Local opera lovers are bound to disagree about this or that vocal casting, this or that production concept. What’s important is that Lyric Opera of Chicago continues to make intelligent decisions as to how a leading international opera company can satisfy committed operagoers, tempt new audience members and provide relevant service to the community, without breaking the bank in the process.
So it is with Lyric’s 2017-18 season, the company’s 63rd, which general director Anthony Freud and music director Andrew Davis outlined at a media gathering Tuesday at the Civic Opera House. Also attending was soprano Renee Fleming, now in her final season as Lyric’s creative consultant.
As with this year’s lineup, next year’s eight-opera mainstage season evinces a solid balance of new and new-to-Chicago productions, audience favorites, operas long absent from the Lyric repertory, a new American chamber opera and a crowd-pleasing musical. The vocal roster includes international stars, major American artists and current and former members of the Ryan Opera Center.
The 2017-18 season will open Sept. 23 with the previously announced new coproduction of Gluck’s "Orphee et Eurydice." It will run to May 20 with 26 performances of a new production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical "Jesus Christ Superstar."
There will be new productions of "Die Walkure" (the second music drama of Wagner’s "Ring" cycle) and Gounod’s "Faust." Other works include Verdi’s "Rigoletto," Bizet’s "The Pearl Fishers," Puccini’s "Turandot," Bellini’s "I Puritani" and Mozart’s "Cosi Fan Tutte."
In a phone interview several days before the media gathering, Freud, now in his sixth season as general director, president and CEO, explained what guides vocal casting at Lyric.
"I believe very strongly in the sense of an ensemble without the formal structure of an ensemble," he said. "The best opera performances have an integrated artistic team, not only in terms of the relationship between the conductor, director and designers, but also in terms of integrity within the cast. I’m less interested in importing artists who come with ready-made performances."
MOST READ ENTERTAINMENT NEWS THIS HOUR
Audiences will be able to judge for themselves how that principle works in practice next season. Here is the repertory and casting they can expect in 2017-18:
• Russian tenor Dmitry Korchak (debut) and Ryan Center alumna Andriana Chuchman will sing the title roles in the new "Orphee et Eurydice," a coproduction with the companies of Los Angeles and Hamburg, to be directed, choreographed and designed by John Neumeier, with Harry Bicket conducting.
• The latest installment of director David Pountney’s production of Wagner’s monumental "Ring" tetralogy will be conducted by Davis as one of three operas he will lead here next season, including "Pearl Fishers" and "Turandot."
Joining Christine Goerke’s Brunnhilde and Eric Owens’ Wotan in the new "Walkure" will be Elisabet Strid (debut) as Sieglinde, Brandon Jovanovich as Siegmund, Ain Anger (debut) as Hunding and Tanja Ariane Baumgartner as Fricka. The show, running Nov. 1-30, will reunite the creative team of last fall’s "Das Rheingold," including Robert Innes Hopkins (sets), Marie-Jeanne Lecca (costumes) and Fabrice Kebour lighting).
"Both visually and dramatically, the world of ‘Walkure’ will be different from the world of ‘Rheingold,’" Freud said. "There will be no giant puppets that I am aware of." Pountney’s approach will be to treat Wagner’s dysfunctional family drama "like an Ibsen or Chekhov tragedy."
• Emmanuel Villaume will conduct "Faust" in a staging by Kevin Newbury (who directed Lyric’s current "Norma"), with designs by John Frame and Victoria Tzykun. French tenor Benjamin Bernheim will make his house debut in the title role, with soprano Erin Wall singing most of the Marguerites (Ana Maria Martinez will assume the role for the final performance). Bass Christian Van Horn will portray Mephistopheles, with baritone Edward Parks debuting as Valentin. Dates are March 3-21.
• "Rigoletto" will return in a production from San Francisco Opera to be conducted by Marco Armiliato and directed by E. Loren Meeker. Baritone Quinn Kelsey and tenor Matthew Polenzani will portray Rigoletto and the Duke of Mantua, respectively, with Rosa Feola, Alexander Tsymbalyuk and Zanda Svede debuting as Gilda, Sparafucile and Maddalena, respectively. Performances are Oct. 7-Nov. 3.
• Last given at Lyric in 2008, "The Pearl Fishers" will present a love triangle consisting of Marina Rebeka as Leila, Polenzani as Nadir and Mariusz Kwiecien as Zurga. The San Diego Opera production will be directed by Andrew Sinclair, with sets and costumes by fashion designer Zandra Rhodes. Dates are Nov. 19-Dec. 10.
• Another title long absent from the Lyric repertory, "Turandot" will be back with soprano and star Ryan alumna Amber Wagner taking on the diva-devouring title role, Italian tenor Stefano La Colla debuting as Calaf and fellow debutantes Maria Agresta and Janai Brugger sharing the part of Liu. Rob Kearley is the stage director. The Lyric-owned production was previously seen in Miami, Dallas and San Francisco. "Turandot" was last done at Lyric in 2006-07. Performances will run over the holidays, Dec. 5-Jan. 27.
• "Puritani" will be next season’s bow to bel canto. Russian soprano Albina Shagimuratova, who took the title role in "Lucia di Lammermoor" here earlier this season, will sing Elvira, opposite tenor Lawrence Brownlee as the heroine’s lover Arturo. Also back will be "Lucia" conductor Enrique Mazzola. The Bellini masterpiece was one of the last works Maria Callas sang at Lyric (in 1955) and it hasn’t been heard at Lyric since 1991-92, when it starred June Anderson. "Puritani" dates are Feb. 4-28.
• American conductor James Gaffigan will make his Lyric podium debut with "Cosi Fan Tutte." John Cox is to direct an ensemble consisting of Martinez and Marianne Crebassa as the sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella, Antonio Poli and Joshua Hopkins as their suitors Ferrando and Guglielmo, Elena Tsallagova as Despina and Alessandro Corbelli as the amused manipulator Don Alfonso. The production is jointly owned by the opera companies of Monte Carlo and San Francisco. Performances are Feb. 17-March 16.
• The rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar" will close the Lyric season April 27-May 20 of next year. The core creative team — director Timothy Sheader, choreographer Drew McOnie, set and costume designer Tom Scutt, lighting designer Lee Curran — that was responsible for the recent production of "Superstar" at London’s Regent’s Park Theatre will reimagine the show for Lyric. Conductor and cast will be announced later.
The Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical — Lyric’s first rock opera — is both "a conscious choice" and "an important new step" for the company, Freud said.
"We are getting more and more experienced at producing musicals, and they are becoming increasingly important to us from a financial basis," he said. The Lyric CEO expressed confidence that "one of the most iconic of all musicals" can thrive in the 3,500-seat Opera House. "As with everything we do for the first time, it’s an experiment we want to learn from and see what conclusions we can draw as a result of it," he added.
Lyric’s spring 2016 performances of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s "The King and I" drew bigger box office than any musical the company presented previously, Freud said.
The next show in that series, Lerner and Loewe’s "My Fair Lady," which Lyric will present this coming April and May, is tracking ahead of "King and I" in ticket sales at this same point last year, he added.
"There’s really encouraging evidence that musicals are working for us and are contributing to the bottom line in a way that allows us to ensure that at no point are we compromising our world-class opera seasons."
Special events next season will include a subscriber appreciation recital by tenor Piotr Beczala, Feb. 25; and a celebration of the Leonard Bernstein centennial (including his one-act opera "Trouble in Tahiti") on March 10.
Continuing Lyric’s efforts to present new chamber operas in smaller Chicago theaters, Lyric Unlimited will present the Chicago premiere of the chamber opera "Fellow Travelers" by composer Gregory Spears and librettist Greg Pierce.
The opera, based on Thomas Mallon’s novel of the same name, is a music drama of deceit and betrayal, about a secret gay love affair conducted amid the political witch hunts of the McCarthy era in 1950s Washington. Director Newbury’s production originated in July 2016 at Cincinnati Opera. Cast and conductor will be announced later. There will be four performances, March 17-25, 2018, at the Athenaeum Theatre.
Although Fleming and Lyric have agreed not to extend her tenure as creative consultant beyond the current season, Freud said that "we both are seriously determined that our relationship will continue in the future," on a project-to-project basis. The diva will continue as an adviser to the Ryan Center next season and beyond, he added.
Fleming has been winding down her performances in staged opera productions, and her performances as the Marschallin in a new production of Strauss’ "Der Rosenkavalier" in April at the Metropolitan Opera are widely assumed to be among her last in this signature role, a favorite goodbye piece for divas. Freud said Lyric is planning something "appropriately celebratory" to honor the singer in 2018-19, Fleming’s 60th birthday season, if not even sooner than that..
The coming season will bring slightly higher ticket prices, according to Freud.
"After holding the prices relatively steady for a number of years, we are introducing modest price increases in selected sections through the house, while still ensuring that there are many affordable ways to participate," he said.
Subscriptions to the 2017-18 season went on sale Tuesday. For further information, call 312-827-5600 or visit www.lyricopera.org.
John von Rhein is a Tribune critic.
jvonrhein@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @jvonrhein
RELATED STORIES:
From Callas to now, ‘Norma’ is vocal Everest only bravest have climbed at Lyric
For 2017 Grant Park Music Festival, music and finances join in sunny harmony
Levine returns, Lyric launches a new ‘Ring’ — and other highlights of the classical music year
Check out the latest movie reviews from Michael Phillips and the Chicago Tribune.
Check out reviews for all new music releases from Tribune music critic Greg Kot.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
