Week 16: Lyric Commentaries for opera streaming and more!

It's the first week of July, and we have an incredible set of opera streams to start your month off right. Have you been enjoying our broadcast series with WFMT? Up next in our lineup is Wagner's Die Walküre from Lyric's 2017/18 Season, and the second opera in the Ring cycle. To help you get the most out of your listening experience, we've provided you with Lyric Commentaries, musical highlights, program articles, and photos. 

Also featured this week is the Chicago Children's Choir celebration of Juneteenth, selections from the Metropolitan Opera's week 16 of opera streaming, a new concert series from Ryan Opera Center alumnus bass-baritone Mark S. Doss, and performances from Opera Australia, Royal Opera House, San Francisco Opera, and Des Moines Opera. 

To enrich your experience with this week's operas, Lyric Opera Commentaries discuss the synopses, music, and some historical insights into how each piece was created. It’s like a Pre-Opera Talk you can hear at home!

Enjoy the background, and enjoy the operas! View more Lyric Commentaries that enhance your weekly opera streaming. 

Lyric Opera Commentaries are sponsored by the Patrick G. and Shirley Welsh Ryan Foundation in memory of their parents.

Chicago Children's Choir 
A New Freedom: Black Voices Honoring Juneteenth in a Time of Struggle

On June 19, our friends at the Chicago Children's Choir presented A New Freedom: Black Voices Honoring Juneteenth in a Time of Struggle, a concert honoring the 155th Anniversary of Juneteenth. 

Featured performers include Black artists and alumni of the Chicago Children's Choir, including Keanon Kyles who was most recently seen in Lyric's 2019/20 opera for young audiences, Earth to Kenzie. We invite you to watch the recorded version of this remarkable concert.  


WATCH

Metropolitan Opera
Donizetti: La Fille du régiment

This production from the Metropolitan Opera stars Pretty Yende, Stephanie Blythe, Javier Camarena, Maurizio Muraro, and Kathleen Turner, and was directed by Laurent Pelly. La Fille du régiment was conducted by Lyric's music director designate, Enrique Mazzola, on March 2, 2019. This opera stream will be available until 6:30pm on Tuesday, June 30. 

Opera Australia
Puccini: Turandot 

This production from Opera Australia stars Dragana Radakovic, Riccardo Massi, and Hyeseoung Kwon, and was directed by Chen Shi-Zheng. Turandot was conducted by Brian Castles-Onion in 2016. 

Lyric Commentary from the 2017/18 Season is by Sir Andrew Davis in collaboration with Jack Zimmerman.

Metropolitan Opera
Shostakovich: The Nose 

This production from the Metropolitan Opera stars Andrey Popov, Alexander Lewis, and Paulo Szot, and was directed by William Kentridge. The Nose was conducted by Pavel Smelkov on October 26, 2013.  This opera stream will be available until 6:30pm on Thursday, July 2. 

Metropolitan Opera
Bizet: Carmen

This production from the Metropolitan Opera stars Anita Rachvelishvili, Anita Hartig,  Aleksandrs Antonenko, and Ildar Abdrazakov, and was directed by Richard Eyre. Carmen was conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado on November 1, 2014. This opera stream will be available until 6:30pm on Friday, July 3. 

Lyric Commentary from the 2016/17 Season is by Jack Zimmerman. 

Metropolitan Opera
Mozart: Don Giovanni

This production from the Metropolitan Opera stars  Mariusz Kwiecien, Marina Rebeka, Barbara Frittoli, Mojca Erdmann, Ramón Vargas, Luca Pisaroni, and Štefan Kocán, and was directed by Michael Grandage. Don Giovanni was conducted by Fabio Luisi on October 29, 2011. This opera stream will be available until 6:30pm on Saturday, July 4. 

Lyric Commentary from the 2019/20 Season is by Martha Nussbaum.

Royal Opera House
Puccini: La bohème

This production from the Royal Opera House stars Nicole Car, Michael Fabiano, Mariusz Kwiecień, and Simona Mihai, and was directed by Richard Jones. La bohème was conducted by Antonio Pappano in 2017.   

A co-production between the Royal Opera House, Teatro Real Madrid, and Lyric Opera of Chicago, this production was presented at Lyric as a part of our 2018/19 Season. We invite you to listen to the Lyric Commentary by Wynne Delacoma, and to visit our production page for musical highlights, photos, and program articles from this incredible interpretation of Puccini's classic.  

Lyric Opera of Chicago
Wagner: Die Walküre

This production of Die Walküre from Lyric's 2017/18 Season stars Christine Goerke, Eric Owens, Brandon Jovanovich, Elisabet Strid, and Ain Anger, and was directed by David Pountney. Die Walküre was conducted by Sir Andrew Davis and can be heard at 12pm on WFMT.

Featured Lyric Commentaries are from the 2017/18 and 2019/20 Seasons, and are by Anthony Freud in collaboration with Nicholas Ivor Martin, and by Colin Ure. We also invite you to visit our production page for musical highlights, program articles, a synopsis, and photos. 

San Francisco Opera
Floyd: Susannah 

This production from San Francisco Opera stars Patricia Racette, Raymond Aceto, Brandon Jovanovich, and James Kryshak, and was directed by Michael Cavanagh. Susannah was conducted by Karen Kamensek in 2014. 

Lyric Commentary from the 2002/03 Season is by Jean Keister Kellogg, former Director of Education at Lyric.  

Mark S. Doss's "Heart and Soul" Series

Bass-baritone Mark S. Doss, a Ryan Opera Center alumus, is presenting a weekly concert series every Sunday afternoon at 12:30 CDT/1:30pm EDT. 

Each performance features a selection of secular and sacred songs, accompanied by a discussion of each piece's technical, musical, and spirtual aspects. 

Audiences can view Mark S. Doss's performances on his Facebook or Instagram. 


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Des Moines Opera
Dvořák: Rusalka 

This production from Des Moines Opera stars Sarah Gartland, Evan LeRoy Johnson, Jill Grove, Zachary James, and Ryan Opera Center alumna Laura Wilde, and was directed by Chas Rader-Shieber. Rusalka was conducted by David Neely on July 3, 2018, and will be presented at 2pm. This production is a part of Des Moines Opera's Virutal Festival, taking place through July.  

Lyric Commentary from the 2011/12 Season is by Roger Pines. 

Metropolitan Opera
Rossini: La donna del lago

This production from the Metropolitan Opera stars Joyce DiDonato, Daniela Barcellona, Juan Diego Flórez, John Osborn, and Oren Gradus, and was directed by Paul Curran. La donna del lago was conducted by Michele Mariotti on March 14, 2015. This opera stream will be available until 6:30pm on Monday, July 6. 

Photos: Kyle Flubacker, Todd Rosenberg, Dan Rest, Cory Weaver