Lyric Opera 2018-2019 Issue 9 La Traviata

L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O 6 | February 16 - March 22, 2019 Romance is the epitome of opera. In the works opera fans love best, it’s the romantic element that stays with us the longest. We connect with an opera’s central couple, we suffer with them, we rejoice when things work out for them, but more often we cry when they don’t. Whatever the opera may be, we revel in the feelings it communicates onstage and instills in us, the audience. In no opera is that more true than in Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata . e attraction of the courtesan Violetta Valéry to the impetuous young Alfredo Germont, previously illuminated in Dumas’s La Dame aux camélias , inspired Verdi to create what is by some distance the most romantic of his operas. At its heart is the beautiful, warmhearted, nobly self-sacrificing heroine, who reveals her soul in music of heartstopping beauty and sensitivity. Violetta’s solo scene in Act One, her two duets with Alfredo, her confrontation with his father – these all belong among the most indelible moments in Verdi. e Lyric production, premiered during the 2013/14 season, was the first standard-repertoire work directed by Arin Arbus, who comes to opera from the world of the spoken theater. She’s a resident artist and former associate artistic director of one of New York’s most innovative companies, eater for a New Audience, with a specialty in Shakespeare. e theatrical world she has created for this, the most immediately appealing and best-loved of all Verdi’s operas, is utterly compelling. Arin has memorably brought to life the central character of Violetta, the world that she seduces – and that seduces her – with such tragic consequences. I am delighted to welcome back to Lyric the Russian soprano Albina Shagimuratova. Audiences at Lyric have previously relished her portrayals of Verdi’s Gilda, Donizetti’s Lucia, and Bellini’s Elvira. Her glorious voice, immaculate technique, and affinity for Italian style make light of the most intimidating vocal challenges. Violetta gives her an ideal vehicle to reveal her prowess not just vocally but as an actress, playing a character that demands absolutely everything of its interpreter. e role of Giorgio Germont brings the welcome return to our stage of eljko Lučič, the great Serbian baritone, previously Lyric’s Rigoletto and Nabucco and internationally acknowledged as one of the great Verdi interpreters of our day. Alongside eljko and Albina, making his Lyric debut as Alfredo, is a wonderful Italian tenor, Giorgio Berrugi. I know Lyric audiences will embrace his rich, ringing sound and his innate gift for Verdi phrasing. It’s always exciting to introduce an exceptional young conductor to Lyric audiences. We have one in Michael Christie, who will bring wonderful conviction and authority to this glorious score. I know you’ll be intrigued, thrilled, and finally deeply touched by the exquisite romance of La traviata. Anthony Freud General Director, President & CEO e Women’s Board Endowed Chair From the General Director STEVE LEONARD