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LULU
New Production
By Alban Berg
Completer by Friedrich Cerha
Libretto by composer
Conducted by Sir Andrew Davis
Stage Direction by Paul Curran
At the Lyric Opera of Chicago
20 N. Wacker
Chicago, IL
Call (312) 332-2244 http://www.lyricopera.org
tickets $44 - $197
Saturday, Nov 15 at 7 pm
Wednesday, Nov 19 at 7 pm
Saturday, Nov 22 at 7 pm
Sunday, Nov 30 at 7 pm
Running time is 3 hours, 50 minutes with 2 intermissions
Through November 30, 2008
LULU returns to the Lyric Opera after 21 years
Let start out my saying that I have only seen a few operas over the years in Miami, Amsterdam and Chicago. Therefore, I am a novice concerning the art form. It has been years since I attended the Lyric Opera of Chicago. After seeing hundreds of Broadway musicals including some with a semi-operatic form, I thought I was ready for a modern opera. Boy, was I shocked! It was an amazing musical experience! The sets were terrific, the score was provocative and surprising. LULU’s music sounds more like a movie underscore than an opera. I think I was expecting something other than the twelve tone music? The singing was amazingly forceful and the story was easy to follow especially with the projected titles. LULU reminded me of a dramatic play set to music with sung dialogue. I kept waiting for someone to break out in song but the singing speeches continued. That surprised me.
Eventually, I adjusted to the modern opera’s style and I became engrossed with the amazing story of LULU sung marvelously by Marlis Petersen. She was brilliant as the lady with whom men found intoxicatingly seductive. Her acting skills equaled her singing skills. She worked hard as she was on stage for most of the nearly four hour opera.
Petersen has ample help from a group of marvelous male voices led by Wolfgang Schone as Dr. Schon and Jack the Ripper. I never thought I would be able to adjust to the unique demands of a modern European opera but the longer LULU went on—the more I became enthralled with it. While I really appreciate classic operas from Puccini, Mozart and Mascagni, my first exposure to Alban Berg produced wonderment and surprise. His work is an acquired taste much like a very dry chardonnay. If you enjoy modern opera, get to the Lyric Opera to see LULU. It sure stretched my musical taste to new limits.
Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@Chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Review: November 10, 2008
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