Tenor Matthew Polenzani reflects that “there are definitely pieces where what’s required dramatically in a hall of 4,000 seats is different from what’s required dramatically on a screen.”
On May 10, 2022, WFMT General Manager George Preston welcomed Ryan Opera Center performers Lunga Eric Hallam, tenor, and Chris Reynolds, pianist; along with ROC director Dan Novak, for an hour of conversation and music.
Banner works by Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, and Prokofiev headline Muti’s three CSO residencies, ahead of the conclusion of his tenure with Beethoven’s Missa solemnis.
It’s been a very Puccini year for conductor Eun Sun Kim. In the span of 9 months, she’ll have conducted two Toscas, two Bohèmes, and a Turandot. Here’s how she continues to find the new in these beloved scores.
We’re still soaring from our big day last week, when we welcomed some of Chicago’s leading artists to take part in a daylong celebration of WFMT and the music we’ve been presenting for the last 70 years!
Mazzola speaks with WFMT general manager George Preston about returning to live performance, Giuseppe Verdi’s Macbeth, Gaetano Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love, and what he loves most about being a Chicagoan.
As opera houses around the country warily resume indoor performances, two of the biggest are ushering in new leadership — along with a heightened commitment to building new audiences.
A month ahead of opening night, Lyric Opera of Chicago announces that all audience members will have to show proof of their full vaccination against COVID-19.
Rolandi retired from performance in the 1990s, then joined the Ryan Opera Center first as the director of vocal studies (the program’s first), and then the program’s director from 2006-2013.
A Verdi and bel canto expert, Lyric’s new music director Enrique Mazzola will open the season with Verdi’s Macbeth and Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love, while also conducting contemporary opera Proving Up by Missy Mazzoli later in the season.
2020 was a year of great loss for all; the music world was no exception. As we reflect on the year gone by, WFMT salutes the contributions of artists and friends who died this past year.
Among the canceled 2021 productions are Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love, Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro; and Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, as well as a concert tribute to music director Sir Andrew Davis, who concludes his 20-year tenure at the end of this season.
Ahead of a free livestream this weekend, the star tenor reflected on his colleagues and career in opera and what he thinks classical music organizations should be doing to better represent their communities.
We’re not sure the next time we’ll be able to catch an in-person performance, but luckily, many of Chicago’s hallowed artistic venues are just a click away.
Amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, in-person performances will be among the last to return, making “operating on anything close to a normal basis until that phase” impossible.
