Lyric Opera 2021-2022 Issue 6 Tosca 2

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 12 Lyric Opera of Chicago’s dazzling 2022/23 Season will feature productions of classic operas, a continuing focus on developing and presenting new work, and the return of Lyric’s annual spring musical. General Director, President & CEO Anthony Freud and Music Director Enrique Mazzola are pleased to present this exciting mix of works, marking the company’s 68th season. “Our next season will showcase the breadth of opera at its most engaging,” Freud says. “I am particularly excited by the two world premieres we have commissioned, and for Chicago audiences to experience these relevant and diverse stories. I am proud that Lyric is at the forefront of expanding the boundaries of the opera house and bringing more diverse stories, and new voices telling those stories, to our stage and the communities we serve.” The season opens with a thrilling continuation of Lyric’s acclaimed Early Verdi Series , under the baton of Mazzola, a noted expert in this area of the repertoire, and director Louisa Muller. Ernani reveals Verdi at his most irresistibly melodic and dramatic. A persecuted nobleman forced to disguise himself as an outlaw, Ernani loves beautiful Elvira, but she’s pursued by two other men—her uncle, Silva, and the King of Spain, Carlo. This “love quadrangle” inspires grand-scale arias and ensembles, bursting with the composer’s unique energy and drive. Tamara Wilson, Russell Thomas, Quinn Kelsey, and Christian Van Horn—a quartet of world-renowned Verdians, each with a rich performance history at Lyric— will take the lead roles in this sumptuous production. The season continues with a new operatically scaled rendition of the classic musical Fiddler on the Roof , conceived by iconoclastic opera director Barrie Kosky and conducted by Kimberly Grigsby in her Lyric debut. This Komische Oper Berlin production has triumphed in a number of European cities, and makes its long- planned United States debut at Lyric. One of the world’s leading opera directors, Kosky is celebrated from Vienna to Paris and from Bayreuth to London, where his new Ring Ernani Photo: Lyric Opera of Chicago ERNANI Russell Thomas SILVA Christian Van Horn CARLO Quinn Kelsey ELVIRA Tamara Wilson World Premieres— and Tradition! Next season offers glorious music from across the centuries