Lyric Opera 2023-2024 Issue 8 - Requiem

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 12 HEIDI STOBER SOPRANO Previously at Lyric: Gretel/ Hansel and Gretel (2022/23), Dalinda/ Ariodante (2018/19), and Valencienne/ The Merry Widow (2015/16). Since her acclaimed debut as Pamina/ Die Zauberflöte at Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2008, the soprano has cultivated a long-standing relationship with the company, with recent roles including Eva/ Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , Donna Elvira/ Don Giovanni , Micaëla/ Carmen , Marguerite/ Faust, and Gretel/ Hänsel und Gretel . At Semperoper Dresden her roles include Susanna/ Le nozze di Figaro , Fiordiligi/ Così fan tutte , title role/ Alcina , Micaëla/ Carmen , Adina/ L’elisir d’amore , and she has also appeared as Adina for the Wiener Staatsoper. Stober made her Metropolitan Opera debut in the 2011/12 Season as Gretel, returning to the company in recent years as Gretel, Pamina, Oscar, and Despina/ Così fan tutte . She appears regularly at San Francisco Opera where roles include Blanche/ Dialogues of the Carmelites , Norina, Gretel, Magnolia/ Showboat , Oscar, Johanna/ Sweeney Todd , Nannetta/ Falstaff , Atalanta/ Xerxes , and Susanna. For Houston Grand Opera, her roles include Cleopatra/ Giulio Cesare , Susanna, Musetta/ La bohème , Atalanta, Drusilla/ L’incoronazione di Poppea , Norina/ Don Pasquale , and most recently Micaëla. This season’s highlights include Pamina and Rahel in the world premiere of Detlev Glanert’s Die Jüdin von Toledo for Semperoper Dresden, Musetta for the Metropolitan Opera, her house debut as Johanna for Zurich Opera and Pat Nixon/ Nixon in China for Deutsche Oper Berlin. Future plans include returns to the Deutsche Oper Berlin and her debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. ELIZABETH D e SHONG MEZZO-SOPRANO Previously at Lyric: 14 roles since 2005/06, most recently Pauline/ The Queen of Spades (2019/20) and Adalgisa/ Norma (2016/17). The 2023/24 season marked the Ryan Opera Center alumna’s debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, where she reprised the role of Octavia in John Adams’s Antony and Cleopatra , a role she premiered at the San Francisco Opera in 2022. It also sees her return to the Metropolitan Opera to reprise her much-lauded portrayal of Suzuki in Madama Butterfly . In addition, DeShong made her Teatro alla Scala debut as Bradamante in Handel’s Alcina with Les Musiciens du Louvre and Marc Minkowski. A recording of this concert was recently released by Pentatone Music. She will also join Juraj Valˇcuha and the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra for a televised performance of Mahler Symphony No. 3 in Japan. Other recent highlights include a concert performance and recording of Meyerbeer’s Le Prophète (Fidès) with Sir Mark Elder and the London Symphony Orchestra at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, her house and role debut of Fricka in Atlanta Opera’s production of Das Rheingold , a return to Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw where she rejoined John Adams for a performance of The Death of Klinghoffer , a tour as Bradamante in Alcina with The English Concert and Harry Bicket, her debut with the Festival de Saint-Denis in Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, a performance of Calbo in Rossini’s Maometto II with Washington Concert Opera, and a return to London for a recording and performance of Mercadante’s Il proscritto with Opera Rara. DeShong has performed extensively throughout the world with such companies as the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Canadian Opera Company, English National Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, Opéra National de Bordeaux, Santa Fe Opera, the Royal Opera, the Glyndebourne Festival, and Aix- en-Provence. Future plans include returns to the Deutsche Oper Berlin and her debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. MATTHEW POLENZANI TENOR Previously at Lyric: 15 roles since 1995/96, most recently the title role/ Idomeneo (2018/19) and Nadir/ The Pearl Fishers (2017/18). The lauded American tenor, an alumnus of the Ryan Opera Center, began his 2023/24 season in the title role for La clemenza di Tito at the Wiener Staatsoper before making his role debut as Orombello in Bellini’s rarely performed Beatrice di Tenda at Teatro di San Carlo. He returns to the Metropolitan Opera as Rodolfo in La bohème and makes a role debut as Florestan in Fidelio at Staatsoper Hamburg. Later in the season, he reprises the role of Giasone in Sir David McVicar’s production of Medea at the Canadian Opera Company and appears as Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at both the Met and Teatro Real de Madrid. On the concert platform, Polenzani joins the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus for Verdi’s Requiem led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Additionally, he performed as the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Chicago Symphony under the baton of Sir Andrew Davis. During the 2022/23 season, Polenzani appeared at the Metropolitan Opera as Cavaradossi in Tosca and Giasone in the company premiere of Cherubini’s Medea . Following his successful role debut as Verdi’s titular Don Carlos the prior season, he performed the role in Italian at Teatro di San Carlo and later sang the title role of Massenet’s Werther at Houston Grand Opera. At Staatsoper Hamburg, he portrayed the Duke of Mantua in Verdi’s Rigoletto and Hoffmann in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann . Additionally, he starred in a concert version Artist profiles