Lyric Opera 2019-2020 Issue 2 The Barber of Seville

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 20 Artist profiles ADAM PLACHETKA | FIGARO Previously at Lyric: Papageno /The Magic Flute (2016/17) ; title role/ The Marriage of Figaro (2015/16) . The Prague native made his professional debut at his hometown’s National Theatre, where he has returned most recently as Vladislav/Smetana’s Dalibor . This season the bass-baritone will star in the title role/ The Marriage of Figaro at the Vienna State Opera and the Metropolitan Opera (where he will alternate the role with that of Count Almaviva). Recent successes include Guglielmo/ Così fan tutte (premiere of new Met production), Publio/ La clemenza di Tito (Baden-Baden), and Belcore/ L’elisir d’amore (London’s Royal Opera). Since 2010 he has been a favorite at the Vienna State Opera, acclaimed in Mozart, Handel, Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, Berlioz, and Puccini. Plachetka’s successes also include Mozart’s Figaro at the Salzburg and Glyndebourne festivals, and performances at La Scala, the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Berlin State Opera, and Munich’s Bavarian State Opera. Renowned conductors with whom Plachetka has collaborated include Daniel Barenboim, Valéry Gergiev, Riccardo Muti, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Franz Welser-Möst. MARIANNE CREBASSA | ROSINA Previously at Lyric: Dorabella /Così fan tutte (2017/18) ; Stéphano/ Romeo and Juliet (2015/16) . The French mezzo-soprano will highlight Mozart this season with Cherubino (Metropolitan Opera, Berlin State Opera) and Dorabella (Berlin State Opera, Vienna State Opera). Among her other recent successes have been Irene/ Handel’s Tamerlano and Rossini’s Cenerentola (La Scala, the latter also for her return to the Opéra National de Paris), Gluck’s Orphée (Paris’s Opéra Comique), and Mélisande (Berlin State Opera). She debuted at the Salzburg Festival as Irene and returned as Cecilio/ Lucio Silla , the title role/Marc Andre Dalbavie’s Charlotte Salomon (world premiere), and Sesto/ La clemenza di Tito . Further appearances have included Cecilio (La Scala debut) and Cherubino (Berlin, Vienna, Amsterdam, La Scala). The mezzo- soprano has recorded two critically praised solo discs: Oh, Boy! , a recital of arias for trouser roles, winner of the prestigious Echo Klassik Award for Solo Recording (Voice); and Secrets , featuring songs of Debussy, Ravel, and Crebassa’s pianist on the disc, Fazil Say, which won a Gramophone Award. LAWRENCE BROWNLEE | COUNT ALMAVIVA Previously at Lyric: Arturo/ I puritani (2017/18) ; Charlie/ Charlie Parker’s Yardbird, recital with Eric Owens (both 2016/17); Don Ramiro/ La Cenerentola (2015/16) . Winner of 2017’s “Male Singer of the Year” award from both the International Opera Awards and Bachtrack, the celebrated American tenor this season reprises Ramiro/ La Cenerentola (Amsterdam) and Count Almaviva (Dallas), while also singing his first Fernand/ La favorite (Houston). Renowned for formidable bel canto roles, Brownlee has starred in that repertoire at the Met ( I puritani, La Cenerentola, The Barber of Seville, Rinaldo, La donna del lago ), Zurich ( Le Comte Ory ), Paris ( Don Pasquale ), and Munich ( Semiramide ), among many other venues. At Opera Philadelphia he created Charlie/ Charlie Parker’s Yardbird (later at New York’s Apollo Theater, London’s English National Opera, and Lyric). Brownlee has performed with many major orchestras including those of Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Cleveland, New York, Berlin, Rome, and Munich. He premiered a new song cycle, Cycles of My Being by composer Tyshawn Sorey and lyricist Terrance Hayes, in Philadelphia, which he repeated in Chicago and at Carnegie Hall. ALESSANDRO CORBELLI | DR. BARTOLO Previously at Lyric: Eight roles since 1986/87, most recently Don Alfonso/ Così fan tutte (2017/18); DonMagnifico/ La Cenerentola (2015/16); Dr. Bartolo/ The Barber of Seville (2013/14). The Turin-born baritone has presented his acclaimed Bartolo in many major houses (most recently Glyndebourne and San Francisco Opera). Later this season Corbelli will reprise his equally celebrated Don Magnifico/ La Cenerentola (Zurich, Vienna). Other recent bel canto successes include Don Pasquale (Vienna, Glyndebourne, DVD), Taddeo/ L’italiana in Algeri (Salzburg), Dulcamara/ L’elisir d’amore (Lyric, Metropolitan Opera, Madrid, Leipzig, Barcelona, San Francisco, and Houston, among other houses), and Sulpice/ La fille du régiment (Covent Garden, Paris, Met). Corbelli is also renowned as Michonnet/ Adriana Lecouvreur (Berlin, London, Paris), Don Alfonso/ Così fan tutte (Vienna), Falstaff (Toulouse, Glyndebourne), and Gianni Schicchi (Met, Glyndebourne, Turin). In 2017 he sang his first Melitone/ La forza del destino and recently reprised the role in the acclaimed new production at London’s Royal Opera House. He holds the Premio Abbiati, the Italian music critics’ prize, for his Leporello at La Scala, and the similarly prestigious Rossini d’Oro for his Don Geronio at Pesaro’s Rossini Opera Festival.