A new Ring begins, Trojans battle in Lyric's 2016-17 season

The Lyric Opera of Chicago goes big for its 2016-17 season. It kicks off with the first installment of a new Ring Cycle, continues with the Lyric premiere of Berlioz's massive Greek tragedy "Les Troyens" and features former St. Charles resident Sondra Radvanovsky in the title role of Bellini's "Norma."

The season features:

• "Das Rheingold" (six performances, Oct. 1-Oct. 22) - Sir Andrew Davis conducts the first part of Wagner's four-opera epic "Der Ring des Nibelungen" (aka "The Ring Cycle") inspired by Norse mythology. David Pountney directs and Eric Owens stars as Wotan, king of the gods.

• "Lucia di Lammermoor" (seven performances, Oct. 15-Nov. 6) - Donizetti's tragedy of a Scottish bride driven to madness stars Albina Shagimuratova in a new-to-Chicago production by director Graham Vick. Enrique Mazzola conducts.

• "Les Troyens" ("The Trojans") (five performances, Nov. 13-Dec. 3) - Berlioz's five-act epic about the fall of Troy and the suicide of the Queen of Carthage makes its Lyric premiere in a new production by director Tim Albery. Sir Andrew Davis conducts, Christine Goerke stars as Cassandre and Sophie Koch stars as Dido.

• "Don Quichotte" (six performances, Nov. 19-Dec. 7) - Ferruccio Furlanetto stars in the title role of Massenet's take on Cervantes' classic Don Quixote story. Matthew Ozawa directs a new-to-Chicago production and Sir Andrew Davis conducts.

• "The Magic Flute" (11 performances, Dec. 10, 2016-Jan. 27, 2017) - Australian director Neil Armfield stages the Lyric's first new production of Mozart's comic singspiel adventure in three decades. Rory Macdonald conducts.

• "Norma" (seven performances, Jan. 28-Feb. 25, 2017) - Former St. Charles resident Sondra Radvanovsky sings the title role of Bellini's classic opera of a Druid priestess caught up in a tragic love triangle in this new-to-Chicago production by director Kevin Newbury. Riccardo Frizza conducts.

• "Carmen" (11 performances, Feb. 11-March 25, 2017) - Tony Award-winner Rob Ashford directs and choreographs a new-to-Chicago production about a Spanish soldier who obsesses over a free-spirited gypsy. Harry Bicket and Ainars Rubikis split the conducting duties.

• "Eugene Onegin" (nine performances, Feb. 26-March 17, 2017) - Polish baritone Mariusz Kwiecién stars in the title role of the bored aristocrat and Puerto Rican soprano Ana María Martínez stars as the lovestruck Tatiana in a revival of Robert Carsen's minimalist Metropolitan Opera production of Tchaikovsky's classic opera. Alejo Perez conducts.

Off season events include:

• "My Fair Lady" (25 performances, April 28-May 21, 2017) - Plans to produce "South Pacific" have been pushed to 2018 in favor of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's beloved adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion." Director Robert Carsen restages his production originally seen in Paris.

• Celebrating Placido (7:30 p.m. March 9 and 13, 2017) - A concert honoring the famed Spanish tenor-turned-baritone Plácido Domingo.

• Lawrence Brownlee & Eric Owens in Recital (3 p.m. April 9, 2017) - A subscriber appreciation event featuring the American tenor and bass-baritone.

• Itzhak Perlman in Recital (3 p.m. Sunday, April 23, 2017) - A concert starring the acclaimed Israeli-American violinist and conductor.

• "Charlie Parker's Yardbird" (7:30 p.m. March 24, and 2 p.m. March 26) - Composer Daniel Schnyder and librettist Bridgette A. Wimberly's 2015 jazz opera celebrating the life of the legendary saxophonist and bebop artist makes its Chicago debut in 2017 at Millennium Park's Harris Theater for Music and Dance.

For more information, visit lyricopera.org or call (312) 827-5600.