Lyric Music & More: November 3

It’s Election Day, and we hope you’ve been able to vote and make your voice heard while staying safe. Music can be a great comfort during uncertain times, and in that spirit, we offer another marker for the day: the birthday of the “Swan of Catania,” the great Italian composer Vincenzo Bellini. In the aria “Vi ravviso, o luoghi ameni” from the opera La sonnambula, performed beautifully by Ryan Opera Center Ensemble member Anthony Reed, bass, and Music Director Craig Terry on piano, you can hear the long, elegant melodies that earned the composer his nickname.

Plus, get a look at the exciting Twilight: Gods, a Lyric coproduction with Michigan Opera Theater that comes to Chicago in 2021, read about the first Spanish-language opera to be performed in Lyric's mainstage season, watch a virtual concert of songs to get you through difficult times, and see the latest episode of Breaking Down the Score.

“A path forward for the arts amid the pandemic” –The New York Times

The reviews are in for the premiere of Twilight: Gods at Michigan Opera Theatre, and this innovative coproduction with Lyric has made a big impression. See what’s in the headlights for spring 2021 when Chicago audiences will have a chance to experience it for themselves.

Start your engines

Something to look forward to in the 2021/22 Season

In the 2021/22 Season, audiences will get to hear the first Spanish-language opera to be performed in a mainstage season at Lyric, Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas. Learn more about this gorgeous opera inspired by the magical realism of Gabriel García Márquez’s novel, Love in the Time of Cholera.

Uncover the magic

"Black Market" and Other Songs for Survival

New York Festival of Song presents a virtual concert of songs to get you through difficult times, featuring Ryan Opera Center Ensemble members baritone Leroy Davis and pianist Chris Reynolds, along with Chicago-based soprano Janai Brugger, mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, and more.

I will survive

Part 1 of a new series

In a new series of master classes, Music Director Sir Andrew Davis coaches members of the Ryan Opera Center ensemble as they work through excerpts from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. In the first episode, Ricardo José Rivera performs "Hai già vinta la causa...Vedrò mentr'io sospiro" and Katherine Beck performs "Non so più cosa son, cosa faccio."

Part 5: Scena e Cavatina di Foresto

In this scene, a massive storm blows Foresto and a group of refugees from Aquila to the shores of Venice. In one of Maestro Mazzola’s favorite moments, the chorus—starting softly—thanks God for saving them, and builds, with the orchestra, to a fortissimo as the sun peeks over the horizon.

Tune in each week and be the first to see new episodes by subscribing to Lyric's channel on YouTube.

Music comes from a place we don't know.

Chris Martin