Lyric Opera announces 2024-25 season of classics, new works and celebrations
Lyric Opera of Chicago has announced its 2024-25 season, its 70th, composed of four “classic operas” and two contemporary works not previously seen in Chicago, along with various special events and a 50th anniversary celebration of the company’s Ryan Opera Center. This is the final slate to be announced by the retiring Anthony Freud, Lyric’s general director, president and CEO.
The fall season will open with Verdi’s “Rigoletto” (Sept. 14 to Oct. 6), conducted by Enrique Mazzola, directed by Mary Birnbaum (her Lyric debut) and starring Igor Golovatenko in the title role, Mané Galoyan as Gilda and Javier Camarena as the Duke of Mantua and Soloman Howard as Sparafucile.
Next is Beethoven’s “Fidelio” (Sept. 26 to Oct. 10), also conducted by Mazzola and directed by Matthew Ozawa, a Lyric staffer. The production stars Elza van den Heever and Russell Thomas as Leonore and Florestan, as well as Brian Mulligan as Pizarro.
Later in the fall, former Chicago Shakespeare Theater artistic director Barbara Gaines will direct Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” (Nov. 9-30), conducted by Erina Yashima in her Lyric debut. Peter Kellner will make his Lyric debut as Figaro, Ying Fang will play Susanna, Federica Lombardi will make her Lyric debut as Countess Almaviva, Gordon Bintner will make his Lyric debut as Count Almaviva, and Kayleigh Decker will play Cherubino.
There’s also an opera postponed from the pandemic era: “Blue,” by the frequent Broadway composer Jeanine Tesori and librettist Tazewell Thompson, a piece about a police officer and his wife faced with the killing of their son by another police officer. “Blue” (Nov. 16 to Dec. 1) will be conducted by Joseph Young and directed by Thompson, both making Lyric debuts. The cast includes Kenneth Kellogg, Zoie Reams and Norman Garrett.
In the spring, the Lyric Opera will stage Puccini’s “La Bohème” (March 15 to April 12, 2025), conducted by Jordan de Souza, directed by Melanie Bacaling and featuring Pene Pati in his Lyric debut as Rodolfo, Ailyn Pérez as Mimì, Gabriella Reyes as Musetta, Will Liverman as Marcello and Peixin Chin as Colline. As has been the Lyric’s recent practice, this crowd-pleasing opera will be paired with a new, contemporary work: “The Listeners” (March 30 to April 11, 2025) composed by Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek (“Breaking the Waves”). “The Listeners” is based on a 2021 thriller by the Canadian novelist Jordan Tannahill, with the narrative sparked by a woman who hears a sound no one else can. Conducted by Mazzola, “The Listeners” is directed by the New York-based theatrical director Lileana Blain-Cruz (her Lyric debut) and will star Nicole Heaston, Kyle Ketelsen, Jasmine Habersham, Jonas Hacker and Daniela Mack.
Special events during 2024-25 include a gala concert by Patti LuPone (Oct. 4), “Sondra Radvanovsky in Concert: The Puccini Heroines” (three performances between Feb. 8-16), “Lyric in Concert: A Wondrous Sound” (April 16-18, 2025), wherein Mazzola showcases the more than 100 artists of the Lyric Opera Orchestra and the Lyric Opera Chorus in an event also designed to tour around Chicago, and a celebratory “Rising Stars in Concert” (April 25, 2025). That last event will be a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Ryan Opera Center, featuring the 2024-25 ensemble (and returning alums), performing with the Lyric Opera Orchestra, conducted by Mazzola and directed by Ozawa.
Lyric also announced Tuesday that it extended its music director’s concert for another five-year term through the 2030-31 season. An international search is underway for Freud’s successor.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
