Lyric Opera 2018-2019 Issue 6 Il Travatore

L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O 34 | December 1, 2018 - January 20, 2019 Your opera experience doesn't have to end here! When the performance is over, you can continue your exploration of Cendrillon in conversation with your companions. • Why do you think the story of Cinderella lends itself so well to opera? • What did you enjoy most about the performance? • How does your response to Massenet’s version of this famous fairytale compare to other versions you’ve experienced, whether in literature, dance, theater, musical-theater, or opera? • How do you view the stepmother’s treatment of Cendrillon, as opposed to the way the character is treated by her father Don Magnifico in Rossini’s La Cenerentola ? • What struck you as the most memorable aspect of the visual side of this production? • What was most fun to you about the distinctive characterization the production gives the character of the Fairy Godmother? • Is this an opera you’d like to see again? To continue enjoying Cendrillon , Lyric dramaturg and program editor Roger Pines suggests the following performances: ALSO OF INTEREST: Other operas by Jules Massenet DVD – Joyce DiDonato, Alice Coote, Eglise Gutiérrez, Ewa Podles, Jean-Philippe Lafont; Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, cond. Bertrand de Billy, dir. Laurent Pelly (Virgin Classics) CD – Frederica von Stade, Nicolai Gedda (tenor as Prince Charming instead of mezzo-soprano), Ruth Welting, Jane Berbié, Jules Bastin; Philharmonia Orchestra, Ambrosian Opera Chorus, cond. Julius Rudel (CBS Masterworks) CD – Cendrillon Suite (disc also includes Massenet’s Esclarmonde Suite); Hong Kong Philharmonic, cond. Kenneth Jean (Naxos) DVD – aïs : Renée Fleming, omas Hampson, Michael Schade; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, cond. Jesús López Cobos, dir. John Cox (Decca) CD – aïs : Renée Fleming, omas Hampson, Giuseppe Sabbatini; Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Chorus of L’Opéra de Bordeaux, cond. Yves Abel (Decca) DVD – Manon : Natalie Dessay, Rolando Villazón, Manuel Lanza, Samuel Ramey; Orchestra and Chorus of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, cond. Victor Pablo Pérez, dir. Sir David McVicar (Virgin Classics) CD – Manon : Beverly Sills, Nicolai Gedda, Gérard Souzay, Gabriel Bacquier; New Philharmonia Orchestra, Ambrosian Opera Chorus, cond. Julius Rudel (Deutsche Grammophon) DVD – Werther : Jonas Kaufmann, Sophie Koch, Anne-Catherine Gillet, Ludovic Tézier; Orchestra of the Opéra National de Paris, cond. Michel Plasson, dir. Benoît Jacquot (Decca) CD – Werther : Nicolai Gedda, Victoria de los Angeles, Mady Mesplé, Roger Soyer; Orchestre de Paris, cond. Georges Prêtre (EMI Classics) CD – La Navarraise : Lucia Popp, Alain Vanzo, Gérard Souzay; London Symphony Orchestra, Ambrosian Opera Chorus, cond. Antonio de Almeida (Sony Classical) CD – Chérubin : Frederica von Stade, June Anderson, Dawn Upshaw, Samuel Ramey; Munich Radio Orchestra, Chorus of the Bavarian State Opera, cond. Pinchas Steinberg (RCA) María José Moreno as the Fairy Godmother in Laurent Pelly’s production of Cendrillon ,Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona). Cendrillon : After the Curtain Falls Here are some topics to consider: ANTONI BONFILL/ GRAN TEATRE DEL LICEU