Lyric Opera 2022-2023 Issue 6 - Hansel and Gretel

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 6 Wine Auction RE TURNS MAY 11 - 13 , 2023 THURSDAY, MAY 11 Celebrated Chef and Featured Vintner Dinners in spectacular private homes in Chicago. FR IDAY, MAY 12 Featured Vintner Tasting Reception held in the Grand Foyer of the Lyric Opera House. OUR HONORED GUES T • MA I SON JOSEPH DROUH I N The wines of Joseph Drouhin are found on the finest tables, and you can experience them with your bid on their spectacular lots. Travel to the heart of Beaune for a stay in Maison Joseph Drouhin’s beautiful guest home, with a guided tour through their historical cellars, an exclusive tasting of the most prestigious wines, a private meal with a member of the Drouhin family, and more. Special thanks to all of our Featured Vintners who are so generously supporting this year’s auction. A complete list is available on our website. PICTURED: HONORED GUEST LAURENT DROUHIN OF MAISON JOSEPH DROUHIN, 2023 WINE AUCTION CO-CHAIRS SUZANNE W. MULSHINE, NANCY S. SEARLE, ERICA L. SANDNER, AND EILEEN MURPHY. PHOTO BY: JACLYN SIMPSON For more information, visit lyricopera.org/wineauction or email lyricwineauction@lyricopera.org SATURDAY, MAY 13 Wine Auction on stage at the Lyric Opera House. On the cover As the biography on page 26 of this program amply demonstrates, John Macfarlane is one of the most accomplished set and costume designers practicing today, his work having appeared not only in the major opera houses of the world, but also at a wide range of theater and dance companies. His visionary Macbeth at Lyric last season is just one example of his recent triumphs. Macfarlane also enjoys a successful career as a painter and printmaker, and the painting on the cover encapsulates his exceptional talent. Reproduced at enormous scale, it serves as a drop curtain for this Hansel and Gretel production. Does the image hold the promise of domestic comfort? “This is very much the idea of a plate and knife and fork ready for food—but white and empty,” Macfarlane says. “The lack of anything on the plate conveys starvation.” Indeed, hunger is a main driving force of the opera, the impulse that sets the characters in motion and places them in peril. For the artist, though, the imagery has proven fruitful. “It inspired a long sequence of plate and cutlery paintings in oil,” he says, “which still continues to develop today.” John Macfarlane. Front Curtain (Act I drop curtain for Hansel and Gretel ), 1998. Gouache on paper. Private collection.