Lyric Opera 2018-2019 Issue 3 Idomeneo

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 26 | October 13 - November 2, 2018 SIR ANDREW DAVIS (Conductor) Previously at Lyric: 57 operas since 1987, most recently Turandot, e Pearl Fishers, Die Walküre (all 2017/18). Lyric Opera of Chicago’s renowned music director began this season conducting the Last Night of the BBC Proms at London’s Royal Albert Hall and concerts with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. In addition to Lyric’s Siegfried and Cendrillon , 2018/19 highlights include his return to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Act One of Die Walküre with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (where Sir Andrew is currently chief conductor). Walküre was a triumph for Sir Andrew at the 2017 Edinburgh International Festival. He has also earned acclaim for recent appearances with the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Detroit and Frankfurt Radio symphony orchestras. Former music director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Davis is also conductor laureate of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (of which he is currently interim artistic director). Operatic successes include productions at many major companies, from the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, and La Scala to the Bayreuth Festival and the leading houses of San Francisco, Munich, and Santa Fe. Davis has appeared with virtually every internationally prominent orchestra, including those of Chicago, New York, London, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam. A vast discography documents his artistry, with recent releases including programs of Holst, Bliss, Finzi, and Elgar, and a 2015 recording of Handel's Messiah in Sir Andrew's own orchestration. Sir Andrew Davis is the John D. and Alexandra C. Nichols Endowed Chair . JEAN-PIERRE PONNELLE (Original Director and Set and Costume Designer) Previously at Lyric: Ten productions since 1972, most recently remountings of Don Pasquale (2012/13); La Cenerentola (2005/06); Don Giovanni (1995/96). e French director-designer (1932-1988) created his first production design in Hannover, Henze’s Boulevard Solitude (world premiere). He made his directing debut with Tristan und Isolde in 1963 in Düsseldorf, thereafter designing and directing all his productions. Ponnelle made his international breakthrough with e Barber of Seville at the 1968 Salzburg Festival. His success led to a remarkable series of productions for La Scala, Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, the major houses of San Francisco, Munich, and Zürich, and the festivals of Salzburg and Bayreuth. Among his greatest achievements were the three Monteverdi operas in Zürich; Tristan for Bayreuth; the Mozart/da Ponte operas in Paris; the world premieres of Reimann’s Lear and Troades in Munich; and three Rossini works at La Scala. Many of his productions have been remounted repeatedly worldwide, and he adapted many of them himself for video. DAVID KNEUSS (Revival Director) Lyric debut e American director recently completed his tenure at the Metropolitan Opera, where he served as executive stage director for 25 years and directed nearly 100 productions. Kneuss has also directed for the opera companies of San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Boston, Portland (Oregon), Bonn, Florence (Maggio Musicale Fiorentino), London (English National Opera), and the Hyogo Performing Arts Center (Nishinomya, Japan). His career-long association with Seiji Ozawa began with productions for the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood, Boston’s Symphony Hall, and Carnegie Hall. In Japan he has directed more than 30 productions for Ozawa’s music festivals. He continues to create productions for the Ozawa Matsumoto Festival and the Ozawa Music Academy, where Kneuss is also artistic director. His production of La Damnation de Faust at Matsumoto Castle was the Saito Kinen Festival’s first outdoor production and was seen by an audience of 5,000. His Peter Grimes , a joint venture between the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and the Saito Kinen Festival, began at the Tanglewood Music Center (celebrating the 50th anniversary of the opera’s American premiere) and was featured in the film A Tale of Tanglewood. Kneuss returns to the Met next spring to direct Dialogues des Carmélites , which will be an HD presentation. CHRIS MARAVICH (Lighting Designer) Previously at Lyric: Nine productions since 2014/15, most recently I puritani, Turandot, Rigoletto (all 2017/18). e American lighting designer’s work will be seen later this season in Lyric’s production of Il trovatore. Currently the company’s lighting director, Maravich served in the same position from 2006 to 2012 at San Francisco Opera, where he has created lighting for many productions including e Gospel of Mary Magdalene, Così fan tutte, Turandot, Cyrano de Bergerac, Il trittico, Tosca, Simon Boccanegra, Don Giovanni, Nixon in China, and Attila . He has collaborated on the lighting designs for Doktor Faust at Staatsoper Stuttgart, Tannhäuser for the Greek National Opera, and La fanciulla del West , e Makropulos Case, e Daughter of the Regiment, Il trovatore, Samson et Dalila, and Macbeth for San Francisco Opera. Maravich has also designed lighting for Opera Colorado, San Diego Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Florida Grand Opera, Madison Opera, Cal Performances, and Opera San José. MICHAEL BLACK (Chorus Master) Chorus master since 2013/14; interim chorus master, 2011/12. Chorus master from 2001 to 2013 at Opera Australia in Sydney, Black prepared the OA chorus for more than 90 operas and many concert works. He has served in this capacity for such distinguished organizations as the Edinburgh International Festival, Opera Holland Park (London), and, in Australia, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (including Rachmaninoff’s e Bells , led by Vladimir Ashkenazy), the Philharmonia Choir, Motet Choir, and Cantillation chamber choir. Black has also worked with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in Australia with Sir Andrew Davis. His recent activities include preparing the chorus of Damnation of Faust , continuing his association with Grant Park Music Festival, where he has worked for two seasons. As one of Australia’s most prominent vocal accompanists, Black has regularly performed for broadcasts and recordings (he has been heard numerous times in Australian Broadcast Corporation programs). He has served as chorus master on four continents, and his work has been recorded and/or aired on ABC, BBC, PBS, and for many HD productions in movie theaters as well as on television. Michael Black is the Howard A. Stotler Chorus Master Endowed Chair . SARAH HATTEN (Wigmaster and Makeup Designer) Wigmaster and makeup designer since 2011/12. Lyric’s wigmaster and makeup designer has worked in a wide repertoire at Des Moines Metro Opera and Michigan Opera eatre, as well as Columbus Opera, Toledo Opera, the Cabrillo Music Festival, and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She has also worked at the Glimmerglass Festival and the major opera companies of Los Angeles, Omaha, Cleveland, Sarasota, and Central City, as well as Wisconsin’s American Players eatre and, in Los Angeles, the Pantages eatre and the Geffen Playhouse. Sarah Hatten is the Marlys Beider Wigmaster and Makeup Designer Endowed Chair.