Jill Grove News

Anthony Freud, general director of Lyric Opera of Chicago, today announced Memory and Reckoning, a confluence of activities related to the Chicago premiere of Mieczysaw Weinberg's The Passenger, on stage at Lyric tonight, February 24 through March 15. This poignant and gripping 20th-century masterpiece portrays the story of the Holocaust from the perspectives of both victim and perpetrator, and was only recently rediscovered after more than 40 years of suppression.

Lyric Unlimited presents the world premiere of The Property, a klezmer opera by composer Wlad Marhulets and librettist Stephanie Fleischmann. It opens Wednesday, February 25, with five performances through Thursday, March 5. World premiere presentations of The Property are presented in partnership with the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood Feb. 25, 26, 27, with additional performances at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in suburban Skokie Mar. 4-5.

Lyric Opera of Chicago today announced several updates to “?Memory and Reckoning,” a confluence of activities related to the Chicago premiere of Mieczys?aw Weinberg's The Passenger, on stage at Lyric February 24 through March 15. This poignant and gripping 20th-century masterpiece portrays the story of the Holocaust from the perspectives of both victim and perpetrator, and was only recently rediscovered after more than 40 years of suppression. “Memory and Reckoning” is a supplemental series of events designed to expand and amplify the themes of this powerful opera.

Anthony Freud, general director of Lyric Opera of Chicago, today announced Memory and Reckoning, a confluence of activities related to the Chicago premiere of Mieczysaw Weinberg's The Passenger, on stage at Lyric February 24 through March 15. This poignant and gripping 20th-century masterpiece portrays the story of the Holocaust from the perspectives of both victim and perpetrator, and was only recently rediscovered after more than 40 years of suppression.

Former Music Director Christoph Eschenbach returns for one of the largest choral-symphonic works ever written, Gustav Mahler's 8th Symphony, tonight and tomorrow, May 9 and 10 at 7:30 pm. Nicknamed the Symphony of a Thousand, Mahler's Symphony No. 8 will be performed by more than 400 musicians, chorus members and soloists together onstage at Jones Hall for an event seen only once before in the Houston Symphony's 100-year history.

Former Music Director Christoph Eschenbach returns for one of the largest choral-symphonic works ever written, Gustav Mahler's 8th Symphony, on May 9 and 10 at 7:30 pm. Nicknamed the Symphony of a Thousand, Mahler's Symphony No. 8 will be performed by more than 400 musicians, chorus members and soloists together onstage at Jones Hall for an event seen only once before in the Houston Symphony's 100-year history.

Former Music Director Christoph Eschenbach returns for one of the largest choral-symphonic works ever written, Gustav Mahler's 8th Symphony, on May 9 and 10 at 7:30 pm. Nicknamed theSymphony of a Thousand, Mahler's Symphony No. 8 will be performed by more than 400 musicians, chorus members and soloists together onstage at Jones Hall for an event seen only once before in the Houston Symphony's 100-year history.

Strange things are afoot in the deep darkness of the woods when humans, wood nymphs, water sprites, goblins, witches, and other creatures intermingle - knowingly or otherwise. Lyric Opera of Chicago presents Antonin Dvorák's Rusalka, the famed Czech composer's darkly sensual fairy tale, which makes its eagerly anticipated company premiere in a new production opening on Saturday, February 22, with six performances through Sunday, March 16. Performance dates are February 22, 26, March 4, 7, and 10, all at 7:30pm, with a matinee on March 16 at 2pm.

Lyric Opera of Chicago presents Antonin Dvorak's Rusalka, the famed Czech composer's darkly sensual fairy tale, which makes its eagerly anticipated company premiere in a new production opening on Saturday, February 22, with six performances through Sunday, March 16. Performance dates are February 22, 26, March 4, 7, and 10, all at 7:30pm, with a matinee on March 16 at 2pm.

Veteran opera director Andrew Sinclair, director of this season's opening San Diego Opera production, Leoncavallo's 'Pagliacci', knows what makes opera tick.

Arguably the greatest opera of the 20th century, Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes, comes to the Canadian Opera Company this fall for seven performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts tonight, October 5 and October 8, 11, 17, 20, 23, 26, 2013. Recognized worldwide as the finest dramatic tenor before the public today, Canadian Ben Heppner returns to the COC in one of his favourite roles as the title character in Britten's gripping opera about an alienated fisherman and the seaside village he struggles to inhabit. Peter Grimes is sung in English with English SURTITLES.

Arguably the greatest opera of the 20th century, Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes, comes to the Canadian Opera Company this fall for seven performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on October 5, 8, 11, 17, 20, 23, 26, 2013. Recognized worldwide as the finest dramatic tenor before the public today, Canadian Ben Heppner returns to the COC in one of his favourite roles as the title character in Britten's gripping opera about an alienated fisherman and the seaside village he struggles to inhabit. Peter Grimes is sung in English with English SURTITLES.

Single tickets go on sale to the general public today, Aug. 1, for Lyric Opera of Chicago's 59th season.

Over three days of preliminary auditions today, February 25 through the 27th, 2013, approximately 90 of the best young American and Canadian opera singers will compete to reach the final round of the 42nd annual George London Foundation Awards Competition.

Lyric Opera of Chicago and its general director, Anthony Freud, announced the lineup for Lyric's 2013-14 season today. Joseph Calleja, Joyce DiDonato, Nathan Gunn, Thomas Hampson, Ana Maria Martinez, Matthew Polenzani, and Patricia Racette are among those headlining the new season's offerings. These comprise 67 performances of eight different operas, beginning October 5, 2013 and concluding March 23, 2014: new productions of Parsifal, La traviata, The Barber of Seville, and Rusalka (Lyric premiere); a revival of Otello; and new-to-Chicago stagings of Madama Butterfly, Die Fledermaus, and La clemenza di Tito. Lyric's music director, Sir Andrew Davis, will lead three operas, and guest conductors Marco Armiliato, Bertrand de Billy and Michele Mariotti will make their house debuts. Additionally, Lyric will present a new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music in the spring of 2014, continuing the company's American Musical Theater Initiative, and Davis will conduct a special Subscriber Appreciation Concert in March featuring Lyric's creative consultant - the star soprano Renee Fleming - with tenor Jonas Kaufmann.

Lyric Opera of Chicago and its general director, Anthony Freud, announced the lineup for Lyric's 2013-14 season today. Joseph Calleja, Joyce DiDonato, Nathan Gunn, Thomas Hampson, Ana Maria Martinez, Matthew Polenzani, and Patricia Racette are among those headlining the new season's offerings. These comprise 67 performances of eight different operas, beginning October 5, 2013 and concluding March 23, 2014: new productions of Parsifal, La traviata, The Barber of Seville, and Rusalka (Lyric premiere); a revival of Otello; and new-to-Chicago stagings of Madama Butterfly, Die Fledermaus, and La clemenza di Tito. Lyric's music director, Sir Andrew Davis, will lead three operas, and guest conductors Marco Armiliato, Bertrand de Billy and Michele Mariotti will make their house debuts. Additionally, Lyric will present a new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music in the spring of 2014, continuing the company's American Musical Theater Initiative, and Davis will conduct a special Subscriber Appreciation Concert in March featuring Lyric's creative consultant - the star soprano Renee Fleming - with tenor Jonas Kaufmann.

Over three days of preliminary auditions on February 25-27, 2013, approximately 90 of the best young American and Canadian opera singers will compete to reach the final round of the 42nd annual George London Foundation Awards Competition.

The Canadian Opera Company unveiled its 2013/2014 season today at a press conference at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. The company's 64th season stars the world's best singers, conductors, directors and designers in a performance year with seven operas, including three COC premieres and three new COC productions. The COC presents Giacomo Puccini's La Bohème with a new production featuring some of Canada's brightest stars; COC Music Director Johannes Debus makes his Benjamin Britten debut when he conducts Peter Grimes with a production starring acclaimed Canadian tenor Ben Heppner in the iconic title role; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Così fan tutte with a new COC production by renowned film and theatre director Atom Egoyan with Debus conducting; Giuseppe Verdi's Un ballo in maschera starring great Canadian diva Adrianne Pieczonka in a role debut; George Frideric Handel's Hercules with a COC premiere and new COC production by world-renowned director Peter Sellars with a star-studded cast; Gaetano Donizetti's Roberto Devereux with a COC premiere starring soprano Sondra Radvanovsky in a role debut; and Jules Massenet's Don Quichotte with a COC premiere featuring Debus in another conducting debut and the world's pre-eminent bass Ferruccio Furlanetto in the title role.

OPERATHON 2012, Lyric Opera of Chicago's annual live-radio marathon fundraiser on 98.7WFMT, celebrated its 33rd anniversary by raising $482,465 during its 16-hour broadcast on Saturday, October 20, exceeding the $450,000 goal.

The Canadian Opera Company has announced that, after four months of negotiations, the company's offer to the membership of Canadian Actors' Equity Association and the Toronto Musicians Association has been rejected. An agreement would have allowed the COC to continue to produce, in partnership with the CBC, broadcasts of the COC's entire 2012/2013 season on CBC Radio 2 and Radio-Canada's Espace Musique. These broadcasts have been in place since the fall of 2009.