Lyric Opera of Chicago wows its audience with ‘Cavalleria Rusticana’ and ‘Pagliacci’

This month, Lyric Opera of Chicago is putting on a murderous operatic double feature of Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” and Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci.”

The remaining performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, and 2 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 20, and Sunday, Nov. 23, at Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive in Chicago.

These iconic works return to Lyric Opera of Chicago for the first time in more than 15 years. Known collectively as Cav/Pag, this Lyric production by the late Elijah Moshinsky returns for the first time since the 2008-09 season and is revived by stage director Peter McClintock. Lyric Opera of Chicago first performed Cavalleria Rusticana in 1955, and Pagliacci in 1957.

Lyric Music Director Enrique Mazzola leads the Lyric Opera Orchestra making this dual production a reality. The Spanish-born Italian conductor reflects in every note produced by the orchestra. As a graduate from the Giuseppe Verdi Milan Conservatory, Mazzola knows how to underline the uniqueness of southern Italian culture and tradition demonstrated in these operatic masterpieces while showing their universal themes of love and revenge.

This double production brings to stage Lyric’s favorite world-class singers as well as wonderful Lyric debuts.

In “Cavalleria Rusticana,” a one-act opera by Pietro Mascagni, the story is set in a Sicilian village on Easter morning. It revolves around themes of love, betrayal, and revenge, focusing on Turiddu, who returns from military service to find his former lover Lola married to Alfio, leading to a tragic love triangle involving Santuzza, who still loves Turiddu.

For mezzo-soprano Yulia Matochkina, who stars as the tormented Santuzza, it is a breathtaking debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago. She wowed the audience with her strong, yet sensitive voice and her incredible rendition of “Voi lo sapete, o mamma,” a difficult aria that she presented beautifully.

The role of Turiddu is presented by tenor SeokJong Baek, for whom it is also a debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago. The audience reacted with great enthusiasm to “O Lola, ch’ai di latti la camisa,” a charming aria that Turiddu sings to his lover Lola in the beginning of the opera. Baek’s emotional presentation of aria Mamma, quel vino e generoso demonstrated the distinctive sound of his voice, incredible breathing technique, and great artistic skills.

Lyric veteran baritone Quinn Kelsey, an alumnus of the Opera Center, Lyric’s renowned artist-training program, returns as Alfio, Lola’s husband. A cheerful aria, Il Cavallo scalpita, underlined Kelsey’s undeniable ability to perform in a powerful and passionate way while demonstrating his great vocal skills. This role is the first of his two roles in this production.

Another alumna of the Ryan Opera Center, contralto Lauren Decker, presents Turiddu’s devoted Mamma Lucia. Her deep voice with its “amber low notes” and velvet tone helped her to demonstrate her character as a warm and loving mother.

Mezzo-soprano Camille Robles, a first-year Ryan Opera Center member, sings the role of Lola. Camille is an emerging young artist who found the best way to present the playful Lola. The aria “Fior di giaggiolo” underlined the beauty of her voice and its incredible color and richness.

The second opera, “Pagliacci,” is an Italian opera with a prologue and two acts with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It tells the story of a clown and leader of a traveling theater troupe, Canio, who learns from Tonio that his wife Nedda cheated on him with Silvio. At the end, he kills both of them during a performance. The opera displays a blend of humor, romance, and tragedy.

The role of Tonio is brilliantly presented by baritone Quinn Kelsey. Tonio is a clown who exhorts his audience to look beyond the actors’ costumes to glimpse the true human emotions displayed in the play. Prologue: Si puo? demonstrated the depth and the beauty of Kelsey’s voice. It is the second of his two roles in this double production.

Renowned tenor Russell Thomas, a mainstay in leading roles at Lyric in recent seasons, presents Canio. Russell filled the Lyric Opera with a powerful and passionate delivery of arias Un tal gioco and Vesti la giubba. He did not just show the richness and the colors of his voice; he also demonstrated the emotional pain which his character, Canio, was going through. Particularly, the audience was amazed by his artistic presentation of Vesti la giubba, the emotional and dramatic centerpiece of Pagliacci.

Nicaraguan American soprano Gabriella Reyes, who charmed audiences as Musetta in the 2024-25 season’s production of Puccini’s “La Bohème,” also returns as Nedda. Described as “one of the most exciting and dynamic artists in music today,” Gabriella found the best way to present Nedda. Aria Stridono lassu showed an impressive range of her voice and artistic presentation.

Baritone Luke Sutliff makes his Lyric debut as Silvio. Being Nedda’s secret lover, Silvio sings a short, yet impressive aria “È proprio il mio sogno?” The warm timbre of Sutliff’s voice and his elegant presentation of his character amazed the audience. Sutliff found a way to show Silvio’s love and sincerity.

The role of Beppe, another of the troupe’s clowns, is performed by a second-year Ryan Opera Center member, the Cuban Dominican tenor Daniel Luis Espinal. He found the best way to present “Serenade O Colombina” and to show not just his vocal abilities, but also his artistic presentation of Beppe’s emotions.

It is important to underline the importance of the Lyric Opera Chorus and Uniting Voices Chicago in this double production. The Lyric Opera Chorus is one of the most distinguished ensembles of its kind in the world. The beauty of their sound, the thoroughness of their musicianship, and their theatrical flair emphasized the uniqueness of both operas.

Uniting Voices Chicago, formerly Chicago Children’s Choir, is the nation’s preeminent youth choral organization, beautified this production. Their touching presentation impressed the audience.

These operas are short in length, but they are long enough to unfold timeless themes of love, betrayal, and tragedy using the means of music. With only three performances left, Lyric Opera of Chicago is happy to enrich our community with the sounds of these immortal masterpieces.