Lyric Opera 2025-2026 Issue 1 - Medea

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 26 strong dramatic core, enabling her to sustain Cherubini’s declamation without strain while still offering moments of ravishing lyricism. She brings to Medea not only technical stamina but also a rare ability to inhabit a character’s psyche, to reveal both the wounded humanity and the terrifying extremity of a woman driven to unimaginable revenge. Polenzani, one of the most admired American tenors of his generation, has built his reputation on elegance, clarity, and dramatic sincerity in repertory from Mozart to French grand opera. In recent years he has expanded into roles of greater heft, his timbre acquiring a heroic ring that never loses its lyric beauty. As Jason, he brings both dignity and vulnerability, making the character more than a foil for Medea’s rage. His Jason is capable of grandeur, but also of the moral weakness that makes Cherubini’s tragedy so devastating. Together, Radvanovsky and Polenzani promise a partnership that will balance fire and nobility, rage and lyricism. Their collaboration situates Lyric’s Medea firmly within the historical continuum of great soprano– tenor pairings, while offering something uniquely their own: two American singers, each at the height of an international career, uniting to take on one of opera’s most formidable challenges. The Tragic Confrontation Medea endures as one of opera’s most unflinching examinations of betrayal and revenge. At its core is not only the story of an abandoned woman, but the story of a partnership destroyed, a bond corrupted by ambition and faithlessness. Cherubini’s score leaves no room for compromise: the sopranomust embody the searing extremes of Medea’s character, the tenor must hold his ground as Jason, and together they must ignite the fatal spark. From Callas and Vickers to Radvanovsky and Polenzani, singers who undertake these roles enter a lineage of artistic courage. They place themselves in a crucible where vocal technique, dramatic instinct, and emotional truth are tested at the highest level. For audiences at Lyric Opera of Chicago, the result will be an encounter not only with Cherubini’s ravishing music, but with the timeless human drama it conveys: the perilous collision of love, betrayal, and vengeance between two voices locked in an operatic wildfire. Dr. Justin Vickers is Distinguished Professor of Music at Illinois State University. As editor of the forthcoming Childhood and the Operatic Imaginary since 1900 (Oxford University Press, 2026), Vickers writes about Benjamin Britten’s children’s operas. Left: Montserrat Caballé as Medea, in the Roman Theatre of Merida in 1989. Right: Roberto Alagna brought an elegance to the role of Jason. Rafa Samano / Getty Images Royal Ballet & Opera