Lyric Opera announces 59th season

For Immediate Release:
February 7, 2013

Long Live Passion! 

Lyric Opera of Chicago announces repertoire for 59th season:   

Otello, Madama Butterfly, Parsifal, La traviata, Die Fledermaus,
The Barber of Seville, Rusalka, La clemenza di Tito

 4 new Lyric productions including 1 premiere,  
 3 new-to-Chicago productions, 1 revival  
67 performances of 8 operas in the 24-week subscription season  
Saturday, October 5, 2013, through Sunday, March 23, 2014 

Renée Fleming and Jonas Kaufmann  
Subscriber Appreciation Concert – Wednesday, March 19, 2014 

Special Family Matinee performance of The Barber of Seville 
on Saturday, March 22, 2014 – adapted for younger kids! 

Rodgers and Hammerstein favorites to be featured as  
Lyric’s American Musical Theater Initiative continues!  
Lyric general director Anthony Freud joined by Ted Chapin,  
president & executive director of Rodgers and Hammerstein  
to announce spring performances of   

Major artists include

Juliane Banse, Johan Botha, Joseph Calleja, Alessandro Corbelli, Joyce DiDonato, Amanda Echalaz, Renée Fleming, Jill Grove, Paul Groves, Nathan Gunn, Thomas Hampson, Brandon Jovanovich, Daveda Karanas, Jonas Kaufmann, Quinn Kelsey, Kyle Ketelsen, Isabel Leonard, Amanda Majeski, Ana María Martínez, Eric Owens, Matthew Polenzani, Patricia Racette, Marina Rebeka, Stefano Secco, Alek Shrader, Bo Skovhus, Falk Struckmann, James Valenti, Kwangchul Youn

Debuting conductors include 

Marco Armiliato, Bertrand de Billy, Michele Mariotti 

 Major debuting directors include
 Arin Arbus, Rob Ashford, John Caird, Michael Grandage 

Major debuting designers include

Johan Engels, Christopher Oram, Scott Pask 

NEW! Subscribers can now save up to 40% over individual-ticket prices in every series, every day of the week, for both matinee and evening performances!  

40% discount for selected main-floor-balance seats available for all series 

Prices frozen or lowered for upper-balcony seats in several series 

Subscribers pay as little as $39 on main floor, 

as little as $25 in balcony (per performance)

Subscription prices start at just $156 for 4 operas on main floor 

and just $100 for 4 operas in upper balcony  

 
New! FLEX-4 Series – pick your own operas and performance dates! 

Choose the 4 operas you want on dates that you can attend 

Reduced children’s ticket prices for The Barber of Seville – $20 to $50! 

Subscribers get FIRST CHOICE OF SEATS and SPECIAL PRICING 

for Rodgers & Hammerstein’s THE SOUND OF MUSIC in May 2014 

(on sale August 2013)  

Lyric Opera of Chicago’s 59th Season – 2013-14 

Music Director Sir Andrew Davis on the podium for three operas: 

Chorus Master Michael Black to prepare Lyric Opera Chorus for all eight operas 

by Giuseppe Verdi/Lyric Opera production by Sir Peter Hall 

Johan Botha, Ana María Martínez, Falk Struckmann, Antonio Poli Bertrand de Billy/conductor, Ashley Dean/revival director, John Gunter/sets & costumes, Duane Schuler/lighting 

Madama Butterfly

by Giacomo Puccini/New-to-Chicago coproduction of Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Grand Théâtre de Genève Amanda Echalaz/Patricia Racette, James Valenti/Stefano Secco, Mary Ann McCormick, Christopher Purves, David Cangelosi Marco Armiliato /conductor, Michael Grandage/original director, Louisa Muller/revival dir., Christopher Oram/sets & costumes, Neil Austin/orig. lighting 

by Richard Wagner/New Lyric Opera production 

Paul Groves, Daveda Karanas, Thomas Hampson, Kwangchul Youn, Tómas Tómasson Sir Andrew Davis/conductor, John Caird/director, Johan Engels/sets & costumes, Duane Schuler/lighting, Tim Clayton/choreographer 

 
La traviata 

by Giuseppe Verdi/New Lyric Opera production Coproduction of Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Canadian Opera Company 

Marina Rebeka, Joseph Calleja, Quinn Kelsey Massimo Zanetti/conductor, Arin Arbus/director, Riccardo Hernandez/sets, Cait O’Connor/costumes, Marcus Doshi/lighting, Austin McCormick/choreographer 

 
Die Fledermaus

by Johann Strauss, Jr./New-to-Chicago production* 

Juliane Banse, Bo Skovhus, Daniela Fally, Adrian Eröd, Michael Spyres, Emily Fons, Andrew Shore Ward Stare/conductor, E. Loren Meeker/director, Wolfram Skalicki/sets, Thierry Bosquet/costumes, Duane Schuler/lighting, Daniel Pelzig/choreographer 

*Production owned by San Francisco Opera Association 

 
The Barber of Seville

by Gioachino Rossini/New Lyric Opera production 

Nathan Gunn, Isabel Leonard, Alek Shrader, Alessandro Corbelli, Kyle Ketelsen Michele Mariotti/conductor, Rob Ashford/director, Scott Pask/sets, Catherine Zuber/costumes, TBA/lighting Rusalka by Antonín Dvořák/New Lyric Opera production & company premiere Ana María Martínez, Brandon Jovanovich, Jill Grove, Eric Owens, Ekaterina Gubanova Sir Andrew Davis/conductor, Sir David McVicar/director, John Macfarlane/sets, Moritz Junge/costumes, David Finn/lighting, Andrew George/choreographer 

 
La clemenza di Tito

by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart/New-to-Chicago production* by Sir David McVicar 

Matthew Polenzani, Joyce DiDonato, Amanda Majeski, Cecelia Hall, Emily Birsan, Christian Van Horn Sir Andrew Davis/conductor, Marie Lambert/revival director, Sir David McVicar/sets, Jenny Tiramani/costumes, Jennifer Tipton/lighting *Production of the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, in coproduction with le Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse and l’Opéra de Marseille 

MAJOR LYRIC-DEBUT SINGERS INCLUDE:

NOTABLE ROLE DEBUTS

CONDUCTORS: Marco Armiliato*, Sir Andrew Davis (3), Bertrand de Billy*, Michele Mariotti*, Ward Stare, Massimo Zanetti 

STAGE DIRECTORS: Arin Arbus*, Rob Ashford*, John Caird*, Ashley Dean*, Michael Grandage*, Sir Peter Hall, Marie Lambert, Sir David McVicar (2), E. Loren Meeker*, Louisa Muller 

DESIGNERS: Neil Austin*, Thierry Bosquet, Marcus Doshi*, Johan Engels*, David Finn*, John Gunter, Riccardo Hernandez, Moritz Junge*, John Macfarlane, Sir David McVicar*, Cait O’Connor*, Christopher Oram*, Scott Pask*, Duane Schuler (3), Wolfram Skalicki, Jennifer Tipton, Jenny Tiramani*, Catherine Zuber* 

CHORUS MASTER: Michael Black 

CHOREOGRAPHERS: Tim Claydon*, Andrew George, Austin McCormick*, Daniel Pelzig 

 *Lyric Opera debut 

 *** 

Anthony Freud, General Director 

Anthony Freud, general director of Lyric Opera of Chicago, announced today the repertoire, principal singers, conductors, directors, and designers for Lyric’s 2013-14 season. Joining Freud for today’s announcement were Sir Andrew Davis, Lyric’s music director; Renée Fleming, Lyric’s creative consultant; and Ted Chapin, president and executive director of The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization: an Imagem Company, to comment on Lyric’s plans to present classic R&H musicals in 2014 and beyond, following the regular opera season. 

Lyric’s 2013-14 subscription season will offer 67 performances of eight different operas beginning Saturday, October 5, 2013, and concluding Sunday, March 23, 2014. Additionally, Lyric will present a new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music in the spring of 2014, continuing the company’s American Musical Theater Initiative. (Following the current opera season Lyric will mount a new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! May 4-19, 2013, starring John Cudia, Ashley Brown, and David Adam Moore, directed by Gary Griffin and conducted by James Lowe.)

Lyric’s 59th season fully embodies the company’s motto, Long Live Passion, said Freud. “Passion is the essence of opera – musically and dramatically. There is no more thrilling, more revelatory, more entertaining art form than opera. At its best, opera delivers tidal-wave impact, overwhelming emotion, visceral excitement. It enables us to understand ourselves, our fellow human beings, and our society.

“We have tried in every case to match the perfect conductor, the perfect director, and the perfect cast to achieve real collaboration,” Freud noted. “Opera at its best is a true marriage of music and theater – a creative process in which a work is interpreted by director and conductor along with singers, designers, and choreographers in order to achieve a complete fusion. When opera does achieve this fusion of disciplines, when it truly becomes a new element, its passion and power are revelatory and matchless.” 

Freud added that the 2013-14 season will introduce internationally acclaimed directors, conductors, singers, and designers to Chicago, as well as welcoming back to Lyric several artists who have triumphed here previously. 

Sir Andrew Davis will be on the podium for two new productions and one new-to-Chicago production next season: Parsifal, Rusalka, and La clemenza di Tito. “Parsifal is my favorite Wagner opera, and I’m thrilled to return to it in a new Lyric production with a great cast,” said Lyric’s music director. “It embodies the sacred and profane, the carnal and the spiritual, redemption and the ability to find grace, among other things. Rusalka is a darkly tragic fairytale and one of the most beautiful scores of any romantic opera. I am so excited that we’re doing it at Lyric for the first time ever – and with a terrific cast in a new production. La clemenza di Tito is a tale of political and sexual intrigue in ancient Rome, returning for the first time since 1989 in a splendid production from Aix-en-Provence with a superlative cast. I guarantee it will not be ‘stand-and-deliver’ opera seria!” 

Davis added that the 2013-14 season marks the return of chorus master Michael Black, who will prepare the Lyric Opera Chorus for all eight operas in the season (he served as Lyric’s interim chorus master, 2011-12). Lyric’s music director also noted that 2013-14 ensemble members of The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center will have roles in several of the season’s operas and will also understudy several roles. 

Late in the 2013-14 season internationally acclaimed soprano Renée Fleming and German tenor sensation Jonas Kaufmann will take the stage at Lyric in a Subscriber Appreciation Concert on Wednesday, March 19, 2014, with the Lyric Opera Orchestra conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. “I am so excited to share the Lyric Opera stage in concert with Jonas – he is a marvelous artist and collaborator – as well as with the wonderful Lyric Opera Orchestra and Sir Andrew,” Fleming said.

“SUBSCRIBE NOW!” – STILL THE BEST VALUE 

For the first time, subscribers to Lyric’s 2013-14 season can save up to 40% over individual-ticket prices in EVERY series – every day of the week, both evenings and matinees. 

 Additionally, prices have been lowered in select sections of both the main floor and the balcony – with prices frozen or lowered in the upper balcony, depending on the series. 

Here are the savings specifics: 

 • NEW 40% DISCOUNT in Main Floor Balance (within the first 22 rows, side sections) for weekday evenings (Series A, B, E, A-3, B-3, E-3) and weekday matinees (Series MB, MC, MG). 

• CONTINUED 40% DISCOUNT for Main Floor Rear Balance (rows GG-TT, side sections) in all series. 

• PRICE FREEZE in Upper Balcony 2 for weekday evenings (Series A, B, E), and all matinees (Series MA, MB, MC, MG). 

• PRICES LOWERED in Upper Balcony 2 for Saturday evenings (Series D), Friday evening (Series C), mixed evenings (Series F), and weekday evenings (Series A-3, B-3, E-3). 

“In challenging economic times we remain committed to becoming more accessible to a broader audience, and our pricing for the 2013-14 season reflects that commitment,” Freud said. Patrons can choose from 24 different subscription packages, including 11 economically-priced 4-opera series. “Nearly every series we offer will give patrons the opportunity to get seats on the main floor at a 40% discount over individual ticket prices,” Freud said.

Among the best subscription deals next season will be all 5-opera weeknight series (A-1, B-1, E-1), the 5-opera mixed evening series (F-1), and two of the 4-opera weeknight series (A-2, B-2), offering subscribers a 40% discount over single tickets in EVERY seating section. The 5-opera weeknight series provide the equivalent of two operas free. 

Lyric will offer five 8-opera series, one 7-opera series*, three 6-opera series, four 5-opera series, and eleven 4-opera series. (*The C series, formerly an 8-opera series, becomes a 7-opera series. C-series subscribers can purchase Rusalka tickets separately for 30% off through July 31.) 

Subscribers who prefer a daytime opera experience continue to have four choices: one 8-opera weekend matinee series and three 4-opera weekday matinee series, which are very popular with Lyric’s audiences. 

The popular “O” series for out-of-towners allows subscribers to choose any four operas and performance dates that suit their travel schedules. (Seat locations vary from opera to opera.) 

For the first time Lyric is offering a Flex-4 series that allows subscribers to choose four operas and performance dates – evenings or matinees. (Seat locations vary from opera to opera.) 

The overall increase of ticket prices for the 2013-14 season will be about 2%. 

All subscribers will be able to purchase additional individual tickets for any operas at a 10% discount until July 31 (excludes opening night). 

The 25% down “NO FEE” payment plan option will again be available for the coming season. Just 25% down secures subscription seats with a credit-card payment, with the remaining three payments automatically charged monthly. 

The TRADEONE™ option remains popular for subscribers to six, five, or four operas, and free ticket exchanges are an appreciated benefit for 7- or 8-opera subscribers. These benefits provide subscribers with increased scheduling flexibility. 

Subscription brochures for renewing subscribers will be mailed February 7. Weekday prices apply Monday through Friday matinees; weekend rates apply Friday evening through Sunday. 

Subscribers will get first choice of seats and special musical-theater pricing for The Sound of Music, the American musical-theater classic by Rodgers and Hammerstein scheduled for the spring of 2014, following Lyric’s regular season. The on-sale date, casting, pricing, and production information of The Sound of Music will be announced in the future. 

LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO’S AMERICAN MUSICAL THEATER INITIATIVE TO FEATURE BELOVED RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN MUSICALS 

Anthony Freud announced that following this season’s new production of Oklahoma! in May, Lyric will present The Sound of Music in 2014, Carousel in 2015, The King and I in 2016, and South Pacific in 2017. (Casting and artistic teams for each of the musicals will be announced in the future.) Freud then introduced Ted Chapin, president and executive director of The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization: an Imagem Company. 

“What, you might ask, are Rodgers and Hammerstein doing at a place like Lyric Opera of Chicago?” Chapin queried during the press conference. “Well, R&H is here because we were invited. From the first meeting I had with Anthony Freud and Renée Fleming, I was thrilled with the idea that this major American opera company would devote the same sort of passion and artistry to the musicals of Rodgers and Hammerstein that they already give to Mozart, Verdi, and Wagner. Furthermore, their plan to present five completely new productions of Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals over five consecutive years is monumental – and a great way to launch Lyric’s American Musical Theater Initiative. This is the first series of its kind. For Lyric Opera to recognize the role that musicals from Broadway’s Golden Age have in the world of 21st-century lyric theater is remarkable – and a great honor for us.” 

SUBSCRIBER APPRECIATION CONCERT MARCH 19, 2014 – SOPRANO RENÉE FLEMING & TENOR JONAS KAUFMANN 

Lyric subscribers are in for a special treat when dazzling soprano Renée Fleming (Lyric’s creative consultant) collaborates with tenor sensation Jonas Kaufmann for a single concert on Wednesday, March 19, 2014, with the Lyric Opera Orchestra, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis (Lyric’s music director). Subscribers can reserve for this extraordinary event when they place subscription orders for Lyric’s 2013-14 season. Fleming and Kaufmann first performed together in Lyric’s new production of Otello that opened the 2001-02 season (being seen in its first revival at Lyric this season). This will be their first duo concert together. 

At Lyric Fleming recently triumphed in a Subscriber Appreciation Recital with mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, part of a six-city “Soirée francaise” tour. She will reprise her portrayal of Blanche in Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire to close Lyric’s current season. Fleming has sung seven roles at Lyric since 1993-94, most recently Violetta/La traviata (2007-08) and the title role/Thaïs (2002-03). Fleming performs extensively internationally in concert and in opera, and hosts broadcasts including the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD series and PBS’s Live from Lincoln Center. Earlier this season she reprised her Desdemona/Otello at the Met; her recent portrayals there of Handel’s Rodelinda, Rossini’s Armida, and the Countess in Strauss’s Capriccio have been released on DVD. Recent recordings on the Decca label include “Poèmes” (2013 Grammy nomination) and “The Art of Renée Fleming.” 

Previously at Lyric Kaufmann portrayed Des Grieux/Massenet’s Manon (2008) and Alfredo/La traviata (2003); he made his U.S. debut at Lyric as Cassio/Otello (2001). Kaufmann’s triumphs during recent seasons include Lohengrin at La Scala, Munich, and Bayreuth; Carmen and Ariadne auf Naxos at the Salzburg Festival; Faust at the Metropolitan Opera (where he returns this season to star in a new production of Parsifal); Adriana Lecouvreur at Covent Garden and in concert with the Opera Orchestra of New York; and recitals in prestigious venues in Baden-Baden, Munich, Paris, Berlin, and Vienna. The tenor’s most recent CDs on the Decca label include solo discs of Wagner (Donald Runnicles conducting) and verismo arias (Antonio Pappano conducting). 

SPECIAL OFFERINGS FOR FAMILIES 

Lyric will again offer reduced prices for school-aged children for an opera in Lyric’s regular mainstage season. School-aged youngsters will be able to see full-length performances of The Barber of Seville when accompanied by an adult with a regularly priced ticket. Children’s tickets will range from $20 to $50, and will be available to subscribers first. “We are delighted to make it possible for Lyric subscribers to bring the children in their lives to experience The Barber of Seville, as they did with Hansel and Gretel earlier this season,” said Freud. 

Following the great success of Popcorn & Pasquale this season, a special Family Matinee performance of The Barber of Seville will be offered on Saturday, March 22, 2014, at 2pm. The understudy cast of Lyric’s mainstage production will perform a shortened adaptation of the rollicking Rossini comedy. This fun and interactive production will be a memorable introduction to opera for younger children and their families. (No babes in arms, please.) 

Through Lyric Unlimited, a wide range of performances and programs for students and adults will be offered as the Civic Opera House and in community venues throughout the Chicago area. 

NExT Discount Student Tickets will again be available. NExT tickets cost just $20 for seats throughout the Civic Opera House, and are offered only by the internet to fulltime, degree-seeking college students (who register online as NExT members) for regular performances of selected Lyric productions. Students from nearly 200 universities and colleges have purchased NExT tickets. NExT membership is free. 

Encore Evenings for Young Professionals were launched in 2011, and will be offered again next season. Substantially discounted tickets for selected performances are offered through the internet to young professionals ages 21-45. Registered members receive ticket offers in two price categories, along with invitations to special social events hosted by the Lyric Young Professionals Chapter. As with the NExT program, Encore Evenings membership is free. 

Discounts for selected performance dates during the regular season will be offered for group ticket sales next season (15+ per group). 

Free pre-opera lectures will be offered next season before every performance of every opera (except Oct. 5, opening night of the season) to enhance the opera-going experience. The informative and entertaining 30-minute talks are presented by members of Lyric’s staff and experts from the community. 

Lyric’s website (www.lyricopera.org) is a comprehensive source of information, handsomely designed and easy to navigate. Videos about each opera are available for viewing throughout the season, including movie trailer-style highlight reels, fascinating conversations with Anthony Freud, Sir Andrew Davis, and Renée Fleming, commentaries by Anthony Freud, and interviews with other artists and directors. 

Website audio features include Sir Andrew Davis’s opera previews; the Discovery Series lectures and panel discussions, available for download on lyricopera.org and iTunes as part of Lyric’s “Backstage at Lyric” podcasts; and the company’s in-depth and expertly produced Commentaries, available for streaming and downloading, free of charge. Additional website features include articles, recording and DVD recommendations, and photo galleries. 

Lyric’s website has varied content that is constantly updated during the season. Operagoers can enhance their live-opera experience by exploring the multimedia offerings. Lyric’s fan base on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. continues to grow, helping to foster opera engagement and excitement in the company’s digital communities. 

Lyric’s website also includes a customer interface feature allowing patrons to view their upcoming and past performances, exchange tickets, select their own seats, renew their donations, make other contributions, make reservations to The Sarah and Peer Pedersen Room restaurant, and receive special messaging. 

Projected English texts will be used for all eight operas in Lyric’s 2013-14 season. 

98.7WFMT will air the opening performance of each opera in Lyric’s 2013-14 season live locally (also streaming live on wfmt.com). All eight operas will be rebroadcast internationally in May and June of 2014 via The WFMT Radio Network. The Lyric Opera of Chicago Broadcasts are generously sponsored by The Hurvis Charitable Foundation, with matching funding provided by The Matthew Bucksbaum Family and Richard P. and Susan Kiphart. 

THE WORKS BEING PRESENTED by LYRIC OPERA of CHICAGO in the 2013-14 SEASON and the ARTISTS WHO HAVE BEEN ENGAGED to DATE 

Lyric Opera Production
OTELLO / Giuseppe Verdi
Sung in Italian with projected English texts
8 performances beginning at 7:30pm, except for opening night at 5pm and matinees at 2pm:
Oct. 5, 9, 13(m), 17(m), 21, 25, 29; Nov. 2
The season opens with Verdi’s riveting drama of love and obsession, Otello. The penultimate work of the Italian master’s career, this is one of the greatest adaptations of a Shakespeare play in any medium. Otello (tenor Johan Botha), Moor of Venice, is governor of Cyprus. His vicious ensign, Iago (bass-baritone Falk Struckmann), manipulates Otello into suspicion that Desdemona, the Moor’s loving wife (soprano Ana María Martínez), has been unfaithful with his lieutenant, Cassio (tenor Antonio Poli, U.S. operatic debut). Otello will be conducted by Bertrand de Billy (debut). Originally directed by Sir Peter Hall, the production will be directed in this revival by Ashley Dean (debut). Sets and costumes by John Gunter with lighting designed by Duane Schuler. Chorus master is Michael Black. Generous sponsors for this revival are Mr. & Mrs. Dietrich M. Gross, an Anonymous Donor, the Abbott Fund, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and the Mazza Foundation. “This is one of Verdi’s great masterpieces based on one of Shakespeare’s great masterpieces, in a production originally created by one of the legendary theater and opera directors, Sir Peter Hall,” said Freud. “It’s a very exciting way to launch our season.” 

New-to-Chicago Production
MADAMA BUTTERFLY / Giacomo Puccini
Sung in Italian with projected English texts
11 performances beginning at 7:30pm, except for matinees at 2pm:
Oct. 15, 18(m), 23(m), 26, 30; Jan. 11, 14, 17, 20, 23(m), 26(m)
From John Luther Long’s story and the drama by David Belasco, Giacomo Puccini created an operatic masterpiece of romance and tragedy. Premiered in 1904, this beloved opera has at its heart a Japanese geisha, Cio-Cio-San, known as “Madam Butterfly” (sopranos Amanda Echalaz, debut/Patricia Racette). In a traditional Japanese ceremony arranged by marriage-broker Goro (tenor David Cangelosi) and in the presence of the American consul Sharpless (baritone Christopher Purves, debut), Cio-Cio-San marries U. S. Navy Lt. B. F. Pinkerton (tenors James Valenti, debut/Stefano Secco, debut). He, however, does not take the marriage seriously and soon departs for America, promising to return “when the robins are nesting.” Three years pass, with Cio-Cio-San – along with her maid Suzuki (mezzo-soprano Mary Ann McCormick) and her little son – waiting for Pinkerton to come back. When he does, his wish to take his son to America leads to catastrophe for Cio-Cio-San. Madama Butterfly will be conducted by Marco Armiliato (debut). The original director is Michael Grandage (debut) and the revival director is Louisa Muller. The sets and costumes are by Christopher Oram (debut). The original lighting designs are by Neil Austin (debut). Michael Black is chorus master. Madama Butterfly is a coproduction of Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, and the Grand Théâtre de Genève. Lyric Opera coproduction generously made possible by Mr. and Mrs. J. Christopher Reyes, James N. and Laurie V. Bay, the Walter E. Heller Foundation in honor of Alyce H. DeCosta, and the Estate of Howard A. Stotler. “The more popular the opera, the more challenging it is to create a new production that ratifies the opera’s popularity and at the same time invites the audience to think about it as if seeing it for the first time,” Freud noted. “I commissioned this production in Houston; the director Michael Grandage is one of the most successful, distinguished, award-winning directors of our time. What I love about this production is that it really is faithful to Puccini’s characters and story, and brings them to life in a very detailed way in a rather spare, beautiful, aesthetically very Japanese world.” 

New Production
PARSIFAL / Richard Wagner
Sung in German with projected English texts 6 performances beginning at 6pm, except for matinee at 1pm:
Nov. 9, 13, 17(m), 22, 25, 29
Wagner’s last stage work, Parsifal abounds with emotional fervor and spiritual uplift, while also presenting characters whose complexity provokes endless food for thought in any audience. The title character (tenor Paul Groves), an innocent, finds his way to the castle of Monsalvat, where a brotherhood of knights, led by their king, Amfortas (baritone Thomas Hampson), keep watch over the Holy Grail. The old knight Gurnemanz (bass Kwangchul Youn, debut) leads Parsifal to the Grail, but Parsifal does not understand the knights’ ritual and Gurnemanz sends him away. He begins to mature as a human being when the mysterious Kundry (mezzo-soprano Daveda Karanas, debut) is sent by the sorcerer Klingsor (baritone Tómas Tómasson) to seduce him. His rejection of her, his pursuit of spiritual awakening, and his return to the knights unfold in the profoundly moving final act of the opera. Lyric Opera’s new production is conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, directed by John Caird (debut) and designed by Johan Engels (debut). The lighting designer is Duane Schuler, the chorus master is Michael Black, and the choreographer is Tim Claydon (debut). The new Lyric Opera production of Parsifal is generously made possible by an Anonymous Donor and Marlys A. Beider. “Director John Caird and designer Johan Engels want to tell the story, not use the story of Parsifal as an allegory,” said Freud. “They’re creating a spatial world within which the characters can be seen and come to life. There’s no shortage of spectacle, making full use of our stage space; we can expect that the great scenes of the Grail are going to be in a very spacious, abstract but architectural environment.” 

New Production
LA TRAVIATA / Giuseppe Verdi
Sung in Italian with projected English texts
10 performances beginning at 7:30pm, except for matinees at 2pm:
Nov. 20, 23, 27(m), 30; Dec. 3, 6(m), 9, 12(m),15(m), 20
No protagonist in opera is more vulnerable, touching, and finally heroic than Violetta Valéry, the courtesan introduced to the world (as Marguerite Gautier) through the novel and play La dame aux camélias by Alexandre Dumas the Younger. Verdi ennobled the character through music of incomparable beauty and sensitivity. A sophisticated courtesan in Paris, Violetta (soprano Marina Rebeka, debut) meets a young man from Provence, Alfredo Germont (tenor Joseph Calleja), whom she believes is offering her true love. They live together in the country, where Violetta is visited by Alfredo’s father, Giorgio Germont (baritone Quinn Kelsey). Aware of Violetta’s past, the elder Germont persuades Violetta to give up Alfredo for the sake of his family. Violetta’s decision to return to a previous lover arouses Alfredo’s jealousy and leads to catastrophe for Violetta. Massimo Zanetti will conduct Lyric’s new production, and most of the production team will make Lyric debuts: director Arin Arbus (debut), set designer Riccardo Hernandez, costume designer Cait O’Connor (debut), lighting designer Marcus Doshi (debut), chorus master Michael Black, and choreographer Austin McCormick (debut). The new Lyric Opera production of La traviata is generously made possible by the Julius Frankel Foundation in honor of Nelson D. Cornelius, Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson, Sylvia Neil and Daniel Fischel, and Helen and Sam Zell. It is a coproduction of Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, and Canadian Opera Company. “The director is a brilliant young American, Arin Arbus – I think having the story interpreted by a female director is significant,” Freud stated. “It’s important to remember that Traviata was the first contemporary opera, conceived by its creators as set in the time of its audience. Arin’s theatrical background can bring a new energy to it, though it will be in a period setting.” 

New-to-Chicago Production
DIE FLEDERMAUS / Johann Strauss, Jr.
Sung in German with projected English texts
9 performances beginning at 7:30pm, except for matinees at 2pm:
Dec. 10, 13, 16, 18, 21; Jan. 10(m), 12(m), 15(m), 18
Rivaled only by The Merry Widow as the most popular of all Viennese operettas, Die Fledermaus is the vocal and theatrical equivalent of champagne, with one unforgettably effervescent musical number after another. The puppet master of the plot is Falke (baritone Adrian Eröd, debut), who longs to get even for a prank played on him by his friend Eisenstein (baritone Bo Skovhus). Falke arranges for Eisenstein – the night before starting an eight-day jail sentence – to attend a costume ball hosted by Prince Orlofsky (mezzo-soprano Emily Fons). Once he has left home, his wife Rosalinde (soprano Juliane Banse, debut) receives her ex-lover Alfred, an opera singer (tenor Michael Spyres, debut). Their tête-à-tête is interrupted by the warden Frank (baritone Andrew Shore), intends to escort Eisenstein to jail. Terrified at being caught in flagrante delicto, Rosalinde has Alfred impersonate her husband. Falke sends her an invitation to the ball, and when she arrives – disguised as a Hungarian countess – she sees her husband flirting with her own chambermaid, Adele (soprano Daniela Fally, debut), who’s disguised as an actress. All manner of intrigue ensues on the way to the delightful conclusion. E. Loren Meeker (debut) directs the production, with sets designed by Wolfram Skalicki and costumes designed by Thierry Bosquet. The lighting designer is Duane Schuler, the chorus master is Michael Black, and the choreographer is Daniel Pelzig. The Lyric Opera presentation of Die Fledermaus is generously made possible by the Donna Van Eekeren Foundation. Production owned by San Francisco Opera Association. “We are choosing to present Die Fledermaus in a beautiful, very entertaining and funny Viennese style – a completely traditional approach,” said Freud. 

New Production
THE BARBER OF SEVILLE / Gioachino Rossini
Sung in Italian with projected English texts
10 performances beginning at 7:30pm, except for matinees at 2pm:
Feb. 1, 3, 6(m), 9(m), 12(m), 15, 18, 21, 25, 28(m)
The Barber of Seville is perhaps the most popular operatic comedy ever created. Based on the uproarious play by Beaumarchais, Rossini brought to life characters whose liveliness never fails to captivate. The composer gave every figure in this cast enchantingly fresh music, with the ensembles every bit as memorable as the arias. The barber is the ever-resourceful Figaro (baritone Nathan Gunn), who is aware that Dr. Bartolo (baritone Alessandro Corbelli) keeps his ward, Rosina (mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, debut) under lock and key. Count Almaviva (tenor Alek Shrader) enlists Figaro’s aid to get into Bartolo’s house to woo Rosina. All hell breaks loose not once but twice – first, when Almaviva disguises himself as a drunken soldier, and then later, when he presents himself as a replacement for Rosina’s supposedly indisposed music master, Don Basilio (bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen). Of course, with Figaro’s invaluable assistance, all eventually ends happily for Almaviva and his beloved Rosina. Lyric Opera’s new production is conducted by Michele Mariotti (debut) and directed by Rob Ashford (debut), with sets designed by Scott Pask (debut) and costumes by Catherine Zuber (debut). The lighting designer will be announced at a later date. The chorus master is Michael Black. The new Lyric Opera production of The Barber of Seville is generously made possible by the Gramma Fisher Foundation of Marshalltown, Iowa, the NIB Foundation, Randy L. and Melvin R. Berlin, and Margot and Josef Lakonishok. “Rob Ashford has a long string of Broadway triumphs to his credit as choreographer and director,” said Freud. “He’s staged several plays as well, both here and in London. I’m confident he’ll pay tribute to Barber’s commedia dell’arte roots with a zany comic edge.” 

New Production/Lyric Premiere
RUSALKA / Antonín Dvořák
Sung in Czech with projected English texts
6 performances beginning at 7:30pm, except for matinee at 2pm:
Feb. 22, 26; Mar. 4, 7, 10, 16(m)
The only opera of Dvořák to have established itself in the repertoire outside Eastern Europe, Rusalka offers a score of miraculous melodic inspiration. Brilliant touches of humor are included to give variety, but the heart of the work is the overwhelmingly poignant predicament of the title character (soprano Ana María Martínez), a water nymph who has fallen in love with a human prince (tenor Brandon Jovanovich). Although her father, the water-spirit Vodnik (bass-baritone Eric Owens), warns her that this may lead to disaster, she implores the witch Ježibaba (mezzo-soprano Jill Grove) to make her human. The price of this transformation is that Rusalka will lose her power to speak. She consents and becomes a ravishingly beautiful – but silent – young woman, with whom the prince falls instantly in love. He takes her home to his palace, but quickly becomes frustrated with her silence and casts his eye on an imperious foreign princess (mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova, debut). Remaining obsessed with Rusalka, he leaves the princess and rushes to the water’s edge, where he finds Rusalka and begs for her to kiss him. She knows her kiss will kill him, but he persists. When she kisses him, he dies in ecstasy, and Rusalka is left to wander the earth forever, neither fully human nor spirit. Sir Andrew Davis conducts this new production, directed by Sir David McVicar, with sets designed by John Macfarlane and costumes by Moritz Junge (debut). The lighting designer is David Finn (debut), the chorus master is Michael Black, and the choreographer is Andrew George. The new Lyric Opera production of Rusalka is generously made possible by an Anonymous Donor, Marion A. Cameron, and Sidley Austin LLP, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts. “This is one of my favorite operas, a bit like Hansel and Gretel in that it’s a traditional fairy tale with a multitude of very powerful contemporary resonances,” noted Freud. “Sir David McVicar and John Macfarlane, creators of this season’s Elektra, are ideal to deliver a production that is visually true to the story, while also exploring these dark undercurrents that give the piece so much power. And Sir Andrew will revel in the wonderfully romantic, symphonic score.” 

New-to-Chicago Production
LA CLEMENZA DI TITO / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sung in Italian with projected English texts
7 performances beginning at 7:30pm, except for matinee at 2pm:
Mar. 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23(m)
Mozart’s penultimate opera (premiered in 1791, less than a month before Die Zauberflöte), La clemenza di Tito is the composer’s final treatment of the opera seria style he had previously employed so sublimely in several other stage works, most memorably Idomeneo. Clemenza is similarly passionate, enlivened by a wildly ambitious female protagonist, Vitellia (soprano Amanda Majeski), who believes she is the victim of a serious wrong. Her father, Vitellio, had been deposed as emperor of Rome, and now the usurper’s son, Tito (tenor Matthew Polenzani), rules the city. Insisting that she belongs on the throne as empress, Vitellia persuades Sesto (Joyce DiDonato, mezzo-soprano), who is infatuated with her, to make an attempt on Tito’s life. Sesto is the emperor’s devoted friend, yet he obeys Vitellia and is captured. His confrontation with Tito puts their friendship to a severe test. Observing these central characters’ passions are Sesto’s gentle sister Servilia (soprano Emily Birsan), her ardent suitor Annio (mezzo-soprano Cecelia Hall), and Publio, commander of the Praetorian guard (bass-baritone Christian van Horn). Sir Andrew Davis conducts the production, originally directed by Sir David McVicar, who is also the set designer (debut). Marie Lambert is the revival director. The costume designer is Jenny Tiramani (debut), the lighting designer is Jennifer Tipton, and the chorus master is Michael Black. The Lyric Opera presentation of La clemenza di Tito is generously made possible by Julie and Roger Baskes, The Negaunee Foundation, and Roberta L. and Robert J. Washlow. “This will be Sir David McVicar’s first Mozart production at Lyric – one that he designed as well as staged,” Freud noted. “I saw the production’s premiere at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2011; it’s a story of ancient Rome seen through the lens of the Enlightenment. True to that approach, the designs are set in the era in which Mozart composed it, so it’s an 18th-century visual world.” 

DEBUTING ARTISTS 

OTELLO

Italian tenor ANTONIO POLI (Cassio – U.S. operatic debut)
• Winner of the highly prestigious Hans Gabor Belvedere International Singing Competition in Vienna (2010), now established as one of the younger generation’s most promising lyric tenors
• Began his stage career in 2008 as a member of the “young ensemble” of Dresden’s Semperoper, and in summer 2010 took part in the Young Singer’s Project of Salzburg Festival
• Recent successes include Stravinsky’s Pulcinella at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette under Gergiev in Madrid, and operas of Mozart (Don Giovanni, Venice, Hamburg), Donizetti (L’elisir d’amore, Graz; Lucia di Lammermoor, Valencia), Verdi (Macbeth at the Salzburg Festival, Nabucco in Rome, both under Muti), and Mercadante (I due Figaro under Muti in Salzburg and Ravenna)
• Scheduled for 2013 is Fenton/Falstaff with La Scala (both in Milan and on tour to Japan) and Glyndebourne Festival

Opera French conductor BERTRAND DE BILLY
 • One of today’s most acclaimed and stylistically versatile opera conductors
• A Paris native who established himself with tenures as music director at the Anhaltisches Theater in Dessau (1993-95) and chief conductor at the Vienna Volksoper (1996-98), before becoming music director at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona (1999-2004) and music director of Vienna’s Radio Symphony Orchestra (2002-10)
• Has led performances at the state operas in Berlin, Vienna, and Hamburg; at Covent Garden in London, La Monnaie in Brussels, and the Opéra National de Paris; and Washington National Opera and Los Angeles Opera
• A regular guest at the Metropolitan Opera since 1997 and at the Salzburg Festival since 2002, while also continuing his close associations with Vienna’s Staatsoper, Theater an der Wien, Musikverein and Konzerthaus, as well as the state operas of Munich and Frankfurt
• Has documented his artistry in Don Carlos (CD and DVD, Vienna), Pelléas et Mélisande (DVD, Vienna), La bohème with Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón (feature film, CD), the Mozart/da Ponte operas with Vienna’s Radio Symphony Orchestra (CD), Dialogues des Carmélites and Faust (both on CD), and Lucrezia Borgia, Cendrillon, Tristan und Isolde, and the Ring cycle (all on DVD) British director ASHLEY DEAN (revival director)
• Following his graduation from London’s internationally celebrated Central School of Speech and Drama, has become one of Britain’s most gifted directors, creating productions for a wide variety of companies and spaces
• Successes include Carmen (Scottish Opera), Ariadne auf Naxos, Phaedra, and Così fan tutte (all for Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), Night Pieces - Jerwood Project (Glyndebourne/London Philharmonic), Le nozze di Figaro and Peter Grimes (Surrey Opera), Twist and Shout – a musical about the Beatles (tour of Italy), The House of Bernarda Alba and The Dog Beneath the Skin (both for London’s Cockpit Theatre)
• Has revived/assisted on many opera productions by directors including Sir Peter Hall, Richard Jones, Nicholas Hytner, Graham Vick, Sir David McVicar, Sir Jonathan Miller, Nikolaus Lehnhoff, and Deborah Warner
• Has been a member of the directing staffs of Glyndebourne, English National Opera, Garsington Opera, and London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama 

MADAMA BUTTERFLY 

South African soprano AMANDA ECHALAZ (title role) • Has achieved great successes in major Puccini roles, including Tosca (triumphed as a replacement for Angela Gheorghiu at Covent Garden, other performances of the role at English National Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Berlin Staatsoper, Salzburg Landestheater), Liù (ENO), and Butterfly (Cape Town Opera)
• Has also earned critical praise as Amelia/Un ballo in maschera (Opera Holland Park), Elisabetta/Don Carlo (Berlin Staatsoper), Maddalena/Andrea Chénier (Bregenz Festival), Tatyana/Eugene Onegin (ENO), and title role/Salome (La Monnaie in Brussels)
• First attracted international attention representing South Africa in the 2005 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition
• Debuted at Covent Garden in 2008 in world premiere of Sir Harrison Birtwistle’s The Minotaur
• Future plans include debuts at the Metropolitan Opera, Canadian Opera Company, and the major houses of Strasbourg and Warsaw, as well as return engagements at Covent Garden and La Monnaie 

American tenor JAMES VALENTI (Lt. B. F. Pinkerton)
• Following his graduation from the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, has very quickly earned an outstanding international reputation in starring roles of the Italian and French repertoire
• Has appeared as Pinkerton in nine major international houses, among them the Opéra National de Paris, San Francisco Opera, the Opéra de Marseille, Dresden’s Semperoper, and Genoa’s Teatro Carlo Felice
• In 2010 debuted as Alfredo/La traviata at the Metropolitan Opera (opposite Angela Gheorghiu and Thomas Hampson) and at Covent Garden
• Other highlights include La bohème under Gustavo Dudamel (La Scala), further performances as Alfredo (eight major venues to date, including La Monnaie, the Hamburg Staatsoper, and the Salzburg Festival, the latter opposite Anna Netrebko), Maurizio/Adriana Lecouvreur (Washington Concert Opera), Nemorino (Hamburg), Edgardo (Miami), Werther (Paris, also Opéra de Lyon tour to Tokyo)
 • Received The Dallas Opera’s 2010 Maria Callas Debut Artist of the Year Award for his portrayal of Puccini’s Rodolfo Italian tenor STEFANO SECCO (Lt. B. F. Pinkerton)
• A star in all the major Italian lyric and spinto roles in major theaters internationally, after earning early-career successes as the Duke/Rigoletto in Turin, Vienna, Toulouse, and Frankfurt
• Achievements in Puccini roles include Pinkerton (Rome, Paris, Florence, San Francisco, Seattle, Torre del Lago’s Puccini Festival) and Rodolfo (Torre del Lago, Paris, Wiesbaden)
• Has also triumphed in French opera (Manon in Geneva, Werther in Frankfurt); Verdi (Don Carlo and Simon Boccanegra in Paris, Luisa Miller in Munich and Florence, La traviata at La Scala under Muti and six other major houses, I due Foscari in Trieste, Macbeth in Bilbao); and in numerous bel canto operas, among them Lucia di Lammermoor (Berlin), Roberto Devereux (Vienna, Oviedo), I puritani (Catania), Il pirata (Amsterdam), and L’elisir d’amore (Barcelona, London)
• Recent successes include Faust (San Francisco), Carmen (Venice), Roméo et Juliette (Verona), and Verdi’s I masnadieri (Naples)

British baritone CHRISTOPHER PURVES (Sharpless)
• Former choral scholar at King’s College Cambridge – has rapidly acquired a reputation as one of Britain’s most remarkable singing actors
• Since his debut at English National Opera as Masetto/Don Giovanni, has enjoyed successes as Wozzeck (Welsh National Opera), Tonio/Pagliacci (ENO), and more recently Falstaff (a triumphant portrayal at Glyndebourne, released on DVD) and Beckmesser (WNO)
• Further operatic appearances include Marco/Gianni Schicchi (Covent Garden), Lescaut/Manon Lescaut and Balstrode/Peter Grimes (both at Opera North in Leeds), the title role/Don Giovanni and The General/James Macmillan’s The Sacrifice (WNO), and several on the continent: Alcina (Munich), Nono’s Al gran sole carico d’amore (Berlin and Salzburg), Redburn/Billy Budd (Amsterdam)
• Current season includes further performances of George Benjamin’s Written on Skin (Amsterdam, London, Munich, Toulouse); Walt Disney/Phillip Glass’s The Perfect American in its world premiere (Madrid, subsequent performances at ENO); and recitals in Oxford and Lille
 • Can be heard on CD in Le nozze di Figaro (title role), Messiah, Donizetti’s Maria di Rohan, and a debut solo CD of virtuoso Handel arias 

 Italian conductor MARCO ARMILIATO
• Since his 1996 company debut he has been closely associated with the Metropolitan Opera, where this season he conducts Rigoletto (new production) and Francesca da Rimini; recent Met performances include Anna Bolena (new production, company premiere), Aida, Ernani, and Madama Butterfly
• Has recently conducted performances in his specialty, bel canto repertoire, at the Vienna Staatsoper (L’elisir d’amore, L’italiana in Algeri), the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona (Linda di Chamounix), and the Opéra National de Paris (Il barbiere di Siviglia), as well as Puccini in Hamburg (Manon Lescaut) and Munich (Tosca)
• Has also appeared at the Deutsche Oper Berlin (including Adriana Lecouvreur in concert with Angela Gheorghiu and Jonas Kaufmann) and Covent Garden; the major houses of Zurich, Madrid, Rome, and his native Genoa; and in concert at the Philharmonie in Munich and the Musikverein in Vienna • Collaborated with Renée Fleming on CD for “Verismo” (2010 Grammy Award) 

 British director MICHAEL GRANDAGE (original director)
• One of Britain’s most brilliant directors of spoken theater who, following his operatic debut with Billy Budd (Glyndebourne, 2010), has directed Madama Butterfly (Houston, 2010), Don Giovanni (Metropolitan Opera, 2011), and Le nozze di Figaro (Glyndebourne, 2012)
• Artistic director of the Michael Grandage Company, a London-based production company working in theater, film, and television; recent productions include Privates On Parade with Simon Russell Beale, Peter and Alice with Dame Judi Dench, The Cripple of Inishmore with Daniel Radcliffe, and Shakespeare’s Henry V with Jude Law
• Responsible for many of London’s most memorable productions as artistic director of the renowned Donmar Warehouse (2002-12) with repertoire ranging from Othello and The Wild Duck to The Chalk Garden, Frost-Nixon, and Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along
• Former artistic director of Sheffield Theatres (1999-2005), where his work included Schiller’s Don Carlos, which subsequently triumphed in London’s West End
• Many honors including the CBE (2011), a Tony Award (for Red, 2010), an Olivier Award (for Caligula, 2004), and four London Evening Standard Awards 

 British designer CHRISTOPHER ORAM (sets and costumes)
• Since 1995 has maintained a rewarding creative collaboration with director Michael Grandage, beginning with Arthur Miller’s The Last Yankee (Colchester) and continuing with productions for Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre and, in London’s West End, three Shakespeare plays as well as Edward II, Suddenly Last Summer, and Don Carlos
• Has designed extensively for London’s West End theaters and for the celebrated Donmar Warehouse, with major successes at the Donmar including Frost/Nixon (with Frank Langella and Michael Sheen), Red, King Lear with Derek Jacobi, and many landmark musical-theater productions
• His Hamlet with Jude Law was seen in London, Denmark’s Elsinore Castle, and on Broadway
• Other important work includes King Lear and The Seagull with Ian McKellen (Royal
• Shakespeare Company at Stratford, later London and world tour), Billy Budd (Glyndebourne), Madama Butterfly (Houston), The Magic Flute (feature film in English, directed by Kenneth Branagh)
• 2004 Olivier Award winner – best costumes (for Power); 2010 Tony Award winner – best scenic design of a play (for Red) 

PARSIFAL 

Greek-American mezzo-soprano DAVEDA KARANAS (Kundry – role debut)
• Recent highlights include German debut starring as Marfa/Khovanshchina (Frankfurt) and Canadian Opera Company debut as Brangäne/Tristan und Isolde (directed by Peter Sellars)
• Made European debut to great acclaim at Florence’s Maggio Musicale as Judith/Bluebeard’s Castle
• Highlights in America include Amneris/Aida (role debut at Arizona Opera, followed by Vancouver Opera and new Francesca Zambello production at Glimmerglass Festival); Waltraute and Second Norn/Ring cycle, Suzuki/Madama Butterfly (both at San Francisco Opera – she is a former SFO Adler Fellow); Ericlea/Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria (Chicago Opera Theater); and appearances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Schönberg’s Moses und Aron, Levine conducting)
• Future plans include appearances with the major companies of San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver, Seattle, and Zurich

Korean bass KWANGCHUL YOUN (Gurnemanz)
• Regarded internationally as one of today’s most remarkable basses, particularly in the Wagner repertoire
• Has collaborated with Barenboim, Thielemann, Luisi, Mehta, Levine, and many other major conductors
• Following his victory in the first Operalia competition (Paris, 1993), began his European career at the Leipzig Opera and then at the Berlin Staatsoper in Meyerbeer, Verdi, Wagner, and Puccini repertoire
• Subsequently has been unanimously praised at Covent Garden (King Henry/Lohengrin), the Vienna Staatsoper (Méphistophélès/Faust), the Opéra National de Paris, and Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu, as well as at the Metropolitan Opera and the Bayreuth Festival (where he has appeared since 1996 as the Landgrave, Titurel, King Marke, Fasolt, Hunding, and – since 2008 – Gurnemanz)
• Can be heard on CD in Faust (Vienna Staatsoper), Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Bayreuth Festival), and in conductor Bertrand de Billy’s recordings of the three Mozart/da Ponte operas with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra

Danish bass RÚNI BRATTABERG (Titurel)
• Making Metropolitan Opera debut as Titurel (current season) • Established himself in numerous German and Swiss houses before taking on most of the major roles in the German and Italian bass repertoire at the highly prestigious Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Dusseldorf, where he was an ensemble member from 2009 to 2011
• Has scored important successes as a guest artist at the Opéra National de Paris, Netherlands Opera (Amsterdam, where he sang Baron Ochs under the baton of Simon Rattle), and in the major houses of Bonn and Lausanne • An alumnus of both the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and the International Opera Studio in Zurich British director JOHN CAIRD • Since his professional directing debut in 1977, has become one of the most imaginative and successful theatrical figures of our time • Operatic highlights include close associations with Welsh National Opera (Don Carlos, Aida, Don Giovanni) and Houston Grand Opera (Don Carlos, André Previn’s Brief Encounter in its world premiere, Tosca, La bohème – the latter a coproduction with San Francisco Opera and Canadian Opera Company)
• From 1977 to 1990 directed more than 20 Royal Shakespeare Company productions, including the legendary Nicholas Nickleby (co-director) and six works of Shakespeare
• Musical-theater achievements in London and New York include Les Misérables (adapter and co-director), Song and Dance, Jane Eyre; his own adaptation of Bernstein’s Candide for London’s National Theatre, subsequently in the work’s Japanese premiere (2010); his own adaptation of Jean Webster’s novel Daddy Long Legs in London (2012)
• Has triumphed with many productions at London’s Royal National Theatre (since 1993), among them The Seagull with Dame Judi Dench, Peter Pan with Sir Ian McKellen as Hook, Hamlet (revived with great success at the Brooklyn Academy of Music), and the world premiere of Charlotte Jones’s Humble Boy with Dame Diana Rigg
• Honorary associate director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, principal guest director of Stockholm’s Royal Dramatic Theatre 

 South African designer JOHAN ENGELS (sets and costumes)
• Current projects in opera include Il trittico (Opéra de Lyon), Lulu (Welsh National Opera), Mathis der Mahler (Vienna’s Theater an der Wien), Die Zauberflöte (Bregenz Festival)
• Recent work includes Faust (Opéra National de Paris), Weinberg’s The Passenger (coproduction of Bregenz Festival, English National Opera, Poland’s National Theater, and Israeli Opera)
• Longstanding collaboration with British director David Pountney, with productions including Turandot (Salzburg Festival) and such rarely heard works as Nielsen’s Maskarade (Bregenz, Covent Garden), Janáček’s Fate (Vienna Staatsoper), and Smetana’s The Devil’s Wall (Prague)
• Other important productions include Don Carlos and Khovanshchina (both for Welsh National Opera), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Britain’s Opera North), Cinderella (Zurich Ballet), Béatrice et Bénédict (Chicago Opera Theater), and Otello (Parma, Monte Carlo, Los Angeles) 

LA TRAVIATA 

Latvian soprano MARINA REBEKA (Violetta Valéry)
• Following her victory in the Bertelsmann Foundation’s highly prestigious “Neue Stimmen” competition, has become one of the leading sopranos of the younger generation
• Debuted at the Metropolitan Opera last season as Donna Anna/Don Giovanni (premiere of new production – also heard in the HD transmission) • Made a sensational international debut at the 2009 Salzburg Festival as Anaï/Rossini’s Moïse et Pharaon under Muti
• Since then, has been heard at Covent Garden, the Vienna Staatsoper, La Scala, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus, Pesaro’s Rossini Opera Festival, Florence’s Maggio Musicale, and Valencia’s Palau de les Arts
• Future plans include a Handel/Mozart concert with the orchestra of La Scala, as well as Donna Anna in Zurich and Barcelona, Mathilde/Guillaume Tell and Lucia in Amsterdam, Violetta in Munich, and several starring roles in Zurich American director ARIN ARBUS
 • Made her operatic debut in 2012 directing Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia at Houston Grand Opera • Associate artistic director of off-Broadway’s classical company, Theatre for a New Audience, where her directing credits include Macbeth, Measure for Measure (Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Best Revival), Othello (six Lortel Award nominations), The Taming of the Shrew, and currently Much Ado About Nothing
• Former Playwrights Horizons directing resident, Williamstown Workshop Directing Corps member, member of the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, and Princess Grace Award recipient
• Has directed nationally at the Intiman, Hangar, and Storm Theatres; the Working Theater; Theatre Outlet; FringeNYC; HERE Arts Center; the Juilliard School; the New School for Drama; and Williamstown Theatre Festival Workshop
• In association with Rehabilitation Through the Arts, also leads a theater company of inmates at Woodbourne Correctional Facility, a medium-security prison in upstate New York American costume designer CAIT O’CONNOR
• Illustrator and painter, as well as costume designer, based in New York City
• In addition to opera, also works in dance, theater, and film • Recently designed large-scale puppets and interactive costumes with the renowned Michael Curry for the Opéra National de Paris.
• Has exhibited in New York galleries (including Soho’s Monique Goldstrom Gallery) and has participated in the group exhibition Wildly Different Things: New York and Dublin, organized by BlueLeaf Gallery, Dublin, and Contaminate NYC
• M.F.A. graduate of the Department of Design for Stage and Film at New York University, where she was awarded a graduate assistant scholarship DIE FLEDERMAUS German soprano JULIANE BANSE (Rosalinde – role debut)
• Following her operatic debut at age 20 as Pamina (Komsiche Oper Berlin) and her triumph in Heinz Holliger’s Schneewittchen (Zurich, world premiere), has won acclaim in opera and concert repertoire throughout Europe
• Appears frequently at Munich’s renowned Bayerische Staatsoper, where her most important achievements include Ilia/Idomeneo (Nagano conducting)
• Recent successes include the Countess/Figaro (Salzburg Festival, role debut), Agathe/Der Freischütz (film with the London Symphony Orchestra), the title role/Schumann’s Genoveva (Zurich, DVD), Vitellia/La clemenza di Tito (Vienna Staatsoper), and Eva/Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Zurich)
• Has also won great acclaim with the Vienna Philharmonic (Abbado), Berlin Philharmonic (Blomstedt), Cleveland Orchestra (Boulez), and the major orchestras of Boston and San Francisco; sang Mendelssohn’s Elijah opposite Bryn Terfel at the Verbier Festival
• Has also worked with Previn, Maazel, Haitink, Chailly, Rilling, and Jansons
• Last season was heard in recital in Cologne, Paris, Munich, and London’s Wigmore Hall Austrian soprano DANIELA FALLY (Adele)
• Having begun her career at 19 (first in spoken theater, later in musical comedy), first attracted significant attention as a member of the Vienna Volksoper from 2005 to 2009
• Since the 2009-10 season has been a member of the Vienna Staatsoper, triumphing in many of the most prominent big-personality roles for light soprano, including those of Johann Strauss (Adele), Richard Strauss (Zerbinetta, Fiakermilli), Verdi (Oscar/Un ballo in maschera), and Rossini (Rosina)
 • Guest engagements include the Bregenz Festival and the major houses of Munich, Dresden, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, and Zurich
• Has been heard in concerts at the Lucerne Festival, Vienna Musikverein, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Munich’s Prinzregententheater, Hamburg’s Musikhalle, and in Switzerland, Japan, China, and Dubai Austrian baritone ADRIAN ERÖD (Falke)
• A principal baritone of the Vienna Staatsoper since 2003, excelling in a wide repertoire ranging from Mozart’s Count Almaviva and Rossini’s Figaro to leading baritone roles in Roméo et Juliette, Faust (CD), Manon, Manon Lescaut, Werther (DVD), and Fedora; was also highly successfully cast in a role usually sung by a tenor, Loge/Das Rheingold • Has appeared with the Vienna Volksoper and all the other major Austrian companies • Portrayed Beckmesser/Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg for his 2009 Bayreuth Festival debut (returned to Bayreuth the following two seasons) and has also been heard at Opernhaus Zurich and the New National Theater of Tokyo
• As a concert singer, has collaborated with such major conductors as Harnoncourt, Rattle, Muti, Rilling, and Luisi American tenor MICHAEL SPYRES (Alfred – role debut)
• Since his stage debut as Puccini’s Rodolfo at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, has rapidly risen to the front rank among lyric tenors internationally • Critically acclaimed at major companies such as La Scala, Bologna’s Teatro Comunale, Rome’s Teatro dell’Opera, Dresden’s Semperoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, as well as with Riccardo Muti at the Salzburg Whitsun Festival and the Ravenna Festival
• His current season includes numerous highlights in his particular specialty, the bel canto repertoire, including Guillaume Tell (Rossini Festival at Bal Wildbad – the opera was previously a triumph for him at New York’s Caramoor Festival), La donna del lago (Pesaro’s Rossini Opera Festival), Maria Stuarda (Washington, D.C.), and Beatrice di Tenda (Carnegie Hall)
• This season he is also singing Masaniello/Auber’s La muette de Portici (Bari), Hoffmann (Barcelona), and Berlioz’s Faust (Antwerp, Ghent), as well as Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Missa Solemnis at Carnegie Hall American director E. LOREN MEEKER
• Recent productions include Die Fledermaus (San Francisco Opera), Manon (Buenos Aires’s Teatro Colón), La bohème (San Diego Opera), Franz Lehár’s Cloclo (Chicago Folks Operetta), William Bolcom’s Lucrezia (Boston University Opera Institute), and a new outreach piece, A Way Home (Houston Grand Opera’s HGOCo)
• Has also directed Don Pasquale, Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni, and La Cenerentola for Lyric Opera’s Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center
• Work as a choreographer includes productions of Mozart and Offenbach for Glimmerglass Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and Opera Boston • Current projects at Houston Grand Opera include director, From My Mother’s Mother and Past the Checkpoints (both for HGOco, world premieres); associate director, Show Boat; choreographer, Don Giovanni; will also direct a new production of Candide in Amarillo
• Has been a member of the directorial staffs of Lyric Opera and the San Diego, Houston Grand, Florida Grand, and Central City opera companies 

THE BARBER OF SEVILLE 

American mezzo-soprano ISABEL LEONARD (Rosina)
• A star of the Metropolitan Opera, where she has made an indelible impression as Stephano/Roméo et Juliette (debut, 2007), Rosina, Dorabella, Zerlina, and as Miranda/ Thomas Adès’s The Tempest (2012-13 new production); upcoming at the Met later this season is Blanche/Dialogues des Carmélites
• Other operatic highlights this season include Sesto/La clemenza di Tito (role debut, Canadian Opera Company) and the leads in Ravel’s L’heure espagnole and L’enfant et les sortilèges (Japan’s Saito Kinen Festival, Ozawa conducting)
• Has also attracted considerable attention at the Santa Fe Opera (Le nozze di Figaro, Vivaldi’s Griselda), the Vienna Staatsoper (also Figaro) and the Salzburg Festival (Così fan tutte, released on DVD)
• Juilliard graduate whose New York appearances include concerts with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the New York Philharmonic; will be heard later this season in recital for her debut at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall 

 Italian conductor MICHELE MARIOTTI
• One of the most prominent among the younger generation of Italian conductors, he debuted in opera with Il barbiere di Siviglia (Salerno, 2005), a work he has also performed at La Scala, Turin’s Teatro Regio, and Washington National Opera
• Has earned considerable acclaim in Italy with appearances at La Scala, the Teatro Comunale in Bologna (Idomeneo, Carmen, Simon Boccanegra, I puritani/DVD – currently principal conductor there), in Turin (Don Pasquale), Parma’s Verdi Festival (Nabucco), Pesaro’s Rossini Opera Festival (Sigismondo, Stabat Mater), and with the Toscanini Orchestra of Parma
• Other successes outside Italy include appearances at the Wexford Festival (Donizetti’s Don Gregorio) and Paris’s Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (concert with Flórez and Villazón)
• Future plans include Turandot (Zurich), La donna del lago (Covent Garden), and Le Comte Ory (La Scala) 

American director ROB ASHFORD
 • After ending his career as a Broadway dancer, has enjoyed spectacular successes on Broadway as a director and choreographer; most recently represented on Broadway as director of 2013 revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and choreographer of 2012 revival of Evita
• Other Broadway choreography credits include Thoroughly Modern Millie (Tony Award for Best Choreography), The Wedding Singer, Curtains, Cry-Baby, Promises, Promises, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
• Broadway directing credits include Promises, Promises and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Tony Nomination for Best Direction of a Musical)
• For City Center’s Encores! has choreographed Tenderloin, Bloomer Girl, A Connecticut Yankee, and Pardon My English[ • Has been nominated for Olivier Awards in London for Thoroughly Modern Millie (choreography), Guys and Dolls (choreography), Parade (direction and choreography)
 • London successes also include direction of A Streetcar Named Desire, Anna Christie (Donmar Warehouse, 2011 Olivier Award for Best Revival), Candide (English National Opera, subsequent revivals at Milan’s La Scala and Paris’s Châtelet); choreography for Once in a Lifetime (Royal National Theatre) American designer SCOTT PASK (sets)
• Arizona native, alumnus of University of Arizona and the Yale School of Drama
• Designed sets for Broadway musicals The Book of Mormon, 9 to 5, Promises, Promises, HAIR, Pal Joey, CryBaby: The Musical, Nine, Sweet Charity, La Cages aux Folles, Little Shop of Horrors, The Wedding Singer, Amour, and Urinetown, among others
• Designed sets for Broadway productions of Speed the Plow, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, The Coast of Utopia (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Award, Hewes Award for best scenic design), and several others
• Broadway credits also include scenery and costumes for The Pillowman (Tony Award for scenic design – originally designed for London’s National Theatre), A Behanding in Spokane, and A Steady Rain
• Designed sets for Peter Grimes/Metropolitan Opera, sets and costumes for Albert Herring/Opera North (Leeds), Chicago Opera Theater productions of Orfeo (also seen at Brooklyn Academy of Music) and Così fan tutte 

 American costume designer CATHERINE ZUBER
• One of today’s most sought-after costume designers; born in England, moved to New York with family at age 9
• More than 35 Broadway productions in a wide variety of musical and non-musical repertoire, with Tony Awards for South Pacific, The Coast of Utopia, The Light in the Piazza, Awake and Sing!, and The Royal Family
• Represented on Broadway this season by An Enemy of the People, Dead Accounts, The Big Knife, and the triumphantly successful revival of Clifford Odets’s Golden Boy
• Operatic successes in America include the Metropolitan Opera’s recent new productions of Le Comte Ory (company premiere), Il barbiere di Siviglia, Doctor Atomic (company premiere), and Les contes d’Hoffmann, all seen in HD transmissions
• Designed Francesca Zambello’s production of the Ring cycle, seen at Washington National Opera and San Francisco Opera
• Her work has also been seen abroad: Roméo et Juliette (Salzburg Festival), Carmen and world premiere of Nico Muhly’s Two Boys (English National Opera) 

RUSALKA 

Russian mezzo-soprano EKATERINA GUBANOVA (Foreign Princess – role debut)
• Moscow native, first attracted major attention as grand-prize winner at the International Vocalists’ Competition in Marmande, France (2001), later was a prize-winner at the International Mirjam Helin Vocalists’ Competition in Helsinki
• Has triumphed at the Metropolitan Opera (Giulietta/Les contes d’Hoffmann, Giovanna/ Anna Bolena, Japan tour as Eboli/Don Carlo), La Scala (Fricka/Das Rheingold and Die Walküre under Barenboim), Rome (Clytemnestre/Gluck’s Iphigénie en Aulide under Muti), Covent Garden, the state operas of Munich and Vienna, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and the major Spanish houses
• Following her tenure with Covent Garden’s young-artist program, sang Brangäne/ Tristan und Isolde at Opéra National de Paris with immense success, subsequently reprising the portrayal in Baden-Baden, Rotterdam, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, St. Petersburg, and Munich
• Has also collaborated with Gergiev, Salonen, Bychkov, Nagano, and many other celebrated conductors
• Future plans include Don Carlo (Amsterdam, Berlin Staatsoper, La Scala, Vienna, Met, Florence), Adriana Lecouvreur (London), Tristan und Isolde (Munich, Madrid) and the Ring cycle (Berlin Staatsoper, La Scala) German costume designer MORITZ JUNGE
• In little more than a decade, has established himself as one of the most successful in the younger generation of European costume designers
• Operatic work includes Handel’s Messiah for its staged version (English National Opera), Aida and the world-premiere production of Thomas Adès’s The Tempest (Royal Opera House-Covent Garden), La Cenerentola (Glyndebourne Festival Opera) and the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Vivaldi’s Ottone in Villa in Kiel, Rigoletto in Hannover, and Un ballo in maschera in Freiburg
 • Designs for major theaters in London include Dido, Queen of Carthage and The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other (National Theatre), All About My Mother (Old Vic), and Judgment Day (Almeida Theatre)
• Designed choreographer Wayne McGregor’s Infra and Chroma for the Royal Ballet CLEMENZA DI TITO British costume designer JENNY TIRAMANI
• Former associate designer of the Theatre Royal/Stratford East (1979-1977) and former director of theatre design at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London (1997-2005)
• Olivier Award winner for best costume designer, 2003 (Globe production of Twelfth Night) • Recent work includes costume designs for La clemenza di Tito (Aix-en-Provence Festival), Anna Bolena (Metropolitan Opera, company premiere), Richard III (Globe)
• A founding member and head of The School of Historical Dress, a new venture founded in 2009 to teach an object-based approach to the subject
• Renowned internationally as an authority on 17th-century costume 

RETURNING ARTISTS 

OTELLO 

South African tenor JOHAN BOTHA (title role) Previously at Lyric Opera: Five roles since 1998-99, most recently Walther von Stolzing/Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (current season), title role/Lohengrin (2010-11)
• Unique among today’s tenors for his musicality and technical prowess in the most formidable roles for heroic tenor
• Has triumphed as Otello at the Met (including this season’s HD transmission) and San Francisco Opera, the Vienna Staatsoper, Munich’s Bayerische Staatsoper (where he will sing the role again later this season), and Mannheim’s Nationaltheater
• Other recent successes in Italian roles include Radames (Vienna), Canio (Hamburg), and Pollione/Norma (Berlin)
• Recent successes in his signature roles from the German repertoire include Florestan (Berlin), Lohengin (Berlin, London, Bucharest), Siegmund (Met, Vienna, Bayreuth), and Walther von Stolzing (Vienna, Cologne)
• Siegmund in Bayreuth’s 2010 production of Die Walküre is his most recent DVD release

Puerto Rican soprano ANA MARÍA MARTÍNEZ (Desdemona – role debut)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Three roles since 2008-09, most recently Mimì/La bohème (current season), Marguerite/Faust (2009-10)
• Greatly acclaimed internationally for her vocal beauty, musicality, and extraordinarily sympathetic personality in the gamut of leading lyric-soprano roles
• Triumphed as Mimì most recently in Munich (2012) and Santa Fe (2011)
• Most significant achievements include recent role debuts as Rusalka (premiere of Glyndebourne’s new production – now on CD), Alice Ford/Falstaff (premiere of Covent Garden’s new production), later this season sings her first Eva/Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (premiere of Netherlands Opera’s new production)
• Has also earned acclaim in the title role/Luisa Miller (Bayerische Staatsoper, Opéra National de Paris, San Francisco Opera), Violetta/La traviata (Covent Garden), title role/Madama Butterfly (Washington, Houston), Mélisande/Pelléas et Mélisande (Florence), Blanche/Dialogues des Carmélites (Hamburg), and Rosina/Il barbiere di Siviglia (Houston, Santa Fe)
• Regular concert partner of Plácido Domingo – they collaborated on a recent DVD, “Amor, Vida de mi Vida” (zarzuela concert, Salzburg Festival) 

 German bass-baritone FALK STRUCKMANN (Iago)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Pizarro/Fidelio (2004-05)
• Renowned internationally as one of today’s most thrillingly charismatic singing actors
• At the Metropolitan Opera earlier this season, he triumphed as Iago (opposite Johan Botha and Renée Fleming, including HD transmission)
• A major figure at the Bayreuth and Salzburg festivals, La Scala, Covent Garden, and Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu, among many other prestigious companies
• His current season includes numerous heroic German roles, including Wotan/Ring cycle (Hamburg), Amfortas/Parsifal (Vienna), Colonna/Wagner’s Rienzi (Frankfurt), as well as Iago (Vienna) and Puccini’s Scarpia (Bilbao)
• His discography includes Fidelio, Lohengrin, Tristan und Isolde, Parsifal, The Flying Dutchman; appears on DVD in the Ring cycle, Salome, and numerous other operas British director SIR PETER HALL (original director) Previously at Lyric Opera: Five productions since 1987-88, most recently Le nozze di Figaro (2009-10), The Midsummer Marriage (2005-06) • One of the world’s most respected theatrical figures of the past half-century
• Former artistic director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera (1984-90), has also created productions for the Metropolitan Opera, the Bayreuth Festival, Los Angeles Opera, and Houston Grand Opera
• Founder/director of the Royal Shakespeare Company (1960-68) and former director of Great Britain’s Royal National Theatre (1973-88)
 • Tony Award winner for his productions of The Homecoming and Amadeus
• The Peter Hall Company, which he launched in 1988, has become one of the U.K.’s most highly regarded independent theater groups, having staged some sixty productions since its formation
• Director Emeritus of the recently opened Rose Theatre, and Chancellor of Kingston University, London
• Also a director for film and television; author of several books on theater 

 British set and costume designer JOHN GUNTER
Previously at Lyric Opera: Otello (2001-02)
• Has maintained a highly distinguished career in British theater, with productions for every major company, including the Royal Court, National Theatre (former Head of Design), Royal Shakespeare Company, and Peter Hall Company, as well as various West End theaters and the Chichester Festival
• His designs for opera have won acclaim at Glyndebourne (Le nozze di Figaro, Albert Herring, Porgy and Bess – the latter earned Gunter an Emmy Award for its American television presentation), Covent Garden (Simon Boccanegra, Der fliegende Holländer), English National opera (Sir John in Love, Faust, Don Quichotte, Mefistofele), the Salzburg Festival (Peter Grimes), and Los Angeles Opera (Roméo et Juliette), as well as at San Francisco Opera, La Scala, the Teatro Colón, and Opera Australia
• Broadway debut with The Philanthropist (1971) – other Broadway productions have included Comedians, Ross, Plenty, All’s Well That Ends Well, Wild Honey, and most recently David Hare’s Skylight 

MADAMA BUTTERFLY

American soprano PATRICIA RACETTE (title role)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Four roles since 2000-01, most recently title role/Madama Butterfly (2008-09), Mme. Lidoine/Dialogues des Carmélites (2006-07)
• Celebrated as one of today’s foremost singing actresses, frequently heard as Puccini heroines, including Butterfly (a triumph for her at the Metropolitan Opera – including HD transmission – as well as at San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and many other major houses), Liù, Mimì, Magda/La rondine, and Tosca
• Has earned huge critical acclaim for her starring roles in world premieres of Paul Moravec’s The Letter (Santa Fe Opera), Tobias Picker’s An American Tragedy (Metropolitan Opera), Picker’s Emmeline (Santa Fe Opera, CD), and Carlisle Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree (Houston Grand Opera)
• This season Puccini repertoire brings her to the Theater an der Wien (company debut in Il tabarro and Suor Angelica), Washington National Opera (Manon Lescaut), and San Francisco Opera (Tosca)
 • Other highlights of current season include her return to the Met (Il trovatore, Dialogues des Carmélites) and her New York Philharmonic debut (Dallapiccola’s Il prigioniero)
• Recently released is her cabaret album, “Diva on Detour,” following solo appearances in New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Dallas, and Santa Fe 

 American mezzo-soprano MARY ANN McCORMICK (Suzuki) Previously at Lyric Opera: Rosina/The Barber of Seville (1994-95)
• Extensive international credits include title role/L’italiana in Algeri (La Scala), Azucena/Il trovatore (Turin’s Teatro Regio), Maddalena/Rigoletto (Bologna’s Teatro Comunale), title role/Carmen (Rome’s Teatro dell’Opera, Turin, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Theater St. Gallen), First Maid/Elektra under Dohnányi (Opéra National de Paris), and in two rarely heard works –Tigrana/Puccini’s Edgar (Orchestre National de France, released on CD) and Piyamvada/Alfano’s Sakuntala (Rome)
• Well known in America for appearances at the Metropolitan Opera (most recently Die Walküre, including HD transmission), Seattle Opera (Rigoletto), Opera Colorado (Madama Butterfly), and most recently Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (world premiere of Peter Ash’s s The Golden Ticket, in which she portrayed both Grandma Josephine and Mrs. Teavee) • Current projects include Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (Spokane Symphony), Dialogues des Carmélites (Metropolitan Opera), and a recording of traditional gospel music also featuring Bernie Williams – former New York Yankee and Latin Grammy nominee (for release in early 2013) 

American tenor DAVID CANGELOSI (Goro)
Previously at Lyric Opera: 27 roles since 1996-97, most recently Augustin Moser/Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (current season), Missail/Boris Godunov (2011-12)
• Ryan Opera Center alumnus; portrayed Goro in Lyric’s previous Butterfly productions (1997-98, 2003-04, 2008-09) • Has scored great successes as Mime/Ring cycle at both Lyric and San Francisco Opera
• Has been heard at the Metropolitan Opera (including HD transmission of Puccini’s Il trittico); with the major companies of Washington, Dallas, and Toronto; with the Cleveland Orchestra at Carnegie Hall (Ravel’s L’heure espagnole under Boulez); at the Opéra National de Paris (Die Zauberflöte, Le nozze di Figaro); and on film (Tosca, directed by Benoit Jacquot, with Gheorghiu and Alagna)
• Current season also includes Die Fledermaus, Canadian Opera Company; Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer, Montgomery Symphony Orchestra; Tosca, Naples Opera 

 American director LOUISA MULLER (revival director)
Previously at Lyric Opera: La bohème (current season)
• Her 2012-13 season also includes Don Giovanni at the Metropolitan Opera, Madama Butterfly at Geneva’s Grand Théâtre, and Houston Grand Opera’s Studio Showcase
• Currently in her fifth season on the directing staff of the Metropolitan Opera, where she has assisted directors such as Bartlett Sher, Michael Grandage, Sir David McVicar, Stephen Wadsworth, and Giancarlo del Monaco
• Drama coach for Houston Grand Opera Studio; staff assistant director at Houston Grand Opera from 2006 to 2010, directing Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and (at Houston’s Miller Outdoor Theatre) Christopher Theofanidis’s The Refuge
• Has also served on the directing staffs of Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Glimmerglass Festival, and Wolf Trap Opera 

PARSIFAL

American tenor PAUL GROVES (title role – role debut)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Four roles since 1997-98, most recently title role/La damnation de Faust (2009-10), Pylade/Iphigénie en Tauride (2006-07)
• Making his eagerly awaited role debut
• For more than 15 years one of the world’s most admired lyric tenors, particularly celebrated in French roles and in Mozart • Highlights of the current season includes Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Thomas Hampson and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with the London Philharmonic, and one of his specialties, Berlioz’s La damnation de Faust, with the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk Orchestra, as well as Don Giovanni with the Teatro Real, Madrid
• A favorite with many opera companies worldwide, among them the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, and the leading houses of Paris, Vienna, and Santa Fe
• Can be heard on CD in several of his signature roles, including Tamino, Belmonte, Gluck’s Admète, and Berlioz’s Faust 

American baritone THOMAS HAMPSON (Amfortas)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Four roles since 2002-03, most recently title role/Simon Boccanegra (current season), title role/Macbeth (2010-11)
• Internationally acknowledged as one of the most exceptional artists of our time, triumphant in a repertoire of astounding diversity
• Enjoys particularly close associations with the Metropolitan Opera, Zurich Opernhaus, and the Vienna Staatsoper – has also starred at every other major international house
• Current season includes Tosca and Tannhäuser in Zurich, Otello at the Met, Simon Boccanegra at Covent Garden, and recitals and concerts in major venues throughout Europe and America
• An immensely prolific recording artist, with recent releases including La traviata (DVD – Covent Garden), Tosca (DVD, Zurich)), Brahms’s German Requiem (CD, Harnoncourt conducting the Vienna Philharmonic, and Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn (with the Wiener Virtuosen, CD)
• His many awards and distinctions include recent induction into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and an appointment to the New York Philharmonic as the orchestra’s first Artist-in-Residence (2009-10 season) 

 Icelandic baritone TÓMAS TÓMASSON (Klingsor)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Raimondo/Lucia di Lammermoor (2003-04)
• After a successful career in bass repertoire, has moved with great success into leading baritone roles
• Has earned acclaim as Klingsor (La Monnaie in Brussels), Wagner’s Hans Sachs/Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Berlin’s Komische Oper) and Telramund/Lohengrin (Bayreuth Festival)
• Other achievements include Pizarro/Fidelio (Houston Grand Opera), Tomsky/The Queen of Spades (Welsh National Opera and Houston Grand Opera), and the title role/Tchaikovsky’s Mazeppa (Monte Carlo) British conductor SIR ANDREW DAVIS Previously at Lyric Opera: Lyric Opera music director since 2000 – 46 operas since 1987, most recently Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Werther, Simon Boccanegra, Elektra (all current season)
• One of the world’s most celebrated operatic and orchestral conductors for more than three decades
• Has triumphed at many major opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Covent Garden, the Bayreuth Festival, Canadian Opera Company, and Santa Fe Opera
• Has been welcomed in previous seasons by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw, and virtually every other major orchestra worldwide
• Highlights of the current season include Rusalka (Barcelona) and performances with the major orchestras of Toronto, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Bergen, Melbourne (Sir Andrew recently became the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s chief conductor), and London (BBC Symphony and Philharmonia) 

LA TRAVIATA

Maltese tenor JOSEPH CALLEJA (Alfredo Germont)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Rodolfo/La bohème (current season), Alfredo/La traviata (2007-08)
• One of today’s most sought-after tenors, enormously acclaimed for many starring roles in Italian and French repertoire
• Earned his first great successes in bel canto – triumphs in this repertoire include the title role/Roberto Devereux (Munich), Edgardo/Lucia di Lammermoor (Met, Berlin), and Elvino/La sonnambula, Arturo/I puritani, and Tebaldo/I Capuleti e i Montecchi (all in Vienna)
 • The Duke of Mantua/Rigoletto brought him debuts with the Bayerische Staatsoper, the Netherlands Opera, Welsh National Opera, and Deutsche Oper Berlin
• In recent seasons won praise for the elegance of his singing as Hoffmann (role debut at the Met, premiere of Bartlett Sher’s new production), Faust (role debut in Barcelona, reprised at the Met), and particularly as Gabriele Adorno/Simon Boccanegra (Covent Garden, now on DVD)
• Has also been heard at Houston Grand Opera as Pinkerton/Madama Butterfly (Michael Grandage’s new, season-opening production), the Salzburg Festival, Pesaro’s Rossini Opera Festival, and with the major companies of Dresden, Zurich, and Turin, among many others
• Has recorded four solo discs; “Be My Love,” a tribute to Mario Lanza, was released earlier this season American baritone

QUINN KELSEY (Giorgio Germont)
Previously at Lyric Opera: 14 roles since 2003-04, most recently Paolo/Simon Boccanegra (current season), Amonasro/Aida (2011-12)
• The Ryan Opera Center alumnus has rapidly ascended to the top rank of baritones internationally, with successes in Verdi including title role/Rigoletto (Oslo’s Den Norske Opera, Toronto’s Canadian Opera Company), Count di Luna/Il trovatore and Ezio/Attila (both at San Francisco Opera)
• Also has earned critical praise in La bohème as both Marcello (San Francisco Opera) and Schaunard (Metropolitan Opera, including HD transmission), as Zurga/The Pearl Fishers (London’s English National Opera), Athanaël/Thaïs (Edinburgh Festival), and the Forester/The Cunning Little Vixen (Florence’s Teatro Comunale, Japan’s Saito Kinen Festival, both under Ozawa)
• Highlights of the current season include Paolo/Simon Boccanegra under Muti (Rome) and role debut as Montfort/Verdi’s Les vêpres siciliennes (Frankfurt)
 • Grammy Award winner for Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 (San Francisco Symphony) Italian conductor MASSIMO ZANETTI Previously at Lyric Opera: Lucia di Lammermoor (2011-12)
• Former music director of Flemish Opera in Antwerp (1999-2002) and an acclaimed guest conductor of many major European companies, among them La Scala, Covent Garden, Dresden’s Semperoper, and the major houses of Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Zurich, Florence, Genoa, Parma, and Turin
• Other highlights include many performances at the Berlin Staatsoper since his 2002 debut with Norma; new productions of Luisa Miller in Zurich and debuts at both the Opéra National de Paris and Munich’s Bayerische Staatsoper; Nabucco (Teatro Comunale di Bologna); Macbeth (San Francisco Opera); Rigoletto, Nabucco (Parma Verdi Festival); Il trovatore (Florence’s Teatro Comunale); and Norma (concert performances at Madrid’s Teatro Real)
• Highlights of the current season include La traviata and Don Carlos (both at the Berlin Staatsoper), Turandot (Stockholm’s Royal Opera), and Macbeth (Munich Festival)
• Orchestral engagements include many important ensembles internationally: Czech Philharmonic; Stuttgart Radio Orchestra and Hamburg’s NDR Symphony Orchestra; City of Birmingham Symphony and Hallé Orchestra; Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France; Finnish and Swedish Radio Orchestras; and Japan’s NHK Symphony Orchestra

Cuban-born set designer RICCARDO HERNANDEZ
Previously at Lyric Opera: designed world premiere of Amistad by Anthony Davis (1997-98)
• Other operatic work includes Don Giovanni (Chicago Opera Theater), Olga Neuwirth’s Lost Highway (English National Opera/Young Vic London), and world premieres of Daniel Catán’s Il Postino (Los Angeles Opera, reprised in Paris and Vienna), Jorge Martín’s Before Night Falls (Fort Worth Opera), and Philip Glass’s Appomattox (San Francisco Opera)
• Nine Broadway productions since 1995, most recently The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, The People in the Picture, Caroline, or Change, and Topdog/Underdog; 1999 Tony Award nominee for Parade
• More than 20 productions for New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater
• Has designed for virtually every major theater company in America (Washington’s Shakespeare Theater and Arena Stage, Princeton’s McCarter Theater, Actors Theater of Louisville, the Guthrie Theater, Houston’s Alley Theater, Alliance Theater, Baltimore’s Center Stage, Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre, and many others) 

DIE FLEDERMAUS 

Danish baritone BO SKOVHUS (Eisenstein)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Three roles since 2000-01, most recently Beckmesser/Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (current season), Eisenstein/Die Fledermaus (2006-07)
• One of Europe’s most celebrated singing actors, as well as one of his generation’s most acclaimed song recitalists
• Later this season he will portray three highly contrasting characters from the German repertoire: Beckmesser/Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Hamburg), Kurwenal/Tristan und Isolde (also in Hamburg – he sings this role on Glyndebourne’s DVD of Wagner’s opera), and the Count/Capriccio (Covent Garden)
• Recent stage successes include the formidable title role/Reimann’s Lear (Hamburg Staatsoper) and operas of Mozart (Così fan tutte, Salzburg Festival, DVD; Le nozze di Figaro, Metropolitan Opera), Strauss (Arabella, Vienna Staatsoper, Semperoper Dresden), Verdi (Don Carlos, Vienna Staatsoper), Tchaikovsky (Eugene Onegin, Deutsche Oper Berlin), and Wagner (Tristan und Isolde, Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu, Glyndebourne/DVD)
• Has documented his artistry in a massive discography, including the gamut of song literature and opera arias, and concert repertoire with orchestra, as well as complete stage works of Mozart, Spohr, Lortzing, Leoncavallo, Lehár, Nielsen, and Berg (title role/Wozzeck in the Hamburg Staatsoper production he premiered) American mezzo-soprano EMILY FONS (Prince Orlofsky – role debut) Previously at Lyric Opera: Five roles since 2010-11, most recently Fyodor/Boris Godunov, Nicklausse/Les contes d’Hoffmann (both 2011-12)
• Ryan Opera Center alumna, rapidly attracting attention nationally and internationally
• Returns to Santa Fe Opera this season as Mozart’s Cherubino – future projects also include a debut at The Dallas Opera • Recent debuts include Chicago Opera Theater (Masha/Shostakovich’s rarely heard Moscow, Cheryomushki) and Garsington Opera in England (a much-acclaimed portrayal of Megacle/Vivaldi’s L’Olimpiade)
• Alumna of Santa Fe Opera’s apprentice program – has been heard at SFO as Flora/La traviata, alongside Natalie Dessay • A 2010 semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions; has also received awards from Santa Fe Opera and the National Association of Teachers of Singing British baritone ANDREW SHORE (Frank) Previously at Lyric Opera: Six roles since 2000-01, most recently Pooh-Bah/The Mikado (2010-11), Dikoy/Katya Kabanova (2009-10)
• An artist recognized throughout Britain and on the continent for a spectacularly varied repertoire of both comic and tragic parts
• Most important achievements include above all Alberich/Ring cycle (an enormous success for him at the Bayreuth Festival); has won equal praise in roles as diverse as Donizetti’s Dulcamara, Verdi’s Falstaff, Berg’s Wozzeck, and the title character/ Tippett’s King Priam
• Has worked with all the leading British companies, including the Royal Opera (Covent Garden), English National Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Opera North, Scottish Opera, and Welsh National Opera
• Guest appearances have taken him to the Komische Oper Berlin, the Opéra National de Paris, the Metropolitan Opera, and the major companies of San Francisco, Dallas, and San Diego 

American conductor WARD STARE
Previously at Lyric Opera: Hänsel und Gretel (current season); conducted Ryan Opera Center’s “Rising Stars in Concert” at Lyric in 2012, returns for “Rising Stars” in April 2013; Juilliard graduate began his career (at age 18) as principal trombonist of the Lyric Opera Orchestra
• Highlights this season include appearances with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra • Recently completed his much-acclaimed tenure as resident conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, a position created for him in 2008 by music director David Robertson (made highly successful Carnegie Hall debut with the SLSO in April 2009); has also appeared with the major orchestras of Cleveland (Blossom Music Center, 2007), Detroit, Houston, Atlanta, St. Paul, also the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
• Made European operatic debut at Den Norske Opera (Oslo) leading new production of The Rape of Lucretia 

Austrian set designer WOLFRAM SKALICKI
Previously at Lyric Opera: Andrea Chénier (1995-96)
• The late designer (1925-2007)’s distinguished career included opera, ballet, and theater productions in Europe, North America, and South America
• Numerous productions for Toronto’s Canadian Opera Company and Seattle Opera
• A lengthy association with San Francisco Opera that begain in 1962 with sets for the company premiere of Stravinksy's Rake’s Progress • Additional designs for San Francisco include the Ring cycle (1967-1972), Aida, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, L’africaine (DVD, Andrea Chénier, and Die Fledermaus Belgian set and costume designer THIERRY BOSQUET Previously at Lyric Opera: Der Rosenkavalier (2005-06)
 • Closely associated with San Francisco Opera productions including Die Fledermaus (debut, 1990), The Merry Widow, Capriccio, Ruslan and Lyudmila (originally designed by Alexander Golovin and Konstantin Korovin for the 1904 Glinka Centennial and realized by Bosquet), Don Giovanni, Aida, Carmen, Tosca, Pelléas et Mélisande, and Louise
• Has created the sets and costumes for more than 75 operas and ballets at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels
• Has also designed sets and costumes for an extensive repertoire of operas, ballets, and dramas produced in France, Italy, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, South America, Australia, and the United States
• Highlights in North America include Die Zauberflöte, Werther, The Mikado, and La traviata for New York City Opera, Tosca at Seattle Opera, and La belle Hélène for the Canadian Opera Company (Toronto) THE BARBER OF SEVILLE American baritone NATHAN GUNN (Figaro) Previously at Lyric Opera: Six roles since 2001-02, most recently Ravenal/Show Boat (2011-12), Zurga/The Pearl Fishers (2008-09)
 • One of America’s most outstanding baritones, equally acclaimed in standard repertoire and demanding contemporary scores
• Has starred with all of America’s major companies, as well as at Covent Garden, Glyndebourne, Munich, Paris, Vienna, Madrid, and Brussels, in repertoire ranging from the Mozart/da Ponte operas to Il barbiere di Siviglia, L’elisir d’amore, Hamlet, La bohème, Eugene Onegin, War and Peace, The Rape of Lucretia, and Billy Budd
• The 2012-13 season includes his latest world premiere, Mark Adamo’s The Gospel of Mary Magdalene (San Francisco Opera), as well as a new production of Dominick Argento’s The Aspern Papers (The Dallas Opera) and Rossini’s Le Comte Ory (Metropolitan Opera)
• A noted supporter of new works who has created the leading roles of Paul/Daron Hagen’s Amelia (Seattle), Alec/André Previn’s Brief Encounter (Houston, now on CD), Father Delura/Peter Eötvös’ Love and Other Demons (Glyndebourne), and Clyde/Tobias Picker’s An American Tragedy (Met) American tenor ALEK SHRADER (Count Almaviva) Previously at Lyric Opera: Tamino/Die Zauberflöte (2011-12)
• Has very quickly built a highly successful career in America and Europe, attracting particular attention in Mozart, bel canto, and as Albert Herring (the latter first at Santa Fe Opera with Sir Andrew Davis conducting, subsequently at Los Angeles Opera)
• Earlier this season sang Ferdinand/Thomas Adès’s The Tempest (new production, company première, HD transmission) for his Met debut
• This season also includes Almaviva/The Barber of Seville (Met version in English) and appearances as Ramiro/La Cenerentola (Hamburg) and Ernesto/Don Pasquale (role debut, Glyndebourne)
 • Important recent successes include The Rake’s Progress (Lille), Alcina (Bordeaux), Die Zauberflöte (San Francisco), Ravel’s L’heure espagnole Glyndebourne), and the title role/Candide (Los Angeles Philharmonic)
• Began his career as an Adler Fellow at San Francisco Opera, making an acclaimed SFO mainstage debut replacing an indisposed Ramon Vargas as Nemorino/L’elisir d’amore 

 Italian baritone ALESSANDRO CORBELLI (Bartolo)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Five roles since 1986-87, most recently Dulcamara/L’elisir d’amore (2009-10), Don Magnifico/La Cenerentola (2005-06)
• Has long been acknowledged internationally as definitive in all the major comic roles for baritone in Rossini and Donizetti
• Highlights of the current season include Sulpice/La fille du régiment (Paris – the role was previously a great success for him at the Metropolitan Opera and Covent Garden, the latter a company with which he has enjoyed a close association since 1988), Bartolo/Il barbiere di Siviglia and Don Magnifico/La Cenerentola (both in Vienna, the latter also in Los Angeles), and the title role/Don Pasquale (Glyndebourne)
• Has performed his signature roles in every major European house, from La Scala and all the other important Italian companies to Covent Garden, the Bayerische Staatsoper, and Toulouse’s Théâtre du Capitole, among many others American bass-baritone KYLE KETELSEN (Basilio) Previously at Lyric Opera: Three roles since 2004-05, most recently Escamillo/Carmen (2010-11), title role/Le nozze di Figaro (2009-10)
• The current season includes Escamillo (Met), Henry VIII/Anna Bolena (role debut, Minnesota Opera), and his celebrated Leporello in three productions of Don Giovanni (Houston Grand Opera, Madrid’s Teatro Real, Aix-en-Provence Festival)
• Recent highlights include Met performances as Mr. Flint/Billy Budd and Leporello, as well as Basilio/Il barbiere di Siviglia and Don Fernando/Fidelio in Houston, Mozart’s Figaro in Aix-en-Provence, the Brahms Requiem with the San Francisco Symphony, and Rossini’s Moïse et Pharaon at Carnegie Hall
• Closely associated with Covent Garden (he portrays Leporello in the company’s recent Don Giovanni DVD), and has also appeared with great success with the major houses of Barcelona, Genoa, Madrid, Hamburg, Amsterdam, as well as virtually all the most important North American companies 

RUSALKA 

Puerto Rican soprano ANA MARÍA MARTÍNEZ (title role)
See Returning Artists – OTELLO

American tenor BRANDON JOVANOVICH (Prince)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Three roles since 2009-10, most recently Tenor, Bacchus/Ariadne auf Naxos(2011-12), Don José/Carmen (2010-11)
• Acclaimed as an outstanding singing actor and an exceptionally versatile artist, with successes in every area of the repertoire of major lyric and spinto roles
• In Chicago is reprising the triumph he and his Lyric Opera partner, Ana María Martínez, enjoyed in Glyndebourne’s first Rusalka production (now on CD)
 • Has recently made widely heralded and much-praised role debuts at San Francisco Opera as Wagner’s Siegmund and Lohengrin
• The past three seasons have included roles as diverse as Don José (Barcelona), Pinkerton (The Dallas Opera, Santa Fe Opera), Hans in the world premiere of Marco Tutino’s Senso (Palermo’s Teatro Massimo), and Verdi’s Don Carlos (original French version, Houston Grand Opera)
 • Later this season he will be heard in Brussels (Manon Lescaut) and Zurich (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk) American mezzo-soprano JILL GROVE (Ježibaba – role debut) Previously at Lyric Opera: Eight roles since 2003-04, most recently Witch/Hänsel und Gretel, Klytämnestra/Elektra (both current season)
• One of her generation’s foremost dramatic mezzo-sopranos, with highlights of her current season including Amneris/Aida at San Diego Opera and the Second Norn/ Götterdämmerung at Munich’s Bayerische Staatsoper (where she appeared in the Ring cycle last summer)
• Recent stage successes include Amneris at Toronto’s Canadian Opera Company and Ulrica/Un ballo in maschera at New Orleans Opera
• Has appeared in the Ring cycle at both the Metropolitan Opera and Los Angeles Opera (with the latter company also sang Zita/Gianni Schicchi for Woody Allen’s opera- directing debut, DVD) and as Auntie/Peter Grimes at the Met (premiere of John Doyle’s new production/DVD) 

American bass-baritone ERIC OWENS (Vodnik – role debut)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Title role/Hercules (2010-11), Gen. Leslie Groves/Doctor Atomic (2007-08)
• Achieved an enormous personal triumph during seasons 2010-11 and 2011-12, singing Alberich in the individual Ring operas and then in the complete cycle (including HD transmission – later released on DVD)
• Has triumphed not only in standard-repertoire bass and bass-baritone roles, but also in highly demanding contemporary works, including three roles he created: Gen. Leslie Groves/John Adams’s Doctor Atomic (world premiere, San Francisco, reprised in Amsterdam, at Lyric, and at the Met), the Storyteller/Adams’s A Flowering Tree (Vienna’s Crowned Hope Festival), and title role/Elliot Goldenthal’s Grendel (world premiere at Los Angeles Opera, reprised at New York’s Lincoln Center Festival)
• Highlights of the current season include Madama Butterfly (Los Angeles Opera), Ring cycle (Metropolitan Opera), and Bach’s B Minor Mass (New York Philharmonic) 

British conductor SIR ANDREW DAVIS (Lyric Opera music director)
See Returning Artists – PARSIFAL 

 British director SIR DAVID McVICAR
Previously at Lyric Opera: Five productions since 2001-02, most recently Die Mesitersinger von Nürnberg, Elektra (both current season)
• Knighted in 2012, in recognition of his stature as one of today’s most brilliant opera directors and his contribution to opera in Britain and internationally
• Has directed nine operas at the Royal Opera House (Covent Garden), including last season’s long-awaited new production of Les Troyens (now on DVD)
 • Is also closely associated with Strasbourg’s Opéra National du Rhin (which produced Sir David’s Ring cycle) and Glyndebourne Festival Opera (where his celebrated production of Giulio Cesare originated)
• Highlights of his current season include the Met premiere of Maria Stuarda, Cherubini’s Médée at London’s English National Opera, and Tristan und Isolde at Vienna Staatsoper
• Productions in recent seasons range in style from Anna Bolena (Met) to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Glyndebourne, now on DVD), Salome (Covent Garden), The Rake’s Progress (Scottish Opera), and Der Rosenkavalier (ENO) British designer JOHN MACFARLANE (sets) Previously at Lyric Opera: Elektra and Hänsel und Gretel sets and costumes (both current season; H&G seen here previously in 2001-02)
• Long regarded as one of the most remarkable designers of our time, as well as a distinguished painter and printmaker
• Projects this season include Maria Stuarda (Metropolitan Opera, company premiere) and Peter Grimes (New National Theater of Tokyo)
• Recent opera designs include Die Zauberflöte, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Bluebeard’s Castle/Erwartung, and L’heure espagnole/Gianni Schicchi (all at Covent Garden), The Rake’s Progress (Scottish Opera), Queen of Spades (Welsh National Opera), Agrippina (Brussels), Boris Godunov (Amsterdam), The Trojans (English National Opera), Don Giovanni (Brussels, San Francisco), Idomeneo (Vienna)
• Has designed extensively for dance, working regularly with Glen Tetley and Jiří Kylián; ballet designs include Liam Scarlett’s Sweet Violets and Peter Wright’s Giselle (both at the Royal Ballet), The Nutcracker, Le baiser de la fée, and Cinderella (all at Birmingham Royal Ballet)
• Five-time Olivier Award nominee; awarded the rank of Chevalier des Arts et Lettres from the French government in 2003 

LA CLEMENZA DI TITO 

American tenor MATTHEW POLENZANI (title role – role debut)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Ten roles since 1995-96, most recently title role/Werther (current season), title role/Les contes d’Hoffmann (2011-12)
• Ryan Opera Center alumnus, acknowledged by critics internationally as an artist of incomparable elegance and one of the most impressive tenors America has produced in the past several decades
• Closely associated with the Metropolitan Opera, where he opened the current season as Nemorino/L’elisir d’amore (new production) and later made his role debut as Leicester/Maria Stuarda (company premiere, new production)
• Highlights this season include Duke of Mantua/Rigoletto (Vienna Staatsoper), Les contes d’Hoffmann (San Francisco Opera), and recitals in Amsterdam, London, and Frankfurt
• Has previously scored great successes in many other major houses, including Covent Garden, the Opéra National de Paris, and the leading houses of Munich, Turin, Florence, and Naples
• His second solo CD (Wigmore Hall recital with pianist Julius Drake) has recently been released to impressive reviews American mezzo-soprano JOYCE DIDONATO (Sesto) Previously at Lyric Opera: Cherubino/Le nozze di Figaro (2009-10), Rosina/Il barbiere di Siviglia (2007-08)
• Universally acknowledged as one of today’s greatest artists – acclaimed internationally for her unique beauty of sound, technique, and interpretive artistry, whether in Baroque, Mozart, or bel canto roles, as well as a varied recital repertoire
• Has earned ecstatic responses from press and public in the world’s greatest opera houses, from the Met, La Scala, and Covent Garden to Netherlands Opera and the Salzburg, Edinburgh, and Aix-en-Provence festivals
• Created a sensation earlier this season in a solo concert of virtuosic Baroque repertoire at Carnegie Hall
• Other highlights of the current season include the title role/Maria Stuarda (Met, company premiere, new production – she made her role debut as Maria last season in Houston), and one of her signature roles, Elena/Rossini’s La donna del lago, at Santa Fe Opera
• Recent CDs include Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking (Houston production) and two solo discs of opera arias – “Drama Queens” and “Diva/Divo” (the latter received a 2012 Grammy Award) 

American soprano AMANDA MAJESKI (Vitellia)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Six roles since 2009-10, most recently Eva/Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (current season), Micaëla/Carmen student matinees (2010-11)
• Ryan Opera Center alumna; scored a great success replacing Anne Schwanewilms on short notice as the Countesss/Le nozze di Figaro at Lyric (2009-10 season)
• Has earned lavish critical praise at Dresden’s Semperoper, one of Europe’s most prestigious opera houses, singing Vitellia, Alcina, and the Countesses of Figaro and Capriccio
• Recently starred in Humperdinck’s rarely-heard Königskinder for her debut at Frankfurt Opera
• Has scored significant successes at Chicago Opera Theater (Vitellia), Washington Concert Opera (Marguerite/Faust), Pittsburgh Opera (Blanche/Dialogues des Carmélites), and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (Countess/Le nozze di Figaro, Musetta/La bohème) 

American mezzo-soprano CECELIA HALL (Annio – role debut)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Five roles since 2011-12, most recently Käthchen/Werther, Second Maid/Elektra (current season)
• Following the conclusion of her two-year tenure with the Ryan Opera Center (April 2013), will debut with Fort Worth Opera as the Composer/Ariadne auf Naxos, previously a great success for her at Tanglewood (Christoph von Dohnányi conducting) and at the Palau de les Arts in Valencia (European debut)
• This summer she sings Wellgunde and Rossweisse/Ring cycle at Seattle Opera
• Important achievements to date include the title role/Handel’s Teseo (Chicago Opera Theater), Rosina/Il barbiere di Siviglia at Virginia’s Castleton Festival (Lorin Maazel conducting), Metropolitan Opera debut in Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride (including HD transmission), and the title role/Handel’s Ariodante in Stephen Wadsworth’s production at Juilliard 

American soprano EMILY BIRSAN (Servilia – role debut)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Five roles since 2011-12, most recently Sandman/Hänsel und Gretel, Trainbearer/Elektra (current season)
• Currently second-year member of Lyric’s Ryan Opera Center
• Has appeared at the Grant Park Music Festival (Despina/Così fan tutte, Act One), with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago (Musetta/La bohème, Act Four), and at Madison Opera (Barbarina/Le nozze di Figaro)
• A 2011 prize-winner at both the District and Regional levels of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions
• Winner of the top prize in the 2012 vocal competition of Chicago’s Union League Civic & Arts Foundation
• 2010 participant in Des Moines Metro Opera’s young-artist program 

American bass-baritone CHRISTIAN VAN HORN (Publio – role debut)
Previously at Lyric Opera: Seven roles since 2004-05, most recently Raimondo/Lucia di Lammermoor, Crespel/Les contes d’Hoffmann (both 2011-12)
 • Ryan Opera Center alumnus who has made a deep impression in major roles at one of Europe’s most important houses, Munich’s Bayerische Staatsoper – highlights there have included Oroveso/Norma (opposite Edita Gruberova), the Speaker/Die Zauberflöte, and Colline/La bohème this season
• Has also appeared in Salzburg in Kurt Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins (Easter Festival) and as the Duke/Roméo et Juliette (Summer Festival)
• Earned considerable critical acclaim creating Karenin/David Carlson’s Anna Karenina (world premiere at Florida Grand Opera, revival at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, CD)
• Current season includes Gessler/Guillaume Tell (Netherlands Opera), Timur/Turandot (The Dallas Opera), and the four villains/Les contes d’Hoffmann (San Francisco Opera) 

British conductor SIR ANDREW DAVIS
British director SIR DAVID McVICAR (original director and set designer)
See Returning Artists – RUSALKA 

Evening performances of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s 2013-14 season begin at 7:30pm sharp except for Opening Night (5pm) and Parsifal (6pm). Matinee performances begin at 2pm sharp except for Parsifal (1pm). Latecomers will not be seated until intermission. 

 Call 312-332-2244, ext. 5600 to purchase subscription tickets, or go to www.lyricopera.org. Current subscribers will receive their renewal packages in the mail in early February. 

Also available on Lyric’s website in early February will be Season Preview Commentary by Sir Andrew Davis, with musical excerpts from each opera. 

 Photographs are available on request – please contact Kate Suffern, 312-827-5934, or ksuffern@lyricopera.org. Images can also be downloaded from this link: http://lyricoperamedia.s3.amazonaws.com/_img/PR/13_14_preseason_photos.zip This link will allow you to download a zip file of all images from 2013-14. 

 LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO’S AMERICAN MUSICAL THEATER INITIATIVE 

Addendum: synopses of Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals to be presented at Lyric Opera of Chicago

THE SOUND OF MUSIC (2014)
Rodgers and Hammerstein collaborated for the last time in creating this universally beloved, uniquely heartwarming musical, which opened on Broadway in 1959. The dramatic source – adapted by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse – was an extraordinary autobiography, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, by Maria von Trapp, matriarch of one of the most celebrated singing families of the twentieth century. In bringing the Trapps’ story to the stage, Rodgers, Hammerstein, Lindsay and Crouse embroidered a good deal on real events, but the basics remain the same. In The Sound of Music, the mother superior of a Salzburg abbey sends a postulant, Maria, to the home of a widowed naval officer, Baron von Trapp, to serve as governess for his seven children. While the Baron is away pursuing wealthy Baroness Schraeder, Maria discovers the children can sing. Although engaged to the Baroness, the Baron falls in love with Maria and she with him. Her apprehension and confusion send her back to the abbey, but the mother superior encourages her to return to the children. Realizing the Baron’s affections lie elsewhere, the Baroness breaks off the engagement, and Maria and the Baron are married. Austria is annexed by the Nazis, and the Baron is ordered to report for duty in the forces of the Third Reich. The Baron insists that he first join Maria and the children in performing in the Salzburg Folk Festival competition. The family wins first prize, but they are not present to accept it. Instead, they rush to the abbey and are sheltered when the Nazis arrive, searching for them. Realizing that all borders are closed, the family leaves the abbey to cross the mountains to Switzerland – and freedom. The Tony-winning musical (which ran for nearly 1,500 performances) and the 1965 Oscar-winning film introduced the world to many songs that have long been hugely popular worldwide. Among them are the matchlessly lyrical title song; “Maria,” the nuns’ lament about their irrepressible postulant; “My Favorite Things,” Maria’s duet with the mother superior; “Sixteen Going on Seventeen,” sung by the von Trapps’ teenage daughter and the boy she loves; “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” the mother superior’s inspiring advice to Maria; the captain’s “Edelweiss,” a heartfelt expression of his own feeling for Austria; and several exuberant numbers involving the children – “Do-Re-Mi,” “The Lonely Goatherd,” and “So Long, Farewell.” 

CAROUSEL (2015)
The second of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s shows, this glorious 1945 musical was based on Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnár’s Liliom, a 1909 play that scored a great success on Broadway several years later. The tragedy of the Molnár story was new to American musical theater. In Jerome Kern’s Show Boat (1927, with book and lyrics by Hammerstein) there was dramatic intensity, but no deaths, unlike Carousel, in which the leading male character, Billy Bigelow, dies midway in the second act. Carousel takes place in the late 19th century, in a small Maine town. Billy, the brash and hot-tempered barker for a carousel, and Julie Jordan, an impressionable young mill worker, fall in love. Once she sees Billy’s interest in Julie, the carousel’s owner, Mrs. Mullin, fires him. Going against the judgment of her employer, Julie leaves her job and marries Billy. Unable to find work, Billy takes his frustration out on Julie. Hearing that she is pregnant, he feels initially furious, then amazed, and finally desperate to provide for his child. A sly friend involves Billy in a shady robbery scheme; it ends in disaster for Billy, who takes his own life. Up There (so to speak) the “starkeeper” informs Billy that his good deeds have been insufficient for heaven to admit him. When given a day to return to earth, he encounters his daughter Louise, now a teenager and an unhappy misfit. Billy is able to find a way to express his love for her and her mother before entering heaven. Unquestionably the most operatic of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s works, Carousel requires true singing actors in all the major roles, and Billy demands both imposing vocal power and overwhelming charisma. The show boasts a magnificent score, unsurpassed in the history of American musical theater. The carnival atmosphere is superbly set with the opening showpiece for the orchestra, the “Carousel Waltz.” Julie and Billy sing the exquisite “If I Loved You,” a “conditional” love song typical of Rodgers and Hammerstein (that is, two people who don’t know each other well yet are thinking in “what if” terms, before realizing that they’re truly in love). Billy’s feelings regarding the birth of his child evolve in the seven-minute “Soliloquy,” arguably the most thrilling baritone solo ever written for Broadway. Julie’s friend Carrie rhapsodizes about the man she loves in “Mister Snow,” and Julie and Billy anticipate their married life in “When the Children are Asleep.” Julie’s quiet acceptance of Billy’s character emerges in the achingly beautiful “What’s the Use of Wond’rin’?” One of the most uplifting songs in any Broadway musical is “You’ll Never Walk Alone” (sung by Julie’s wise cousin, Nettie Fowler, after Billy’s death and again in the finale of the show). The chorus numbers are all captivating – “June is Bustin’ Out All Over,” “Blow High, Blow Low,” and “A Real Nice Clambake.”

THE KING AND I (2016)
The sixth of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s collaborations, The King and I (1951), was a significant departure for the team in terms of the dramatic content: a local far more exotic than even South Pacific (1949). The piece presented the ideal vehicle for Gertrude Lawrence, the beloved English singer-actress and the toast of Broadway at that time. It was her agent who suggested the dramatic source, Margaret Landon’s 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam. Lawrence, who died during the original Broadway run, played opposite Yul Brynner, who later won an Oscar when he reprised his portrayal on film. Based on fact, The King and I takes place in Siam in the early 1860s. Anna Leonowens, an English widow, arrives with her young son to take up her post as governess to the King of Siam’s many children. She comes up against a monarch whose ideas are mired in traditions that Anna regards as backward and, in some cases, appalling. With Anna’s gentle guidance, the king changes his thinking and determines to show visiting English diplomats that Siam is moving forward in all ways. The banquet he presents for the English delegation is a fabulous success. Anna’s hopes for the king’s progress as a ruler and human being, however, are dashed when he prepares to whip his slave, Tuptim, who has been discovered attempting to escape. Anna’s outrage in witnessing this causes the king to rush away, devastated and full of doubt. Months later, Anna is about to leave Siam forever when she receives word that the king is on his deathbed. She goes to him, and he is able to die in peace knowing of her decision to remain with his children in Siam. The music and lyrics represent a peak in the artistry of Rodgers and Hammerstein, including four marvelously characterful solos for Anna (“I Whistle a Happy Tune,” “Hello, Young Lovers,” “Getting to Know You,” “Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?”). Tuptim and her lover, Lun Tha, sing two breathtaking love duets, “We Kiss in a Shadow” and “I Have Dreamed.” Following the successful banquet, the joy of Anna and the king – and, clearly, the awakening of their feelings for each other – make “Shall We Dance?” a particular joy. The king’s head wife, Lady Thiang, explains the king’s character to Anna in the magnificent “Something Wonderful.” The contribution of orchestrator Robert Russell Bennett and dance arranger Trude Rittmann was immeasurable in giving the score its touches of Siamese flavor, particularly the “March of the Siamese Children” and the ballet presented at the banquet, “The Small House of Uncle Thomas.” 

SOUTH PACIFIC (2017)
Rodgers and Hammerstein scored a triumph with South Pacific (1949), which earned them a Pulitzer Prize. Audiences totally embraced this work, which brought a wartime story to life with extraordinary sensitivity and dramatic power. South Pacific was also exceptional in that playing opposite each other in the leading roles were performers from very different musical worlds: Mary Martin was Broadway’s darling, and she was starring opposite the Metropolitan Opera’s most celebrated bass, Ezio Pinza. Their characters were adapted by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan from Tales of the South Pacific, for which the writer James M. Michener had won a Pulitzer Prize in 1947. Nellie Forbush, an exuberant young woman from Little Rock, works as a nurse in a U.S. naval hospital on an island in the South Pacific during World War II. At the officers’ club she meets Emile de Becque, a French planter who has a home on the island. She visits him there and the two quickly fall in love. When Nellie meets his two young children (whose dead mother had been a Polynesian), her own unspoken prejudices lead her to break off her relationship with Emile. Meanwhile, young Lt. Joseph Cable falls in love with Liat, a beautiful island girl, but he hesitates to abandon his life in America to marry her. In despair over the loss of Nellie, Emile, whose knowledge of the islands make him valuable to the Navy, agrees to undertake a dangerous mission with Lt. Cable, who dies in the line of duty. In Emile’s absence, Nellie rejects the prejudices her upbringing had instilled in her. Emile returns home safe and sound to the sight of Nellie, singing with his children. Every song in South Pacific perfectly expresses the dramatic moment, beginning with the magnificent “Some Enchanted Evening,” sung by Emile and later reprised by Nellie. After Nellie leaves him, Émile gives way to his despair in the moving “This Nearly Was Mine.” Nellie’s own character comes through unforgettably, whether unflaggingly positive (“A Cockeyed Optimist”), determined (“I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair”), ecstatic (“I’m in Love with a Wonderful Guy”), or impish (“Honey Bun”). Lt. Cable’s ecstatic love song to Liat is “Younger than Springtime,” and he also sings “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught,” which reveals the origins of prejudice to devastating effect. Liat’s feisty mother, Bloody Mary, lures Cable to her island with the exquisite “Bali Ha’i.” The chorus men give vent to their frustration on the island in a memorably barnstorming number, “There is Nothing Like a Dame.”

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