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20 Years of Outstanding Opera

Mar 13, 2019

Thrilling music, powerful stories, exceptional international casts, company premieres and memorable productions abound in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s 2019 – 2020 season. Learn more about world-class productions students could experience and the profound impact of musical performance.

Six new and new-to-Chicago productions—including three Lyric premieres and three performances of the Ring cycle—will engage and entertain audiences from late September 2019 through June 2020.

When speaking on the upcoming season, Music Director Sir Andrew Davis notes it will include familiar operas and also relative rarities, including Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades: the first piece he conducted as Lyric’s music director, almost two decades ago.

“Longtime opera lovers and newcomers alike will find abundant pleasures and revelations in the works we’ll present, which cover an enormous range, from Mozart to Heggie,” said Davis.

Lyric Opera of Chicago 2019 – 2020

  • The Barber of Seville (Il barbiere di Siviglia) by Gioachino Rossini
    8 performances, September 28 – October 27, 2019 | Sung in Italian with projected English translations.
  •  Luisa Miller by Giuseppe Verdi
    6 performances, October 12 – October 31, 2019 | Sung in Italian with projected English translations.
  • Dead Man Walking by Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally
    6 performances, November 2 – November 22, 2019 | Sung in English with projected English texts.
  • Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
    9 performances, November 14 – December 8, 2019 | Sung in Italian with projected English translations.
  • The Three Queens starring Sondra Radvanovsky: Featuring the finales of Anna BolenaMaria Stuarda and Roberto Devereux, by Gaetano Donizetti
    3 performances, December 1 – 7, 2019 | Sung in Italian with projected English translations.
  • Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini
    10 performances, February 6 – March 8, 2020 | Sung in Italian with projected English translations.
  • The Queen of Spades (Pikovaya Dama) by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
    5 performances, February 15 – March 1, 2020 | Sung in Russian with projected English translations.
  • Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods) by Richard Wagner
    2 performances, April 4 and 11, 2020 | Sung in German with projected English translations.

Student groups could experience a world-class performance and take advantage of the free 30-minute preview talk, which takes place an hour before each show. It’s a perfect opportunity for newcomers to gain an engaging overview of the opera. Students will learn more about the fascinating background of each production, including the music, characters, composer and historical context from a music expert.

Learn more about additional performances and events at Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Written by Sarah Suydam, Staff Writer for Teach & Travel.

Photo courtesy of Felix Sanchez.