Lyric Opera 2022-2023 Issue 7 - Carmen

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 8 Dear Lyric Family, What a thrill it is to welcome you into our magni cent Lyric Opera House for this exciting and enduring masterpiece: Carmen has been called a perfect opera and is one of the most popular of all masterworks in the repertoire. Despite the scandalized critics who denounced the piece at its premiere, the work was praised by Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Wagner, among other luminaries. Classics become classics with good reason—and Bizet’s opera is an outstanding example. It features riveting drama, irresistible melodies, and vivid and magni cent writing for chorus and orchestra. And, of course, it has an indelible, free-spirited heroine. As University of Chicago scholar Martha C. Nussbaum describes in her program note, the character Carmen has for generations eluded our complete understanding. Nussbaum concludes that it is in part because this character is a fully formed human being, subject to the passions and foibles that all of us share. The essential element needed to bring such a character to life is of course a world class portrayal of the title role. We’re fortunate to have with us again both J’Nai Bridges—a Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center alumna who is enjoying a dazzling global career, including recent debuts at the Metropolitan Opera, Dutch National Opera, and the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona—and our Don José, Charles Castronovo, who charmed us all last season in The Elixir of Love . You, our audience, are an essential partner in the broad collaboration at the heart of producing opera. Thank you for joining us at Carmen . Please enjoy the show! Yours truly, From the Chair and the General Director SYLVIA NEIL Chair ANTHONY FREUD OBE President, General Director & CEO The Women’s Board Endowed Chair Todd Rosenberg Todd Rosenberg