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 past seasons. 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.
Bellini’s ‘I puritani’
Albina Shagimuratova (Elvira) and Lawrence Brownlee (Arturo) star in this performance conducted by Lyric music director designate Enrique Mazzola. READ MORE: Hope and Strength: Celebrating Black Artistry with Lawrence Brownlee & Lyric
Gluck’s ‘Orphée et Eurydice’
Dmitry Korchak and Andriana Chuchman are the titular lovers in this performance. Harry Bicket conducts.
Gounod’s ‘Faust’
Benjamin Bernheim stars in the title role, with Ailyn Pérez (Marguerite), Christian Van Horn (Méphistophélès), and Edward Parks (Valentin) in this performance conducted by Emmanuel Villaume.
Wagner’s ‘Die Walküre’
Brandon Jovanovich (Siegmund), Elisabet Strid (Sieglinde), Ain Anger (Hunding), Eric Owens (Wotan), and Christine Goerke (Brünnhilde) in this performance of the second entry in the Ring cycle. Sir Andrew Davis conducts.
Bizet’s ‘The Pearl Fishers’
Marina Rebeka (Leïla), Mariusz Kwiecień (Zurga), and Matthew Polenzani (Nadir) star in this performance conducted by Sir Andrew Davis.
Verdi’s ‘Rigoletto’
Ryan Opera Center alumnus Quinn Kelsey stars in the title role, in a cast that also features Matthew Polenzani (Duke of Mantua), Rosa Feola (Gilda), and Alexander Tsymbalyuk (Sparafucile). Marco Armiliato conducts.
Puccini’s ‘Turandot’
Amber Wagner stars in the title role in this performance, which also features Stefano La Colla (Calaf), Andrea Silvestrelli (Timur), and Maria Agresta (Liù). Sir Andrew Davis conducts.
Mozart’s ‘Così fan tutte’
Ana María Martínez stars as Fiordiligi in the opening performance in this season of our Lyric Opera of Chicago Broadcast Series. James Gaffigan conducts.
Berlioz’s Les Troyens
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
This performance of Tchaikovsky’s sweeping, heartbreaking opera stars Mariusz Kwiecień (Onegin) Ana María Martínez (Tatyana). Alejo Pérez conducts.
Massenet’s Don Quichotte
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
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
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
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)
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
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
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)
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)
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)
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.
