, bass-baritone Eric Owens (pictured left as Wotan in Lyric’s Das Rheingold ) “has everything that makes a great artist.” Davis conducts Owens in this season’s Siegfried . Sir Andrew Davis finds mezzo-soprano Alice Coote (pictured right as the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos at Lyric) an “extraordinarily creative and collaborative” artist. is season Davis and Coote, who worked together in Cendrillon in Barcelona, reprise that work at Lyric. TODD ROSENBERG DAN REST