Performance library
Lyric is committed to producing some of the most exciting, artistically excellent, thought-provoking, opera in the world. Founded in 1954, Lyric has always distinguished itself by presenting the finest international singers, conductors, directors, and designers across main-stage classics, less-familiar operatic repertoire, and world-premiere productions.
Browse our performance library for lists of opera, musical, and recital performances and artists from past seasons.
1954 — 1959 Seasons
1954: Lyric's first full season (eight operas, sixteen performances) opens with Norma, starring Maria Callas in her American debut. Photo by Nancy Sorensen.
1960 — 1969 Seasons
1961: Lyric's first world premiere: Vittorio Giannini's The Harvest, the first production under a Ford Foundation program for the promotion of American opera. Photo by Nancy Sorensen.
1960 — 1969 Seasons
1961: Lyric's first world premiere: Vittorio Giannini's The Harvest, the first production under a Ford Foundation program for the promotion of American opera. Photo by Nancy Sorensen.
1970 — 1979 Seasons
1970: Lyric presents the American professional stage premiere of Britten's Billy Budd, with Theodor Uppman in the title role.
1980 — 1989|1990 Seasons
1983: Peter Sallars makes his Lyric debut as director of The Mikado (company premiere, new production), concluding the company's three-season series of spring operettas sponsored by the CIty of Chicago.
1980 — 1989|1990 Seasons
1983: Peter Sallars makes his Lyric debut as director of The Mikado (company premiere, new production), concluding the company's three-season series of spring operettas sponsored by the CIty of Chicago.
1990|1991 — 1999|2000 Seasons
1993/94: The Lyric debut of Renée Fleming, opposite Samuel Ramey, in the company premiere of Carlisle Floyd's Susannah. Photo by Dan Rest.
2000|2001 — 2009|2010 Seasons
2000/01: Sir Andrew Davis begins his tenure as Lyric's first music director and principal conductor; he opens the season with the Lyric premiere of Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spade's. Photo by Robert Kusel.
2000|2001 — 2009|2010 Seasons
2000/01: Sir Andrew Davis begins his tenure as Lyric's first music director and principal conductor; he opens the season with the Lyric premiere of Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spade's. Photo by Robert Kusel.
2010|2011 — 2019|2020 Seasons
2012/13: The season opens with Sir David McVicar's new production of Elektra, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, with the Lyric debut of Christine Goerke in the title role (with Emily Magee as Chrysothemis). Photo by Robert Kusel.
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In 1972 Lyric premiered Pier Luigi Pizzi's production of La bohème, the most often-performed production in Lyric history.