Ravinia 2025 Issue 6

A SORCERER’S AUTHENTIC CADENCE CHICAGO CELLIST CRAIG TROMPETER realized his dream in 2011 of launching a niche Baroque op- era company—a daring venture in a city that already had two long-standing opera organizations, including the big, internationally renowned Lyric Opera of Chicago. ¶ The Haymarket Opera Company has not only survived, but it has grown from what was a fringe artistic experiment into a still-small yet undeniably signif- icant force in the field. In addition to oratorios and concerts, it has produced 25 different 17th- and 18th-cen- tury operas, many of them rediscoveries of works that had undeservedly fallen into obscurity. ¶ The latest evidence of the company’s impressive rise will come August 24 when it makes its Ravinia Festival debut with a semi-staged performance of George Frideric Handel’s Alcina starring Nicole Cabell, an acclaimed soprano who has appeared with Paris Opera and London’s Royal Ballet among many, many more perform- ing groups. ¶ The singer became a fan of Haymarket when she performed in the company’s 2022 produc- tion of L’amant anonyme (1780), the only extant opera of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a mixed-race composer who attained considerable prominence in 18th-century Paris. “I thought they were doing such great work,” she said. “Everybody in the company just cares so much, and it’s not just mone- tarily driven. Everybody is just really passionate about the art form.” ¶ So, when company leaders asked Cabell to headline its Ravinia debut in an opera she performed only once before, in Geneva nine years ago, she didn’t hesitate. “For me,” she said, “it was a little like: Let me get my feet wet again with the role and return to a company I really love at a music festival that’s one of the most prestigious in the country.” Haymarket Opera Company’s 2022 production of Joseph Bologne’s L’Amant anonyme at DePaul University’s Jarvis Opera Hall RAVINIAMAGAZINE • AUG. 18 – AUG. 31, 2025 10