United States ‘Sunday in the Park with Lyric’ – Various: Soloists from the Ryan Opera Center and Orchestra of Lyric Opera of Chicago / Enrique Mazzola (conductor). Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, Chicago, 7.9.2025. (JLZ)
Bizet – instrumental excerpt from Carmen
Cherubini – ‘Overture’ to Medea
Leoncavallo – ‘Nedda! Silvio! A quest’ora?’ from Pagliacci
Mozart – ‘Alla bella Despinetta’ from Così fan tutte
Puccini – ‘Addio, fiorito asil’ and ‘Un bel dì’ from Madama Butterfly
Mascagni – ‘Intermezzo’ from Cavalleria rusticana
Hoagy Carmichael / Stuart Gorrell – ‘Georgia on My Mind’
Harold Arlen / E. Y. ‘Yip’ Harburg – ‘Lydia, the Tattooed Lady’
Rossini – ‘Largo al factotum’ and ‘Dunque io son’ from The Barber of Seville
Bizet – ‘Près des remparts de Séville’ and ‘Votre toast’ from Carmen
The 2025 edition of the annual ‘Sunday in the Park with Lyric’ concert stands out from previous years for its clear structure – excerpts and introductions to members of this year’s Ryan Opera Center, all of which helped the presentation move seamlessly. The decision to forego the intermission made a difference in the program’s focus and, if this is the result of new director John Mangum’s work, it bodes well for other enhancements that he will bring to Lyric Opera. He reminded audiences of the renewal of Lyric’s relationship with the Joffrey Ballet as he introduced a sample from its ballet based on Bizet’s Carmen (choregraphed by Liam Scarlett).
This concert opens the season by letting the audience know about the works to come and the benefits of subscribing. The message to subscribe was clear without being overstated, and the presentation itself gave all the reasons to do so. In this regard, Mangum’s decision to use the Lyric trailer was brilliant: it was worth more than a thousand platitudes from the podium. The memorable images for the upcoming operas synched well with a recording of ‘O fortuna’ from Orff’s Carmina Burana, which is also part of this season.
Later, the video introduced a new work, Avery R. Young’s Safronia, and it was helpful to hear the composer discuss the inspiration for it and his intentions. His eloquent statement about the role of Black music in American culture gave the audience a framework, which was underscored by sound bites in the video.
As to the performances, it was good to hear the ‘Overture’ to Cherubini’s Medea, the opera which opens the season, in a vivid reading that showed the technical and expressive abilities of the Lyric Opera Orchestra. The production itself promises to offer much in reviving this powerful score. Likewise, the usual pairing of the Verismo twins, Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci, benefits from the casting planned for both. Soprano Emily Richter, baritone Sankara Harouna and bass-baritone Christopher Humbert, Jr. performed an excerpt from Pagliacci and we heard the ‘Intermezzo’ from Cavalleria rusticana later in the program.
The famous sextet from Mozart’s Così fan tutte was an excellent choice that showed the strong interactions among Ryan Center performers in handling the intricate ensemble that brings the drama to a complex point in this engaging work. Here, the evenness in presentation and clarity of diction emerged in a spirited reading. The inclusion of American popular song included an impassioned interpretation of ‘Georgia on My Mind’ by tenor Travon D. Walker who added dimensions of blues and gospel to it. His vocal power emerged not just in the dynamics and rubato but also the riffs that brought out the microtones in notation-defying slides. Here is a singer who clearly knows his voice and can take pieces beyond the limitations of the printed page with consummate expression.
In a similar way, bass-baritone Benjamin R. Sokol used the parlor song ‘Lydia, the Tattooed Lady’ to create a narrative within the strophes of this humorous ballad. That kind of storytelling was part of the final number, the conclusion of the second act from Carmen in which Christopher Humbert made the famous ‘Toreador’ song into a compelling narrative as the musicians joined him. This excerpt brought the program full circle to the opening number in this meticulously executed introduction to the 2025/2026 season.
James L. Zychowicz
For more about the Lyric Opera of Chicago click here.