From the Lyric Opera House in Chicago, experience live opera featuring today’s most exciting artists.
Join WFMT’s Lisa Flynn and Lyric Opera of Chicago Dramaturg Roger Pines for a series of rebroadcasts from Lyric’s 2016-17 season. Lyric Opera of Chicago boasts having the most loyal subscribers in North America. Year after year, Chicago’s largest opera company presents the finest international singers, directors, and designers. The broadcasts deliver the magic of live performance while taking you backstage to meet the stars.
There are no upcoming broadcasts at the moment.
Berlioz’s Les Troyens
September 14, 2019
Hector Berlioz served as composer and librettist for his epic operatic adaptation of Virgil's Aeneid. This Lyric Opera of Chicago performance from 2016 starred Christine Goerke (Cassandre), Susan Graham (Didon), Brandon Jovanovich (Énée), and Lucas Meachem (Chorèbe) and was conducted by Sir Andrew Davis.
Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin
September 7, 2019
This performance of Tchaikovsky’s sweeping, heartbreaking opera stars Mariusz Kwiecień (Onegin) Ana María Martínez (Tatyana). Alejo Pérez conducts.
Massenet’s Don Quichotte
August 31, 2019
Ferruccio Furlanetto (Don Quichotte), Clémentine Margaine (Dulcinée), and Nicola Alaimo (Sancho) star in this Massenet dramatization of the Cervantes Don Quixote story. Sir Andrew Davis conducts.
Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor
August 24, 2019
Albina Shagimuratova stars as the titular character in Donizetti’s dramatic, tragic opera. Piotr Beczała (Edgardo), Quinn Kelsey (Enrico), and Adrian Sâmpetrean (Raimondo) costar, as Enrique Mazzola conducts in this performance from 2016.
Mozart’s The Magic Flute
August 17, 2019
Christiane Karg (Pamina) and Matthew Polenzani (Tamino) star in The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte). Lyric Opera of Chicago presented this "operatic fairytale" in their 2016-2017 season. Also featured in this performance are Adam Plachetka (Papageno), Kathryn Lewek (Queen of the Night), as Rory Macdonald conducts.
Bellini’s Norma
August 10, 2019
Soprano Sondra Radvanovksy stars as the eponymous character in Vincenzo Bellini’s fiery bel canto opera. This performance also features Elizabeth DeShong (Adalgisa), Russell Thomas (Pollione), and Andrea Silvestrelli (Oroveso). Riccardo Frizza conducts.
Les Troyens — Hector Berlioz (Rebroadcast)
August 4, 2018
The drama of the Trojan War, replete with heroes and tragedy, has captivated audiences from literature to film, and nowhere does it come to life more vividly than in French opera’s most astounding work, Les Troyens. Grand and glorious in its musical and dramatic breadth, this operatic retelling of Virgil’s Aeneid is rarely performed because of its enormous scale.
Bel Canto, by Jimmy López
July 14, 2018
Superstar American diva Roxane Coss has flown to Peru to sing at the vice president's home for a visiting Japanese mogul who is an opera buff. Dignitaries of every nationality are there — but an international crisis explodes when terrorists storm the mansion and take everyone hostage.
Wagner’s Das Rheingold
July 7, 2018
The "Ring" cycle begins with "Das Rheingold," the prologue to the story where you'll meet the Rhinemaidens, guardians of magical gold that can be transformed into a ring that grants its owner unlimited power. When Alberich steals the gold, the struggle among the legendary characters begins, as Wotan, king of the gods, vies with him for supreme power.
“Faust”— Charles Gounod (Rebroadcast)
June 30, 2018
Loosely based on Goethe’s epic drama, Gounod’s "Faust" is the epitome of French Grand Opera. The aging scholar Faust signs a pact with the devil and regains his youth. But such deals can never end happily and the price Faust has to pay cannot be measured in gold.
“Così fan tutte”– Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Rebroadcast)
June 23, 2018
A cherished operatic comedy, "Così fan tutte" is a probing look into romantic relationships. What starts with philosopher’s bet that two beautiful young women can’t remain faithful to their fiancés ends with the couples’ true feelings revealed through the sheer genius of Mozart.
“I Puritani”– Vincenzo Bellini (Rebroadcast)
June 16, 2018
The art of bel canto will take center stage in Bellini’s lyrical jewel, "I Puritani". This historical 17th-century English drama is centered around a passionate young couple caught up in a conflict between opposing political factions.
“Turandot”– Giacomo Puccini (Rebroadcast)
June 9, 2018
Puccini’s "Turandot" transports us to a fantasy of ancient China, where a princess challenges suitors to solve her riddles or face death.
“The Pearl Fishers”– Georges Bizet (Rebroadcast)
June 2, 2018
For sheer transcendent beauty, Bizet’s "The Pearl Fishers" has few rivals in the entire repertoire. The opera’s famed duet for tenor and baritone is a soaring melody that has turned countless opera newcomers into ecstatic fans.
“Die Walküre”– Richard Wagner (Rebroadcast)
May 26, 2018
Lyric Opera of Chicago continues its thrilling journey through Wagner’s Ring cycle with "Die Walküre," a riveting, devastating drama that involves complex relationships between brother and sister, husband and wife, father and daughter.
“Rigoletto”– Giuseppe Verdi (Rebroadcast)
May 19, 2018
There’s no character in opera more powerfully dramatic than the court jester Rigoletto, whose acid tongue and all-consuming desire for revenge lead to catastrophe for himself and his sweet, love-struck daughter Gilda.
“Orphée et Eurydice” – Christoph Willibald Gluck (Rebroadcast)
May 12, 2018
One of opera’s most beautiful masterpieces, Gluck’s exquisite drama introduces us to Orpheus, the poet and musician whose every word and note communicate the most overwhelming love for his Eurydice. Refusing to accept her death, he courageously journeys to the Underworld to bring her back to life.
“Faust”— Charles Gounod
March 3, 2018
Loosely based on Goethe’s epic drama, Gounod’s Faust is the epitome of French Grand Opera. The ageing scholar Faust signs a pact with the devil and regains his youth. But such deals can never end happily and the price Faust has to pay cannot be measured in gold.
“Così fan tutte”– Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
February 17, 2018
A cherished operatic comedy, Così fan tutte, is a probing look into romantic relationships. What starts with philosopher’s bet that two beautiful young women can’t remain faithful to their fiancés ends with the couples’ true feelings revealed through the sheer genius of Mozart.
“I Puritani”– Vincenzo Bellini
February 4, 2018
The art of bel canto will take center stage in Bellini’s lyrical jewel, "I Puritani". This historical 17th-century English drama, is centered around a passionate young couple who find themselves caught up in a conflict between opposing political factions.