Week 18: Lyric Commentaries for opera streaming and more!

Summer in Chicago is heating up! What better way is there to cool off than to enjoy your favorite operas in the comfort of your own home? This Saturday, our brodcast series with WFMT continues with Orphée et Eurydice, the acclaimed production from Lyric's 2017/18 Season that featured Lyric's first collaboration with The Joffrey Ballet. Don't miss the opportunity to revisit what the Chicago Tribune called "an achingly beautiful dream of a show." To enrich your listening experience, we've provided you with Lyric Commentaries, musical highlights, program articles, and photos. 

Also featured this week are world-class productions from our friends at LA Opera, Opera Australia, The Metropolitan Opera, Cincinnati Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Des Moines Opera. 

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.

LA Opera 
Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro

This production from LA Opera stars Roberto Tagliavini, Pretty Yende, Ryan McKinny, and Guanqun Yu, and was directed by Ian Judge. This opera stream is an audio recording of the production conducted by James Colon in March 2015. 

Lyric Commentary from the 2016/17 Season is by Colin Ure. 

Opera Philadelphia
Roumain: We Shall Not Be Moved

This production from Opera Philadelphia stars Laura Whitehead, Kirstin Chávez, John Holiday, and Daniel Shirley, and was directed by Bill T. Jones. We Shall Not Be Moved was conducted by Viswa Subbaraman in 2017. This production is part of Opera Philadelphia's Digital O Festival and will be available for streaming through August 31, 2020.

As a part of Lyric's longstanding commitment to produce and support new American operas, we invite you to watch this groundbreaking production, and introduce yourself to the exciting work of Bernard Roumain and Marc Bamuthi Joseph.

Opera Australia
Bizet: Carmen

This production from Opera Australia stars Rinat Shaham, Dmytro Popov, Andrew Jones, and Nicole Car, and was directed by Gale Edwards. Carmen was conducted by Brian Castles-Onion in 2013. 

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

Metropolitan Opera
Berg: Wozzeck

This production from the Metropolitan Opera stars Elza van den Heever, Tamara Mumford, Christopher Ventris, Gerhard Siegel, Andrew Staples, Peter Mattei, and Ryan Opera Center alumnus Christian Van Horn, and was directed by William Kentridge. Wozzeck was conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin on January 11, 2020. This opera stream will be available until 6:30pm on Friday, July 17. 

Lyric Commentary from the 2015/16 Season is by Sir Andrew Davis in collaboration with Jack Zimmerman. 

Des Moines Opera
Rossini: Le Comte Ory

This production from Des Moines Opera stars Taylor Stayton, Sydney Mancasola, Stephanie Lauricella, and Steven LeBrie, and was directed by David Gately. Le Comte Ory was conducted by Dean Williamson on July 15, 2014, and will be presented at 2pm CDT. This production is part of Des Moines Opera's Virtual Festival, taking place through July.  

Lyric Opera of Chicago
Gluck: Orphée et Eurydice

This production of Orphée et Eurydice from Lyric's 2017/18 Season stars singers Dmitry Korchak, Andriana Chuchman, and Lauren Snouffer, plus principal dancers from The Joffrey Ballet, and was directed by John Neumeier. Orphée et Eurydice was conducted by Harry Bicket and can be heard at 12pm CDT on WFMT. 

In addition to the Lyric Commentary by Anthony Freud and Nicholas Ivor Martin, you can visit our production page for musical highlights, program articles, a synopsis and photos.

Listening with your family? Visit our learning resources portal for supplementary materials specifically built for students in grades 6-12. 

Cincinnati Opera
Spears: Fellow Travelers

This production from Cincinatti Opera stars Aaron Blake, Joseph Lattanzi, Devon Guthrie, Alexandra Schoeny, and Marcus DeLoach, and was directed by Kevin Newbury. Fellow Travelers was conducted by Mark Gibson in 2016, and will be broadcast at 12pm CDT/ 1pm EDT. 

Fellow Travelers was presented as a part of Lyric's chamber opera initiative in the 2017/18 Season. We invite you to visit our production page for a digital program book, musical highlights, and production photos to enhance your listening experience. 

San Francisco Opera
Rossini: La Cenerentola 

This production from San Francisco Opera stars Karine Deshayes, René Barbera, Efraín Solís, Carlos Chausson, and Ryan Opera Center alumnus Christian Van Horn, and was directed by Gregory Fortner. La Cenerentola was conducted by Jesús López-Cobos in 2014. This opera stream will be available from 10am PDT/12pm CDT on July 18 until 11:59pm the following evening. 

Lyric Commentary from the 2016/17 Season is by Sir Andrew Davis in collaboration with Jack Zimmerman. 

Royal Opera House
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde

This production from the Royal Opera House stars Stephen Gould, Nina Stemme, John Tomlinson, Sarah Connolly, and was directed by Christof Loy. Tristan und Isolde was conducted by Antonio Pappano in 2014. This broadcast will be available until July 27, 2020. 

Lyric Commentary from the 2008/09 Season is by Sir Andrew Davis with written assistance by Nicholas Ivor Martin. 

Photos: Michael Brosilow, Dan Rest, Todd Rosenberg, Cory Weaver