La traviata costume design by Cait O’Connor
Executive Editor:
Susan Mathieson Mayer
Co-Editors:
Magda Krance, Roger Pines
Contributing Writers:
Magda Krance,
SusanMathiesonMayer,
Roger Pines,
Jack Zimmerman
Sales:
Performance Media
Production Manager:
Sarah Kaplan
Photographers:
Cheri Eisenberg,
Robert Kusel, Dan Rest,
Todd Rosenberg,
Jaclyn Simpson
Cover:
La traviata costume design
by Cait O’Connor.
As you receive this magazine, we’re wrapping up an
amazingly busy and productive year. We presented
nine opera productions, the Renée Fleming/Susan
Graham recital, the new production of Oklahoma!,
and scores of tremendously exciting events that
are part of the Lyric Unlimited initiative.
All of the company’s community-engagement
programs are under the umbrella of Lyric Unlimited,
which aims to reach new publics. I’m delighted to tell
you that it’s working! An impressive percentage of the
audience for our Lyric Unlimited events was new: 35%
for the “Popcorn & Pasquale” family performance;
25%
for “The Second City Guide to the Opera”; 42%
for the opera-house performance of Cruzar la Cara
de la Luna; and at least 85% for Cruzar in its Pilsen
and Waukegan community performances. It’s very
gratifying for me and my colleagues to welcome
so many new friends into the Lyric family and we
hope to be a part of their lives for many years.
I strongly believe that the particular match of
conductor, director, and cast in each opera at Lyric in
2013-14
will achieve a fusion of music and theater that
makes for truly satisfying opera. I’m thrilled about the
team for Verdi’s Otello in Sir Peter Hall’s production,
which opened the season triumphantly 12 years ago and
will do so again. It’s fitting that this supreme masterpiece,
based on one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, should
be presented in a production by Sir Peter, one of the most
influential theatrical figures of the past half-century. We
have an extraordinary trio of leading artists: Johan Botha,
a true heroic tenor, who has enthralled our audience in
five starring roles; Ana María Martínez, whose eagerly
awaited role debut as Desdemona will be exquisite; and
Falk Struckmann, who portrayed a hair-raising Iago
opposite Johan’s Otello at the Met last season. I’m also
very pleased to welcome to the company Bertrand de
Billy, a hugely respected conductor internationally.
Puccini’s Madama Butterfly is one of the most popular
operas ever written — one the vast majority of Lyric
audience members will undoubtedly remember from
many previous performances. But our new Butterfly
offers much more than a trip down memory lane. This
production was created by the astonishingly imaginative
Michael Grandage, former artistic director of London’s
trailblazing Donmar Warehouse. Michael’s vision for
Butterfly, only his second opera, is exceedingly faithful
to the story and to the spirit of 19th-century Japan.
continued on next page
anthony f r eud
g e n e r a l d i r e c t i o n s
Lyric’s soprano star power was certainly in evidence with Renée
Fleming , Anna Netrebko, and Albina Shagimuratova joining
Anthony Freud for “Lyric family” photos before the company’s
end-of-season celebration in the Rice Grand Foyer.
Pre-Opera Lectures
Join us for our FREE pre-opera
lectures! Opera experts share their
wealth of knowledge and insights
to enhance your opera experience.
The 30-minute lectures start one
hour prior to curtain for every
mainstage performance (except
Opening Night and Fleming/
Kaufmann Concert).
Visit
lyricopera.org
for more details.
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Lyric Opera of Chicago and
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trademarks of Lyric Opera
of Chicago.
Visit our website at
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CONTENTS
General Directions
3
Otello
6
by Jack Zimmerman
Madama Butterfly
8
by Jack Zimmerman
Parsifal
10
by Roger Pines
Spotlights
12
La traviata
16
by Magda Krance
Entrances & Encores
20
by Roger Pines
On the Record
21
High Notes
22
3
