Lyric Opera 2024-2025 Issue 7 - La bohème

29 | Lyric Opera of Chicago Artist profiles AILYN PÉREZ MIMÌ Previously at Lyric: Adina/ L’elisir d’amore (2021/22) and Marguerite/ Faust (2017/18). This season the renowned soprano makes a debut as Leonora in a new production of Il trovatore at Houston Grand Opera. She returns to the Metropolitan Opera to reprise her signature role of Mimì in La Bohème , a performance she will also offer at the Wiener Staatsoper. Additional engagements include Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, the title role in Tosca at Staatsoper Berlin, and Nedda in Pagliacci at the Bayerische Staatsoper. On the concert stage, she performs Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection,” with the Jacksonville Symphony and Carmen in concert with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, celebrating the opera’s 150th anniversary, as well as a Gala Concert for the Atlanta Opera. Career highlights include Violetta ( La traviata ) at Opernhaus Zürich, the Hamburgische Staatsoper, Staatsoper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper, San Francisco Opera, Teatro alla Scala, and the Royal Ballet and Opera. Pérez appeared there also in the title role in Massenet’s Manon , and for her role debut as Liù ( Turandot ). Other highlights include Thaïs, Mimì and Musetta ( La Bohème ), and Juliette ( Roméo et Juliette ) at the Metropolitan Opera; Adina ( L’elisir d’amore ) for the Bayerische Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Wiener Staatsoper, and Washington National Opera; Contessa Almaviva ( Le nozze di Figaro ) for Houston Grand Opera (having made her house debut there as Desdemona in Otello ); and both Tatyana Bakst in the world premiere of Jake Heggie’s Great Scott (featured on an acclaimed Erato recording release) and Manon for the Dallas Opera. Pérez was the winner of the 2012 Richard Tucker Award, the first Hispanic recipient in the award’s history. PENE PATI RODOLFO Lyric debut This season the Samoan tenor returned to Opéra national de Paris to debut as Gounod’s Faust , and made his house debuts at the Royal Ballet and Opera and Bayerische Staatsoper as Rodolfo in La Bohème , and at the Metropolitan Opera as the Duke in Rigoletto . He returns to San Francisco Opera and, in concert with Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, makes his debut in Massenet’s Werther . This summer, Pati returns to the Festival d’Aix to perform Nadir in Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs des Perles , before performing in Mozart’s Mitridate, re di Ponto at the Salzburger Festspiele, marking his debut at the festival. He ends his season with his debut at the Arena di Verona in Rigoletto . Other recent highlights include debuts at Opéra national de Paris and San Francisco Opera in L’elisir d’amore (Nemorino); Roméo et Juliette (Roméo) at San Francisco Opera, Opéra Comique, and Opéra national de Bordeaux; La traviata (Alfredo) at Staatsoper Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Dutch National Opera; Manon (des Grieux) at Gran Teatre del Liceu and Staatsoper Hamburg; La Damnation de Faust (Faust) at Opéra de Monte-Carlo; Lucia di Lammermoor (Edgardo) at Teatro San Carlo di Napoli; Mitridate, re di Ponto at Staatsoper Berlin; La Bohème (Rodolfo) at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and Canadian Opera Company; Anna Bolena (Percy) at Wiener Staatsoper; La Favorite (Fernand) at Opéra national de Bordeaux; Rigoletto (Duke) at Opéra de Rouen Normandie, Staatsoper Berlin, and Teatro San Carlo di Napoli; and the title role in La Clemenza di Tito at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. GABRIELLA REYES MUSETTA Previously at Lyric: Rosalba/ Florencia en el Amazonas (2021/22). The Nicaraguan-American soprano returns to the Metropolitan Opera this season to perform the roles of Margarita Xirgu in Osvaldo Golijov’s first opera Ainadamar , and both Mimì and Musetta in Franco Zeffirelli’s classic production of La Bohème . She will make her recital debut at Carnegie Hall with pianist Andrés Sarre for the series Nuestros sonidos: Celebrating Latin Culture in the US . Last season Reyes returned to the Met to perform the roles of Rosalba in a new production of Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas , with Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Liù in Turandot . She also made her role debut as Nedda in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci with Lyric Opera of Kansas City and revisited the role of Mimì in La Bohème with the Atlanta Opera. Concert highlights included Musetta in La Bohème with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Bravo Vail Festival; the world premiere of The Joyful Mysteries with the Houston Chamber Choir & Orchestra; and a return to the role of Marzelline in Fidelio with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel, both in LA; and on tour in Europe with stops including the Liceu in Barcelona, the Philharmonie de Paris, and the Barbican in London. Other recent highlights include Mimì in debuts at the Glyndebourne Festival and Washington National Opera, Nedda in Pagliacci for Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and First Lady in The Magic Flute and Nella in Gianni Schicchi at the Metropolitan Opera. WILL LIVERMAN MARCELLO Previously at Lyric: 13 roles since 2012/13, most recently Mike/ The Factotum (2022/23) and Charles/ Fire Shut Up in My Bones (2021/22). This season the baritone appears at the Metropolitan Opera (Papageno/ The Magic Flute ), San Francisco Opera (Marcello),