Lyric Opera 2019-2020 Issue 9 The Queen of Spades

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 21 SAMUEL YOUN | TOMSKY Previously at Lyric: Alberich/ Siegfried (2018|19); Alberich/ Das Rheingold (2016|17). The South Korean bass-baritone, who returns to Lyric later this season as Alberich/ Ring cycle, portrayed that character in Götterdämmerung at the Edinburgh International Festival, where he was previously heard as the Rheingold Alberich. He has also starred as Wotan at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Youn began the current season at the Cologne Opera as Escamillo/ Carmen , which he will sing in July at the Teatro San Carlo (Naples). His international breakthrough came in 2012 as Wagner’s Dutchman at the Bayreuth Festival. Since then he has sung other demanding German repertoire throughout Europe, including Salome and Tristan und Isolde (both at the Deutsche Oper Berlin). His versatility also encompasses Scarpia/ Tosca (London’s Royal Opera), Iago/ Otello (Dresden), Hagen/ Götterdämmerung (Vienna), Tonio/ Pagliacci (Berlin), and Orest/ Elektra (Madrid). Youn recently reprised the Rheingold Alberich at Madrid’s Teatro Real and returned to the Cologne Opera as both Vodník/ Rusalka and Scarpia. Concert appearances include the Lucerne Festival Orchester and Seoul Philharmonic. ELIZABETH D E SHONG | PAULINE Previously at Lyric: Thirteen roles since 2005|06, most recently Adalgisa/ Norma (2016|17); Fenena/ Nabucco (2015|16). The American mezzo-soprano, a Ryan Opera Center alumna, triumphed in 2018 at the Metropolitan Opera as Arsace/ Semiramide , after previous appearances there in The Enchanted Island , A Midsummer Night’s Dream , and Lulu . She returned to the Met earlier this season as Suzuki/ Madama Butterfly , which has also brought her to Glyndebourne, Munich, and London’s Royal Opera. In addition to Arsace, her many successes in coloratura mezzo repertoire include Ruggero/ Alcina (Washington), Orsini/ Lucrezia Borgia (London, San Francisco), Cenerentola (Vienna State Opera, Glyndebourne, Toronto), Rosina (Los Angeles, Detroit), Calbo/ Maometto II (Toronto), and Juno and Ino/ Semele (Paris). She also sings Sesto/ La clemenza di Tito (Los Angeles), Hansel/ Hansel and Gretel (Glyndebourne, Edinburgh), the Composer/ Ariadne auf Naxos (2010 Washington National Opera Artist of the Year Award), Hermia/ A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Lyric, Glyndebourne, Aix-en-Provence), and Martha/John Adams’s The Gospel According to the Other Mary (Amsterdam Concertgebouw). DeShong has appeared with the major orchestras of Chicago, Cleveland, Washington, Rome (Santa Cecilia), and Vienna. JILL GROVE | GOVERNESS Previously at Lyric: Thirteen roles since 2003|04, most recently Marthe/ Faust (2017|18); Filipyevna/ Eugene Onegin (2016|17). The American mezzo-soprano, who sang the Governess earlier this season at the Metropolitan Opera, began 2019/20 at The Minnesota Opera as Klytämnestra/ Elektra , previously acclaimed at Lyric and Michigan Opera Theatre. She recently made her role debut as the Old Lady/ Candide at Des Moines Metro Opera and returned to San Francisco Opera as Mamma Lucia/ Cavalleria rusticana and the Fortuneteller|/ Arabella . Among other recent portrayals are Ježibaba/ Rusalka (Lyric, Houston, New Orleans), Baba the Turk/ The Rake’s Progress (Pittsburgh), and the title role/Britten’s Phaedra (San Antonio). Grove has earned great praise for Wagner’s Ring (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Munich); Die ägyptische Helena , Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , Giulio Cesare , and Peter Grimes (all at the Met, the latter also in Toronto); Verdi’s Amneris (Lyric, Toronto, San Diego, Dayton) and Azucena (Houston); and Puccini’s Zita/ Gianni Schicchi (Los Angeles). The mezzo-soprano has performed with the major orchestras of London, Toronto, Los Angeles, Washington, San Francisco, Houston, and Ottawa. KYLE VAN SCHOONHOVEN | CHEKALINSKY Lyric debut Among the American tenor’s recent performances in leading roles have been Bacchus/ Ariadne auf Naxos (Cincinnati Opera), Don José/ Carmen (Buffalo Philharmonic), and Lensky/ Eugene Onegin (Livermore Valley Opera. This summer, he sings his first performances of Erik in The Flying Dutchman with Opera Maine. His extensive operatic repertoire ranges from Oronte/ Alcina and Tamino/ The Magic Flute to Lysander/ A Midsummer Night’s Dream , the title role/Chandler Carter’s Bobby , and Peter Fallow/Stefania de Kenessey’s Bonfire of the Vanities . Van Schoonhoven is a graduate of the Adler Fellowship program at San Francisco Opera, where he debuted in Elektra. In 2016 he participated in SFO’s Merola Opera Program, and in 2017 he was a national winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He has received a Sara Tucker Study Grant and the George London Foundation’s Nicolai Gedda Memorial Award. Van Schoonhoven was a finalist in the 2016 Jensen Foundation Voice Competition. He is an alumnus of Westminster Choir College and Fredonia School of Music. DAVID WEIGEL | SOURIN Previously at Lyric: Five roles since 2018|19, most recently The Bonze/ Madama Butterfly , First Prison Guard/ Dead Man Walking (both 2019|20). The bass-baritone, a North Carolina native and a second-year Ryan Opera Center member, is an alumnus of Furman University (bachelor of music), the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (master of music), the A. J. Fletcher Opera Institute at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (professional artist certificate), and the University of Michigan (doctor of music). A winner of the 2016 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (Michigan District), Weigel performed with San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program in 2017 (Death|/ Savitri ) and 2013 (Collatinus/ The Rape of Lucretia ). Other recent engagements have included the title role/ The Marriage of Figaro at the Aspen Music Festival. Weigel has also performed with North Carolina Opera, Greensboro Opera, Piedmont Opera, Asheville Lyric Opera, Opera North, and the Brevard Music Center. David Weigel is sponsored by Lois B. Siegel , Michael and Salme Harju Steinberg , and Mrs. J. W. Van Gorkom .