Tonya & Nancy The Rock Opera

This is a wildly paced and extremely loud production that tells the story of the 1990’s ice skating scandal that marred the rivalry between American Olympic ice skaters Tonya Harding ( Amanda Horvath) and Nancy Kerrigan (Courtney Mack).

The production take a tabloid approach to the story of rivalry and desperation as the quest for Olympic stardom overtakes each skater. We see the role of the mothers both played by Veronica Garza as she belts her way through the opera.

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Don Quichotte (Don Quixote)

Jules Massenet’s (1842-1912) Don Quichotte is “comédie-héroïque” with sweepingly lush score composed in 1909-10 while the composer was ill and after he has a failed opera (Bacchus). Don Quichotte features a lighter take on the idealistic, delusional knight and his squire Sancho than the 1964 Broadway musical Man of La Mancha. Both are excellent takes on Cervantes’ classic.

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Les Troyens (The Trojans)

Many opera companies considered Hector Berlioz ‘s (1803-1869) Les Troyens epic musical drama too difficult and to expensive to produce as it contained a cast of 22 singers, a large chorus (here 94 members), with two ballets, a large orchestra and an ambitious set with several locations. Berlioz never was able to mount a complete 5-act version of his opera in his lifetime. Even today, the requirements by solo and duet vocalists, , conductors, choruses, orchestras, instrumentalists, stage directors, lighting, projection and set designers make Les Troyens simply too difficult to mount. Kudos to the creatives at the Lyric Opera of Chicago to have the determination and vision to mount Berlioz’s masterpiece. This is a rarely mounted and extremely creative opera that needs to be experienced.

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The Fairy Queen

Andreas Mitisek has outsmarted himself by using contemporary Vegas punk characters and staging for a baroque opera from 1692. Henry Purcell’s (1659-1695) opera is loosely based on A Midsummer’s Nightthat featured amazing sets and mythical figures. But director Andreas Mitisek has chosen to stage The Fairy Queen in Vegas as a punk cult party filled with raunchy sex and desiccant characters. The modern staging and lyrics are edgy and contradict the music.

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Lucia Di Lammermoor

But Lucia Di Lammermoor rests on the performance and vocal acumen of Lucia and Edgardo. Russian soprano Albina Shagimuratova’s mad scene (one of the most famous in opera) was powerfully sung and acted by Shagimuratova. She is becoming the finest Lucia in the world! Also Polish tenor Piotr Beczala is known as thee Edgardo in the world today. Together these two propel this opera to the heavens. Add the fine coral work and the fine work from Romanian bass Adrian Sampetrean as chaplain Raimondo and this opera plays as a triumph bel canto opera

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Das Rheingold

In a new production, the Lyric Opera of Chicago has mounted the finest staging that I have ever seen of an opera! Wagner, who wanted his Der Ring des Nibelungen to be know as a music drama, would be proud of David Pountney’s stage of Das Rheingold which was based on Johan Engels and Robert Innes Hopkins designs. Below you’ll see a vast array of photos in order for readers to get a feel for this magnificent staging that enhances Wagner’s music drama as a compliment to Wagner’s power score and the fantastic voices from the world class singers.

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The Love Potion (Le Vin Herbe)

Sung in English (translation by Hugh MacDonald) with a large video depicting the story with a huge English super titles, The Love Potion works well. Featuring music that sounds like film underscoring rich in piano and string sounds, The Love Potion’s singing makes the story come alive. The 12 person ensemble (a kind of Greek chorus) sounded terrific and the leads led the way.

From tenor Bernard Holcomb’s Tristan to soprano Lani Stait’s Isolde to baritone Nicholas Davis’ King Mark, these featured artists carried the opera with their expressively skilled voices

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Operetta In Exile 2016

Operetta in Exile begins with six songs from Die Blume von Hawaii, a 1931 collaboration between three Jewish artists, Paul Abraham, Alfred Grunwald, and Fritz Lohner-Beda. The story is typical of what defines an operetta: it is light-hearted, uses stock characters, and a formulaic plot. However, between the songs we learn about Abraham’s persecution at the hands of the Nazis.

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The Cousin from Nowhere 2016

One of the joys at this operetta is in the fabulous 22 member orchestra, conducted by Anthony Barrese that sounded magnificent! The cast of classically trained singers projected and enunciate expertly despite no amplification. The cast has professional singers from both the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Chicago Symphony Choruses. I was particularly impressed by the skilled comic chops from Nicholas Pulikowski who carried the lead with immense empathy. He gave one of the strongest performances seen on a Chicago stage this year!

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Roméo et Juliette

This is a late Romantic-era adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, which for all the similarities in plot, is a quite different story. But it sounds and looks beautiful, and in the context of the Shakespeare 400 Festival, is a welcome exhibition of how the Bard’s place in popular culture has changed over time.

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