United States Various – ‘Sunday in the Park with Lyric’: Soloists, Orchestra of Lyric Opera of Chicago / Enrique Mazzola (conductor). Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, Chicago, 25.8.2024. (JLZ)
Beethoven – Fidelio: Overture
Verdi – Rigoletto: ‘La donna è mobile’; ‘Un dì, se ben rammentomi’
Mazzoli & Vavrek – The Listeners: ‘My daughter tells me I’m selfish’
Tesori & Thompson – Blue: ‘You’re not getting off that easy’
Puccini – La bohème: ‘Quando m’en vo’; ‘In un coupé?’
Moore – ‘Lyric for True Love’
Berlin – ‘Blue Skies’
Van Heusen & Cahn – ‘My Kind of Town’
Mozart – The Marriage of Figaro: Overture; ‘Esci, ormai, garzon malnato’
Lyric Opera of Chicago’s 2024–2025 season officially opened with its ‘Sunday in the Park with Lyric’ concert at the Jay Pritzker pavilion in Millennium Park. To kick off the new season, the Orchestra and members of the Ryan Opera Center performed excerpts from each of the six operas in this year’s schedule. It was a pleasure to have a taste of the music planned for the year, albeit without the principals who have sometimes been part of the celebratory preview in previous years.
Within this varied program, the most impressive selection was the Finale from Act II of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, an iconic piece that pulls together musical and dramatic threads from the first two acts and anticipates resolutions to come in the remainder of the opera. This performance struck the right tone, and it showcased the members of this year’s Ryan Opera Center to good effect. Among them, Ian Rucker was outstanding in his portrayal of Count Almaviva. He captured the musical subtleties with fine execution and dramatic timing, all the while balancing his part with others, the number of whom increases as the piece progresses.
The work also benefitted from the talents of Emily Richter as the Countess Almaviva and Gemma Nha as Susanna, who established her character with aplomb. Lucy Baker’s brief part as Marcellina went nicely, and she worked well in the passages with Don Basilio and Dr Bartolo, portrayed respectively by Travon D. Walker and Sankara Harouna. Christopher Hubert, Jr. was an engaging Figaro and blended well in the sometimes-intricate exchanges. Conductor Enrique Mazzola was particularly strong in leading this piece with a fine sense of tempi and balance. It was a vivid performance that brought the audience to its feet.
Drawing on Verdi’s Rigoletto, which opens on 14 September, tenor Daniel Espinal sang the well-known ‘La donna è mobile’ with great charm. Espinal’s rich tenor suited the piece well, and he gave fresh voice to some of its familiar phrases. He was equally notable in the famous quartet that followed, accompanied by Gemma Nha (Gilda), Sophia Maekawa (Maddalena) and Sakara Harouna (Rigoletto). It was a fine effort that would have benefited from better acoustics in this open-air setting.
Some of the music in the concert was not as familiar as Le nozze di Figaro or Rigoletto, and it was good to hear the numbers from Missy Mazzoli’s The Listeners and Jeanine Tesori’s Blue. For the latter, the intense duet between father and son was sung by Travon D. Walker and Christopher Hubert, Jr. Walker’s impassioned delivery was one of the highlights of the evening – he made the music and the text come alive in this pivotal number.
I repeat, the concert was a fine opportunity to hear the young voices of the Ryan Opera Center. Artist-in-residence Karen Slack gave a powerful interpretation of Undine Smith Moore’s ‘Lyric for True Love’, and Finn Sagal had a solid reading of Jimmy Van Heusen’s ‘My Kind of Town’ (first sung by Frank Sinatra in the 1964 film Robin and the 7 Hoods), with a nod to Lyric Opera of Chicago in this rendition. Irving Berlin’s ‘Blue Skies’ included an engaging improvisation by Lucy Baker and pianist Michael Banwarth. The popular songs fit well in a program that brought Lyric to the thousands of Chicagoans who came to Millennium Park.
Fans of the Lyric Opera Orchestra enjoyed seeing the ensemble on stage rather than in the pit. They played two overtures, one from Beethoven’s Fidelio which opened the program, and one from Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro before the concluding ensemble. All in all, it was a fine concert, and it opened the season with the style and grace that make Lyric Opera stand out among the many musical choices in Chicago.
James Zychowicz
Featured Image: Company bow at ‘Sunday in the Park with Lyric’ © Kyle Flubacker