Lyric Opera 2019-2020 Issue 9 The Queen of Spades

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 15 The Elixir of Love (Pittsburgh Opera) back nearly half a century, and it remains one of his five favorite operas. (The other four are Lulu , Falstaff , Hansel and Gretel , and the final opera of the season, Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress .) “I’m very much looking forward to Figaro ,” declares Sir Andrew. “I haven’t collaborated with our director, Barbara Gaines, before, but I admire her work and like her enormously as a person, so I think it’s going to be great.” Freud adds, “Barbara is keen to explore Figaro beyond the point that her production reached when at Lyric in 2015/16. She’s relishing the prospect of collaborating with Andrew and a brand-new cast.” The ensemble will be led by the irrepressible Italian bass- baritone Alex Esposito (title role, Lyric debut), whose expansive voice and personality have excelled in Mozart and Rossini in many major houses worldwide. Opposite him will be the exquisite Chinese soprano Ying Fang (Susanna), with whom the entire Lyric audience fell in love in this season’s Don Giovanni . Lyric will also welcome in their Lyric debuts the elegant Italian soprano Federica Lombardi (Countess) and the dashing young Canadian baritone Gordon Bintner (Count). Sir Andrew also looks forward to the biggest Lyric opportunity to date for Ryan Opera Center mezzo Kayleigh Decker following her departure from the program this spring – “she will be a delightful Cherubino.” Sir Andrew considers The Rake’s Progress “one of the greatest operas ever written.” The story of an ambitious but hapless young man manipulated by the devil will unfold in the extraordinary vision of the legendary team who created their production for England’s Glyndebourne Festival Opera: the brilliant painter David Hockney, who debuted as a theatrical designer with the Rake sets and costumes; and John Cox, one of the most successful directors of the past two generations. Sir Andrew, former music director of Glyndebourne, has worked with Cox many times and is hugely enthusiastic about this famous production. Given his association with both Cox and Glyndebourne, “there is a wonderful synchronicity in having Andrew conducting the production, the finale of his tenure as music director,” says Freud. In recent seasons Sir Andrew has championed the young English tenor Andrew Staples, whom he conducted in a triumphant Rake at the Edinburgh International Festival. Staples returns to Lyric to star as Tom Rakewell, opposite a native Chicagoan, lyric soprano Janai Brugger (“she’ll be absolutely lovely as Anne Trulove,” says Davis). After Lyric successes in Handel and Mozart, the electrifying Italian bass- baritone Luca Pisaroni returns as the diabolical Nick Shadow, and a much-loved Lyric favorite, the matchlessly versatile English mezzo Alice Coote, will be luxury casting as the bearded lady Baba the Turk. The season’s second contemporary opera will be Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up , a beautifully written work that Freud describes as “a supernatural thriller, but also very political in the best sense, in that it’s about the failure of the American dream. Although a historic story, it’s extraordinarily topical in its subtext and power.” Music director designate Enrique Mazzola will conduct. “From the first conversation I had with him about becoming music director,” says Freud, “Enrique was passionate about becoming involved in every aspect of the company’s work, including community engagement and education. He said he’d love to conduct one of our contemporary operas and, being already familiar with Missy Mazzoli’s work, has fallen in love with this score.” Next season’s musical is Singin’ in the Rain , originally a beloved film made famous by Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds, brilliantly adapted for the stage. Robert Carsen’s exhilarating production originated at Paris’s Thèâtre du Châtelet, where Carsen also directed the production of My Fair Lady that charmed Lyric audiences in 2017. Another very special event will be a performance by Christine Goerke who, after triumphing as Lyric’s Elektra, Cassandre, and Brünnhilde, will return to Lyric to reveal her gifts as recitalist par excellence . The world-renowned American soprano’s richly vibrant voice, flawless musicianship, and incomparable stylistic versatility have been acclaimed in recitals all over America. It’s going to be a stupendous season, full of wondrous music-making, superb theatricality, and exhilarating visual splendor – everything that makes Lyric the jewel in the crown of the arts in Chicago. Come join us! Roger Pines, Lyric’s dramaturg, is also currently teaching the opera repertoire course of Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. Pittsburgh Opera/2018 David Bachman Photography