Lyric Opera 2024-2025 Issue 2 - Fidelio

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 14 could interface with or experience the different scenes. But then there was also a choice to actually start in a car and see the scene in the car, and then they would drop you off, and another car would pick you up. It sounds quite innovative. People might step back from something like that and say, Well, is it really opera? But it really does check those fundamental boxes of music and storytelling. I think projects that push the boundaries a little bit and subject the experience to rigorous examination and questioning can be quite interesting. Again, think about the success of Twilight: Gods at Lyric. Those kinds of experiments, while they’re not necessarily possible in the physical structure of the Lyric Opera House, can inform the work that’s done on the stage, whether it’s a production of core repertoire or a commission of new work. We learn from those kinds of things and discover new ways to connect with audiences. In your time at Houston, there was a great deal of programming outside the concert hall. How do you see the role of a big organization like Lyric in a big city like Chicago? It’s really important to always be thinking about how the work you’re doing is relevant to your community. Ultimately, that’s who you serve, and that community has many different ways to potentially interface with the work that you’re doing. A primary interface is attending performances in the Opera House. But there are lots of other ways. Lyric’s Millennium Park concert is an excellent example. And all the work that Lyric Unlimited, the company’s Learning and Civic Engagement division, does in the community. Then also thinking about how you are being accessible—how are you demystifying, if you will, the experience so that people feel welcome? One of the things that happened in San Francisco—not when I was growing up, but later when I was working there—was around the time of the opening of the season, the first production from San Francisco Opera would be simulcast into the San Francisco Giants’ baseball stadium. That was led by Drew Landmesser, who worked at Lyric for a long time. For a segment of the city, that was the opera for them. They’d never set foot inside the War Memorial Opera House, but they went to AT&T Park and got hot dogs and nachos and ice cream and sat and watched the opera, which is really a beautiful thing. So should we expect to see Lyric at Wrigley Field? I make no promises! My first many months will be spent learning—learning about Chicago, learning about the community, learning about our audience, learning about how we best serve our city. I just cite that as an example of a really unexpected, outside the box, but very successful way to serve and connect with a community that might never think about setting foot inside an opera house. All classical organizations, orchestras and operas, are facing challenges and seeking to grow audience.What do you see as commonalities and differences? First and foremost, in both cases, artistic excellence has to be the goal. Making sure that what you’re putting on stage is absolutely in the front rank of what’s happening nationally and internationally. That’s definitely a commonality. I think also the nature of the business and the sources of revenue are similar. The need to sell tickets, combined with the need to raise significant philanthropic dollars to support the work and to support the service that the organizations provide to their community. A very important difference, pretty obvious, is that with opera, you’re working with singers. There’s something deeply personal when your instrument is physically located inside your body. It is a much more intimate thing. I think there is a real onus on the leader, and on everybody at an opera company, to create the conditions where it’s possible for singers to make their art at the absolute top level. There’s a component of creating an atmosphere where people can really feel at their best so that they can perform. I’m sure you can’t exactly play favorites—but do you have any favorite composers? I can tell you, quite honestly, I am a fan of great music. I get excited about anything that’s good, that’s engaging, that’s well-crafted. I love Mozart, Verdi, Wagner. Very big soft spot for Les Troyens by Berlioz, with great singers. Donizetti, Bellini, Rossini. And I am fond of some esoteric things. I love Russian opera—Rimsky- Korsakov, Tchaikovsky. I was really excited when they did Iolanta at the Met back in 2015. I’m pretty ecumenical in my tastes. John Mangum and Renée Fleming at the Houston Symphony’s 2021 Opening Night Priscilla Dickson / Houston Symphony a much more intimate thing. I think there is a real onus on the l ader, a d on everybody at an opera company, to cr ate the I get excited about anything that’s g od, t at’s i , i ill i