Lyric Opera 2019-2020 Issue 9 The Queen of Spades

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 12 The 2020/21 season at Lyric Opera of Chicago encompasses everything from crowd-pleasing Italian works to a Mozartian gem and a prestigious U.S. premiere. It’s a season that thrills general director Anthony Freud and music director Sir Andrew Davis. It will also give Lyric audiences ample opportunity to celebrate Sir Andrew, whose exceptionally distinguished tenure concludes with the final opera of the season. “Andrew’s contribution to Lyric is immeasurable,” says Freud. “He’s maintained extraordinary musical standards in a stupendously varied repertoire, and his performances have elicited immense admiration from critics and audiences alike. I’m delighted that in 2020/21 the operas he’s conducting are works for which he has huge affection, and he’ll perform each of them brilliantly.” Sir Andrew himself declares with much appreciation, “My years as music director have been fantastic. One of the great things about this company is the feeling of a large family, and the sense that we’re all here for the same reason – we love the art form and we love how we do it. There’s a lot of mutual respect in all the different departments as we try to make this ridiculous thing called opera happen. And I hope I can say, without appearing immodest, that the orchestra has developed so marvelously in the time I’ve been here – they are second to none.” For the season-opener Sir Andrew yields the podium to his colleague Carlo Rizzi, who will lead Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci . “We always try to launch every new season with something both impactful and spectacular,” says Freud. “These two operas are thrilling individually, and together they pack a huge punch.” Cavalleria is “very focused, intense, almost like a Greek tragedy. Pagliacci is splashier, showier, but equally melodramatic. They’re about real people and life-or-death emotions. This is real operatic blood and guts!” It was Rizzi, a master of Italian style, who conducted these operas when the productions were commissioned by Freud as general director of Welsh National Opera (WNO). At Lyric, Rizzi will conduct casts including two exceptional American tenors who excel in this repertoire – Brian Jagde (Turiddu/ Cavalleria ) and Russell Thomas (Canio/ Pagliacci ). They’ll appear with equally remarkable Russian artists, each in a company debut: the fiery mezzo Elena Pankratova (Santuzza/ Cavalleria ) and the vibrant soprano Evgenia Muraveva (Nedda/ Pagliacci ). In a genuine tour de force , the distinguished Italian baritone Ambrogio Maestri, will debut at Lyric portraying both Alfio/ Cavalleria and Tonio/ Pagliacci . By Roger Pines Celebration! 2020|21 at Lyric celebrates Sir Andrew Davis in the grand finale of his tenure as music director Lessons in Love and Violence (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden) c.ROH. Photo by Stephen Cummiskey Cavalleria rusticana Dan Rest General director Anthony Freud (left) with Sir Andrew Davis, for whom 2020|21 will be his final season as music director. Kyle Flubacker