Lyric Opera 2022-2023 Issue 1-Ernani

25 | Lyric Opera of Chicago RUSSELL THOMAS | ERNANI Previously at Lyric: Four roles since 2016/17, most recently Mario Cavaradossi/ Tosca (2021/22) and Canio/ Pagliacci (2020/21). The internationally celebrated American tenor starred earlier this season in Vanished , a three-part indie art film produced by The Dallas Opera, and was the featured tenor in Lyric’s Verdi Voices (2021/22). The 2019/20 season included his first Don Alvaro/ La forza del destino (Deutsche Oper Berlin), Radamès/ Aida (Houston Grand Opera, Canadian Opera Company) and his return to the title role/ Otello (Washington National Opera). He recently starred in Il trovatore (Bayerische Staatsoper), Idomeneo (Salzburg Festival, in a new Peter Sellars production), Roberto Devereux (San Francisco Opera), and La clemenza di Tito (LA Opera). Thomas has previously enjoyed success as Beethoven’s Florestan (Cincinnati); Bellini’s Pollione (Lyric, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Toronto, Valencia); Verdi’s Stiffelio (Frankfurt), Don Carlo (Washington, Berlin), and Gabriele Adorno (London); and Puccini’s Rodolfo (Met). He has been featured with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, and Boston Symphony Orchestra. TAMARA WILSON | ELVIRA Previously at Lyric: Leonora/ Il trovatore (2018/19). Winner of the highly prestigious Richard Tucker Award, the Arizona-born dramatic soprano, who grew up in the Chicago area, has rapidly gained international recognition, particularly as the heroines of Verdi and Strauss. She was featured in Lyric’s Verdi Voices last season. She has previously triumphed in Il trovatore in Barcelona, Houston, Toulouse, and Mallorca. Among the ten other Verdi operas in her stage repertoire are I due Foscari (Toulouse, Santiago, Amsterdam), La forza del destino (London, Olivier Award nomination), Don Carlos (Houston, Munich, Zurich, Frankfurt), and Un ballo in maschera (Berlin, Washington). In the 2018/19 season, she returned to the Metropolitan Opera ( Aida ) and the Zurich Opera House (Chrysothemis/ Elektra ), and made her mainstage debut at La Scala (the Prima Donna and Ariadne/ Ariadne auf Naxos , after appearing with the company in the Verdi Requiem ). Her versatility extends to Don Giovanni (Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra), Norma (Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu), Die Walküre (BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra), and Die Fledermaus (in Japan under Ozawa). In demand for concert works, Wilson has made acclaimed appearances with the major orchestras of New York, Washington, Cleveland, Chicago, London, and Amsterdam, among many others. She appears on CD in the Frankfurt production of Die Frau ohne Schatten . QUINN KELSEY | CARLO Previously at Lyric: 18 roles since 2003/04, most recently Tonio/ Pagliacci (2020/21), Miller/ Luisa Miller (2019/20). The Hawaiian baritone, a Ryan Opera Center alumnus and 2015 winner of the Metropolitan Opera’s Beverly Sills Award, sang the title role in Rigoletto at Lyric (2017/18), as well as in San Francisco, Toronto, London, Zurich, Oslo, Santa Fe, and Paris. He has recently appeared as Germont/ La traviata (Covent Garden), Falstaff (Santa Fe, Saito Kinen Festival), Ezio/ Attila (San Francisco), Paolo/ Simon Boccanegra (Rome), Amonasro/ Aida (Lyric, Metropolitan Opera, Bregenz, San Francisco), Count di Luna/ Il trovatore (Lyric, Dresden, San Francisco), and Montfort/ Les vêpres siciliennes (Frankfurt). Kelsey’s operatic repertoire additionally encompasses Sancho/ Don Quichotte (Toronto), Zurga/ The Pearl Fishers (London), Athanaël/ Thaïs (Edinburgh), and the Forester/ The Cunning Little Vixen (Japan, Florence). He has presented recitals at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall and London’s Wigmore Hall, and has performed Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the San Francisco Symphony (CD, Grammy award). CHRISTIAN VAN HORN | SILVA Previously at Lyric: 18 roles since 2004/05, most recently Banco/ Macbeth (2021/22), Count Walter/ Luisa Miller (2019/20). This season the American bass-baritone, a Ryan Opera Center alumnus and winner of the 2018 Richard Tucker Award, sings Escamillo/ Carmen in his debut at the Royal Opera House. Van Horn recently made his role debut as Boito’s Mefistofele and appeared as Colline/ La bohème and Publio/ La clemenza di Tito at the Metropolitan Opera. He has also recently reprised his portrayals of Narbal/ Les Troyens (Paris) and Escamillo/ Carmen (Munich) and returned to San Francisco Opera as Zoroastro/ Orlando . His repertoire also includes the Four Villains/ Les contes d’Hoffmann (SFO), Gessler/ Guillaume Tell (Amsterdam), Zaccaria/ Nabucco (Seattle), and Banco/ Macbeth (Geneva). Successes in contemporary opera include Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating Angel (Met), Marco Tutino’s La Ciociara (SFO), Tan Dun’s Tea (Santa Fe), David Carlson’s Anna Karenina (Miami, St. Louis), and Joseph Summer’s The Tempest (Boston). Concert engagements include the major orchestras of Berlin, Cleveland, Chicago, New York, and San Francisco. Christian Van Horn is sponsored by Lois B. Siegel. Artist profiles