Lyric Opera 2019-2020 Issue 6 The Three Queens

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 20 SONDRA RADVANOVSKY | TITLE ROLE | ANNA BOLENA , TITLE ROLE | MARIA STUARDA , ELISABETTA | ROBERTO DEVEREUX Previously at Lyric: Seven roles since 2002|03, most recently title role/ Norma (2016|17); title role/ Anna Bolena (2014|15). The internationally celebrated Illinois-born soprano is widely regarded as today’s preeminent interpreter of the dramatic-coloratura heroines in the bel canto repertoire. At the Metropolitan Opera she made history as the company’s first Elisabetta/ Roberto Devereux and the first artist to sing all three of Donizetti’s “Tudor Queen” operas at the Met in a single season (2015|16). Her Elisabetta has also been hailed in Toronto and San Francisco, her Anna Bolena in both Toronto and Washington (where she has also starred in the title role/ Lucrezia Borgia ). Those triumphs have been equalled by her performances in the title role/ Norma (Lyric, Met, San Francisco, Toronto, Barcelona, Oviedo). Her newest bel canto portrayal, Paolina in Donizetti’s rarely heard Poliuto , was introduced in Barcelona last season. Radvanovsky is also one of today’s foremost interpreters of Verdi heroines. In the past few seasons she has returned to several of these roles, singing Amelia/ Un ballo in maschera (Paris, Zurich), Leonora/ Il trovatore (Paris), the title role/ Aida (Paris), Amelia Grimaldi/ Simon Boccanegra (Monte Carlo, Paris), and the title role/ Luisa Miller (Barcelona). Among her other successes in less familiar Verdi roles have been Hélène/ Les vêpres siciliennes (in Paris in French, at the Met in Italian) and Lina/ Stiffelio (Met, London). She established her international reputation as Leonora/ Il trovatore , which she has sung in 15 major houses to date, as well as in two concert presentations. Post-Verdian Italian works are also a central component of Radvanovsky’s vast stage repertoire. She has recently added Maddalena/ Andrea Chénier (a much-acclaimed role debut in Barcelona, subsequently reprised in London). Among her many successes in Puccini are three title roles of Manon Lescaut (London’s Royal Opera, Edinburgh International Festival, Deutsche Oper Berlin), Tosca (Met, LA Opera, Royal Opera, La Scala, Berlin, Munich, Vienna), and Suor Angelica (LA Opera). Earlier in her career she starred as Roxane/Alfano’s Cyrano de Bergerac at the Met, La Scala, the Royal Opera, and Valencia’s Palau de les Arts “Reina Sofía.” The soprano began the current season with her return to the title role/ Rusalka (Canadian Opera Company) before joining tenor Joseph Calleja for a concert at the Festpielhaus Baden-Baden. Following “The Three Queens” in Chicago, she will star in her role debut as Imogene/ Il pirata at the Opéra National de Paris. In addition to another eagerly awaited role debut – Lisa/ The Queen of Spades at Lyric – her 2019|20 season is highlighted by the title role/ Aida at both the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Vienna State Opera. A favorite in every major opera house internationally, the soprano trained at the Metropolitan Opera in the late 1990s in the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. After beginning at the Met in supporting parts, Radvanovsky captured critical attention in her first major roles there, Antonia/ Les contes d’Hoffmann and Musetta/ La bohème . On the concert platform, Radvanovsky has appeared with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Verbier Festival Orchestra, with James Levine; with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and David Zinman; with the San Francisco Symphony and James Conlon; and with the Bayerische Staatsoper and Zubin Mehta. The soprano’s debut recording, Verdi Arias , quickly became a critical hit and made several season-best lists, including those of NPR and The New Yorker . She can also be heard in a disc of Verdi opera scenes with the late Dmitri Hvorostovsky. Radvanovsky is no stranger to the screen, having appeared in Norma , Il trovatore , Un ballo in maschera , and Roberto Devereux for the Met’s “Live in HD” series. She has also been an enthusiastic host for the company’s HD transmissions of La fanciulla del West , Otello , and Francesca da Rimini . LAUREN DECKER | SMEATON | ANNA BOLENA Previously at Lyric: Eight roles since 2016|17, most recently Jade Boucher /Dead Man Walking (2019|20); Annina /La traviata (2018|19). The Wisconsin-born contralto, a fourth-year member of the Ryan Opera Center, has been featured at the Grant Park Music Festival and in the Harris Theater’s “Beyond the Aria” series. She debuted at the San Francisco Symphony this past summer singing Elgar’s Sea Pictures . Decker was a finalist in the 2019 Operalia competition and a national semifinalist in the 2018 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. The UW- Milwaukee alumna has participated in the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices, the American Wagner Project, and the Georg Solti Accademia di Bel Canto. Decker has appeared with the Apollo Chorus/Elmhurst Symphony, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and Harare International Festival of the Arts (Zimbabwe). She has received the American Opera Society of Chicago’s 2018 Lola Fletcher Scholarship. Lauren Decker is sponsored by an Anonymous Donor , Susan M. Miller , and the Thierer Family Foundation . Artist profiles