In 1954, Lyric Opera of Chicago, then known as the Lyric Theater, opened its first season with a performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni. "It's only appropriate that we celebrate the 60th anniversary with a brand new production," said Sir Andrew Davis, Lyric Opera's music director, during a press conference on Monday announcing the company's 2014-15 season.
"Lyric Opera's 'calling-card' opera, Don Giovanni, is one of the most elusive and multilayered pieces in the repertoire--a dramma giocoso, combining comedy and drama," said general director Anthony Freud of the season opener.
Lyric will also present new productions of Puccini's Tosca and Donizetti's Anna Bolena. And Freud announced an unusual Lyric premiere, of The Passenger, a newly-rediscovered opera that was written in 1968 by Holocaust survivor Mieczysław Weinberg.
Richard Strauss' Capriccio, last heard at Lyric in 1994, will return next season, starring soprano Renée Fleming. "Renée owns the role of the Countess," Davis said. "It's one of her great roles in which that glorious sound just comes pouring out. She also has that wonderful sophistication onstage that just brings the character to life."
Other revivals include Verdi's Il Trovatore and Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, starring bass-baritone Eric Owens as Porgy. Lyric will also present a new-to-Chicago production of Wagner's Tannhäuser, with tenor Johan Botha in the title role.
The season's final opera, The Passenger, was written in the Soviet Union in 1967-68 and tells the story of the chance encounter of a Holocaust survivor and her Nazi overseer, on board an ocean liner bound for Brazil.
"It's rare to 'discover' a prolific and important composer whose works were politically suppressed for decades, and to be able to share his most significant contribution with our audience in a brilliant production created by David Pountney," said Freud. "This will be an unforgettable moment in our company's history."
Lyric is currently presenting a multi-year cycle of great Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals, part of the company's American Musical Theater Initiative. Carousel will be the third show of the cycle. Mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves will play the main role of Nettie Fowler.
Lyric will also present the world premiere of a new mariachi opera, El Pasado Nunca Se Termina (The Past is Never Finished), with music by José "Pepe" Martínez and libretto by Leonard Foglia.
This world premiere will follow the tremendous success of their Cruzar la Cara de la Luna (To Cross the Face of the Moon), presented at Lyric during the 2012-13 season.
"This will be a joyous high point of the season," said Freud. "Part of Lyric's mission is to ensure that our company is relevant and welcoming to all Chicagoans. Cruzar's success in the Latino community last year exceeded our wildest dreams, and marked the start of an ongoing relationship."
More information about the 2014-15 season is available at lyricopera.org.
