2008/09 LYRIC OPERA DISCOVERY SERIES
Lyric Opera's Discovery Series speeds you toward greater opera understanding...and gets you up close with the stars of the 2008/09 season.
Discovery sessions take place at the UBS Tower Ballroom, 1 N. Wacker Drive except the Porgy and Bess Symposium at Thorne Auditorium, 375 E. Chicago Ave. (Chicago Avenue at Lake Shore Drive — Northwestern University's downtown campus)
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MANON Monday, September 15, 6–7 pm UBS Tower Ballroom, 1 N. Wacker Drive Natalie Dessay, Jonas Kaufmann, Emmanuel Villaume Roger Pines, moderator A sweet country girl fluctuates between a life of luxury and one of true love — bad idea! Soon enough she's speeding toward perdition. Natalie Dessay (Manon), Jonas Kaufmann (Des Grieux), and conductor Emmanuel Villaume in a discussion of Massenet's opera and the Abbé Prévost story that inspired it. |
 Natalie Dessay |
 Jonas Kaufmann |
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 Emmanuel Villaume |
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| THE PEARL FISHERS Wednesday, October 1, 6–7 pm UBS Tower Ballroom, 1 N. Wacker Drive Nicole Cabell, Nathan Gunn, Eric Cutler, John Mauceri Roger Pines, moderator Before he gave us Carmen, Bizet penned this atmospheric jewel of forbidden love and broken promises set in ancient Ceylon. Nicole Cabell (Leïla), Nathan Gunn (Zurga), and Eric Cutler (Nadir) are joined by conductor John Mauceri for an exploration of this exotic work. |
 Nicole Cabell |
 Nathan Gunn |
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 Eric Cutler |
 John Mauceri |
| LULU Wednesday, November 5, 6–7 pm UBS Tower Ballroom, 1 N. Wacker Drive Marlis Petersen, Sir Andrew Davis Roger Pines, moderator Fasten your seatbelts! Marlis Petersen is Lulu, the sexually smoldering femme fatale in Alban Berg's crime story/opera. And who better to join her in a Discovery Series session than Sir Andrew Davis, the conductor of the intricate and emotion-layered musical score that contains some of the last century's most complex and expressionistic orchestral writing. Title this one, "Honey, it ain't Die Fledermaus!" |
 Marlis Petersen |
 Sir Andrew Davis |
PORGY AND BESS SYMPOSIUM
Sunday, November 16, 2–4 pm
Thorne Auditorium
375 E. Chicago Ave.
(Chicago Avenue at Lake Shore Drive — Northwestern University's downtown campus)
Naomi André, Wayne Shirley, Gordon Hawkins, Morenike Fadayomi,
John DeMain
Wynne Delacoma, Moderator
Porgy and Bess is the great American opera and for its Lyric Opera premiere, we've assembled a dynamic panel of artists and Gershwin scholars. Be there when they delve into Porgy's extraordinary genesis — descendant of an "Old Southern" family pens a novel on which a Jewish-American composer creates an operatic masterwork that deals with love and death in an insular black community. Don't miss this freewheeling discussion of Porgy and Bess and the reactions it has inspired over the decades in white and black America. Symposium panelists include University of Michigan musicologist Naomi André, Gershwin authority Wayne Shirley, baritone Gordon Hawkins (Porgy), soprano Morenike Fadayomi (Bess), and conductor John DeMain. The presentation is moderated by renowned music critic Wynne Delacoma.
Naomi André
Wayne Shirley
Gordon Hawkins
Morenike Fadayomi
John DeMain
Wynne DelacomaSymposium Parking near Thorne Auditorium is at 222 E. Huron St. Self Park & 321 E. Erie St. Self Park
Porgy and Bess Symposium made possible in part by a grant from the Katherine A. Abelson Educational Endowment Fund.
Listen to the Symposium Podcast
| MADAMA BUTTERFLY Tuesday, December 16, 6—7 pm UBS Tower Ballroom, 1 N. Wacker Drive Patricia Racette, Frank Lopardo Roger Pines, moderator Two Lyric favorites star as Butterfly and Pinkerton in Puccini's heartrending East meets-West tragedy, Madama Butterfly. Patricia Racette, who so memorably inhabited the role of Mme. Lidoine in Dialogues of the Carmelites (2006/07), and Frank Lopardo, unforgettable as Lensky in last season's Eugene Onegin, will offer brilliant and compelling insights into Puccini, his opera, and its characters. |
 Patricia Racette |
 Frank Lopardo |
| TRISTAN UND ISOLDE Wednesday, January 21, 6–7 pm UBS Tower Ballroom, 1 N. Wacker Drive Deborah Voigt, Clifton Forbis Roger Pines, moderator Wagner's 1865 masterpiece changed opera forever — in fact, it changed music forever — and has been the subject of countless articles, books, and intellectual musings since its premiere. Title-role stars Deborah Voigt and Clifton Forbis discuss this titanic vocal feast that influenced Mahler, Strauss, and a host of 20th-century composers. |
 Deborah Voigt |
 Clifton Forbis |
| CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA & PAGLIACCI Wednesday, February 11, 6–7 pm UBS Tower Ballroom, 1 N. Wacker Drive Guang Yang, Mark Delavan, Ana María Martínez Roger Pines, moderator They're called opera's heavenly twins, and these two highly convincing stage works are the best examples of Italian verismo ever penned. Principal artists from the double bill take you inside these late 19th-century operas — stories of love, jealousy, and murder among the common folk. |
 Guang Yang |
 Mark Delavan |
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 Ana María Martínez |
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| THE ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO Wednesday, February 25, 6–7pm UBS Tower Ballroom, 1 N. Wacker Drive Sir Andrew Davis, Chas Rader-Shieber, Matthew Polenzani Roger Pines, moderator Along with composing a good deal of Western Civilization's most sublime music, Mozart also gave us comedies — The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro, and The Abduction from the Seraglio. Director Chas Rader-Shieber (The Cunning Little Vixen), tenor Matthew Polenzani (star of Lyric's Roméo et Juliette), and Mozartian-without-equal Sir Andrew Davis take us into the world of pashas and harems for a look at the comedic Singspiel that contains some of Mozart's most formidable vocal writing. |
Sir Andrew Davis |
 Chas Rader-Shieber |
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 Matthew Polenzani |
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The Discovery Series is sponsored by the Bernard and Marjorie Mitchell Family Foundation and is dedicated to the memory of Alfred Glasser.
Click here to view and download the Discovery Series Order Form
For more information, please contact the Lyric Opera Education Department (312) 827-5912.
