Lyric Opera 2024-2025 Issue 4 - Figaro

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 30 at Royal Ballet and Opera, Covent Garden as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte , at San Francisco Opera in Robert Carsen’s Eugene Onegin, and at Opéra national de Lyon in the title role of Le nozze di Figaro . A native of Canada, Bintner is a former member of the Opera Studio of Canadian Opera Company and has since returned as a regular guest as Eugene Onegin, Belcore ( L’elisir d’amore) , Papageno ( Die Zauberflöte) , Count Almaviva and, most recently, as Mozart’s Don Giovanni . He has performed at the Salzburg Festival as Astolfo in Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia , as Phorbas in Enescu’s Oedipe , and as the Herald in Verdi’s Otello under Christian Thielemann. Other recent highlights include Ruggiero in a new production of Halévy’s La Juive at Teatro Regio di Torino, Oronte in David McVicar’s new staging of Charpentier’s Médée, Guglielmo at Opéra national de Paris, and Albert in Werther , conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano at Covent Garden. KAYLEIGH DECKER CHERUBINO Previously at Lyric: Four roles since 2018/19, most recently Isolier/ Le Comte Ory (2022/23) and Kate Pinkerton/ Madama Butterfly (2019/20). This season, the American mezzo-soprano will make her house and role debut as Wellgunde in Das Rheingold at Opéra de Monte-Carlo. In concert she will perform Handel’s Messiah with Chicago’s Apollo Chorus and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in Copenhagen, Ethel Smyth’s Mass in D at Washington National Cathedral, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. In recital, Decker returns to SOKA Performing Arts Center for Mahler’s Ruckert Lieder and will take part in the Beyond the Aria recital series at the Harris Theater. Last season Decker made a house debut with Welsh National Opera as Dorabella in a new production of Così fan tutte and returned to Cincinnati Opera for staged performances of Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Oratorio. In concert, Decker made debuts with the San Francisco Symphony and Orchestre de Paris for Stravinsky’s Les noces, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, with the Welsh National Opera orchestra for the Mozart Requiem , with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment for Handel’s Messiah, and with the Grant Park Music Festival for Mahler’s Symphony No. 8. Other recent highlights for the Ryan Opera Center alumna include a house and role debut as Dorabella in Così fan tutte with Dallas Opera, Ruggiero/ Alcina with Les Violons du Roy, and a return to Cincinnati Opera in her role debut as Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor and Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly. SARAH MESKO MARCELLINA Lyric debut Last season, the American mezzo-soprano sang the title role in Carmen with Vancouver Opera, returned to Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for the lead role in Handel’s Julius Caesar, and made her debut with the Houston Chamber Choir and Orchestra in the world premiere of Daniel Knaggs’s new work The Joyful Mysteries . Other recent highlights include a debut with Opera Lafayette for Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and with Fresno Philharmonic for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. She returned to Houston Grand Opera and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for the title role in Carmen and to the Metropolitan Opera for Rodelinda (Eudige). Other recent engagements at the Met include Semiramide (Arsace) and Carmen (Mercédès). She sang the title role in Carmen with Tulsa Opera and made her Canadian debut in Le comte Ory (Isolier) with Edmonton Opera. On the concert stage she appeared in Handel’s Messiah at the U.S. Naval Academy and presented recitals at the University of Arkansas and Hendrix College. In previous seasons, Mesko was seen at the Met in Die Zauberflöte (Zweite Dame) and Il trovatore (Ines), and made debuts with the New York Philharmonic, the Cincinnati Opera as Ottavia in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea , and at Annapolis Opera as Jo in Little Women . Mesko appeared across the United States with the Metropolitan Opera Rising Stars concert tour, and made her role debut as Carmen with Washington National Opera in a Cafritz Young Artist performance. BRENTON RYAN DON BASILIO Previously at Lyric: Monostatos/ The Magic Flute (2021/22), Fool/ Wozzeck (2015/16). This season, the American tenor will make role debuts as Peter Quint in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw and as Tony in Francesca Zambello’s production of West Side Story with Houston Grand Opera. He also returns to Bayerische Staatsoper for his role debuts as Der Schulmeister and Mücke in Barrie Kosky’s production of The Cunning Little Vixen, and to the Metropolitan Opera to reprise the roles of Eros in John Adams’s Antony and Cleopatra and as Basilio in Le nozze di Figaro . Additional engagements include a return to San Francisco Opera to sing Nick in Poul Ruders’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Last season, Ryan appeared as Loge in Das Rheingold with Dallas Opera. He debuted at the Met as Pedrillo/ Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and has subsequently appeared as Spoletta in Sir David McVicar’s new production of Tosca . Additional highlights include his European debut as Pedrillo in a new production at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, a return to Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as Nero in Tim Albery’s production of The Coronation of Poppea , his first Lysander/ A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the U.S. premiere of Robert Carsen’s production at Opera Philadelphia, and his San Francisco Opera debut as Janek in Olivier Tambosi’s production of The Makropulos Affair . NICHOLAS NEWTON DR. BARTOLO Previously at Lyric: Alidoro/ Cinderella (2023/24), Father/ Hansel and Gretel (2022/23). Recent highlights for the bass-baritone include the Houston Grand Opera world premiere of Intelligence by Jake Heggie, Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia at Cincinnati