Lyric's season opens with Medea on Saturday, October 11

 
CHICAGO (10/9/2025) — Hell hath no fury like a sorceress scorned:  Cherubini’s Medea ignites at Lyric Opera of Chicago to open its 71st season on Saturday, October 11, 2025.

In her Lyric homecoming, Chicagoland native soprano Sondra Radvanovsky delivers a tour-de-force performance as the vengeful Medea; her co-stars include two artists who also have strong Chicago ties: tenor Matthew Polenzani, an alumnus of Lyric’s Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center, as Giasone, and mezzo-soprano Zoie Reams as Neris. Medea also features the anticipated Lyric debut of soprano Elena Villalón as Glauce as well as the return of bass-baritone Alfred Walker as King Creonte.

Internationally acclaimed director Sir David McVicar returns to Lyric with a breathtaking production of Olympic scale, with the Lyric Opera Orchestra led by Music Director Enrique Mazzola.

We hope audiences can join us for this historic and electrifying Lyric premiere, where myth meets music and operatic fire burns as never before, on stage for six performances only through October 26.
 
 
A high-resolution video trailer will be available soon on Lyric's YouTube channel and in Lyric's online press room.

Read the digital program book of Medea before the performance.

Performance dates for Medea are October 11 at 7:30 p.m.; October 14, 17, and 20, at 7 p.m., and matinee performances on October 23 and 26 at 2 p.m. All performances take place at the Lyric Opera House, 20 North Wacker Drive, Chicago.

Medea is performed in Italian, with easy-to-follow projected English titles above the stage.

A total running time of 2 hours and 45 minutes, including one intermission.

Audio description, a guided touch tour of the set, and SoundShirts are available at the Sunday, October 26 matinee performance. Braille and large-print programs, high-powered opera glasses, assistive listening devices, and booster seats are available from the coat checks on the Steiner Parquet (main floor) at all performances. For more information on these and other accessibility assets, visit lyricopera.org/accessibility.

A coproduction of Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Metropolitan Opera, Greek National Opera, and Canadian Opera Company.

For tickets and information, call 312.827.5600 or go to lyricopera.org/medea.

 

Sponsors

Lyric’s presentation of Cherubini’s Medea is generously made possible by Lisbeth Stiffel, Julie & Roger Baskes, Marlys A. Beider, and Patricia A. Kenney & Gregory J. O’Leary.

Maestro Enrique Mazzola is generously sponsored by Alice & John Butler, H. Gael Neeson, Sylvia Neil & Daniel Fischel, the Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation, Mary Stowell, and the Zell Family Foundation as members of the Enrique Circle.

Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Chorus is generously sponsored by an Anonymous Lead Sponsor.

Lyric Opera's Season is presented by

Lyric Opera of Chicago acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council.

Illinois Arts Council

About Lyric

About Lyric

Lyric Opera of Chicago is committed to redefining what it means to experience great opera. The company is driven to deliver consistently excellent artistry through innovative, relevant, celebratory programming that engages and energizes new and traditional audiences.

Under the leadership of General Director, President & CEO John Mangum and Music Director Enrique Mazzola, Lyric is dedicated to reflecting, and drawing strength from, the diversity of Chicago. Lyric offers, through innovation, collaboration, and evolving learning opportunities, ever-more exciting, accessible, and thought-provoking audience and community experiences. We also stand committed to training the artists of the future, through The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center; and to becoming increasingly diverse across our audiences, staff, programming, and artists—magnifying the welcoming pull of our art form, our company, and our city.

Through the timeless power of voice, the splendor of a great orchestra and chorus, theater, dance, design, and truly magnificent stagecraft, Lyric is devoted to immersing audiences in worlds both familiar and unexpected, creating shared experiences that resonate long after the curtain comes down.

Join us @LyricOpera on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Threads and Facebook. #LongLivePassion

For more information on Lyric's upcoming 2024/25 Season, visit lyricopera.org/newseason.

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