Lyric Opera's 2018-19 season features 'Siegfried,' 'West Side Story'
Returning favorites and company premieres are featured in the Lyric Opera of Chicago's 2018-19 season, which was announced on Tuesday in a subscriber presentation at the Civic Opera House.
The Lyric observes the Leonard Bernstein centennial with a postseason run of the Broadway classic "West Side Story" (May 3 to June 2, 2019). There are also star soprano events featuring Anna Netrebko (a Dec. 2 recital) and Renée Fleming (a 25th Lyric anniversary concert and gala on March 23, 2019). Another season add-on is the Chicago premiere of the World War II-set opera "An American Dream" by Jack Perla and Jessica Murphy Moo.
The Lyric's main eight-opera season features:
• "La Bohème" (11 performances, Oct. 6-20) - Puccini's poor Parisian artists get new duds and digs in director Richard Jones' coproduction shared with London's Royal Opera. Making Lyric debuts are conductor Domingo Hindoyan and American tenor Michael Fabiano.
• "Idomeneo" (six performances, Oct. 13-Nov. 2) - Evanston native Matthew Polenzani gets to repeat his 2017 Metropolitan Opera triumph in the title role of Mozart's opera seria in a classic production by the late Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. Sir Andrew Davis conducts.
• "Siegfried" (four performances, Nov. 3-16) - Director David Pountney's third installment of Wagner's "Ring" cycle features German tenor Burkhard Fritz in the title role. Davis conducts.
• "Il Trovatore" (seven performances, Nov. 17-Dec. 19) - Sir David McVicar's 2006 production of Verdi's revenge tragedy is back for its third Chicago spin. Marco Armiliato conducts, and American soprano Tamara Wilson makes her Lyric debut.
• "Cendrillon" (six performances, Dec. 1-Jan. 20, 2019) - Davis conducts Jules Massenet's 1899 French take on Cinderella in its Lyric debut. Australian Siobhan Stagg makes her U.S. debut in an acclaimed 2006 staging by director/designer Laurent Pelly.
• "Elektra" (six performances, Feb. 2-22, 2019) - Soprano Nina Stemme and conductor Donald Runnicles make their Lyric debuts in a revival of McVicar's 2012 production of Richard Strauss' 1909 Greek tragedy.
• "La Traviata" (10 performances, Feb. 16-March 22, 2019) - Conductor Michael Christie and tenor Giorgio Berrugi make their Lyric debuts in a revival of director Arin Arbus' 2013 production. Albina Shagimuratova stars as the Verdi heroine Violetta.
• "Ariodante" (six performances, March 2-17, 2019) - Handel's 1735 opera seria makes its Lyric debut in a new coproduction directed by Richard Jones. It stars mezzo-soprano Alice Coote, and Harry Bicket conducts.
For more information and to order subscriptions, visit lyricopera.org or call (312) 827-5600.