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Then it was on to Rossini’s “Le Comte Ory,” a farcical love story, featuring a terrific trio comprised of tenor Lunga Eric Hallam, mezzo-soprano Katherine Beck and soprano Lindsey Reynolds.Ī change of pace came by way of “Fiddler on the Roof” the classic Jerry Bock/Sheldon Harnick musical.
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Next up was Verdi’s rarely performed work, “Ernani,” the story of Elvira (captured in a feverish coloratura aria sung by Kathryn Henry), a woman madly in love with the title character (a persecuted nobleman forced to live as a bandit), but who is being pursued by both her elderly uncle, Don Ruy Gomez de Silva, and King Carlos of Spain. Opening the program was the wonderfully engaging Overture from Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera, “Hansel and Gretel.” The music steered clear of the usual darkness of that Grimm fairy tale about a wicked stepmother and a witch who abuse a brother and sister who prove that they are just shrewd enough to survive. The Ryan Opera Center ensemble, led by Donald Lee III Pritzker Pavilion, Aug. And, in addition to the opera repertory, there were songs from the two classic Broadway musicals to be performed at Lyric - “Fiddler on the Roof” (this Fall), and a revival of its 2019 production of “West Side Story” (in June 2023).
Lyric opera of chicago free#
Lyric’s free outdoor concert was an enticing event, notable for both its gathering of a dozen outstanding singers ideally backed by the Lyric’s excellent orchestra, as well as for the canny way in which it served as a teaser for the company’s upcoming season. For while there is still a large and enthusiastic audience for opera, classical music, and dance, the price of tickets, particularly in a period of inflation, also plays a role. Meanwhile, Monday morning, the front page of the New York Times featured an article about the dwindling audiences for its major performing arts companies under the headline “Stars Return to Fill the Stage, But Gaze at Many Empty Seats.” Much of the blame for the situation was placed on the pandemic, but while that certainly remains one cause of the problem, I would suggest there is another problem, too. The weather was ideal, the concert attracted an audience estimated to be about 7,000 strong, and even the irritating roar of a helicopter and the sound of a couple of emergency sirens failed to distract the gifted artists on stage.
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On Sunday evening, in the wake of a thunderous few days of the Chicago Air and Water Show, Enrique Mazzola, Lyric Opera’s Music Director (along with Donald Lee III, the inaugural Ryan Opera Center conductor/pianist), led the Lyric Opera Orchestra and singers from the Ryan Opera Center’s esteemed training center on the same stage of the Pritzker Pavillion.