Bel Canto to Premiere at Lyric Opera of Chicago

[Helene]

Anne Patchett's best-selling novel "Bel Canto" has been made into an opera which will premiere on 7 December as part of Lyric Opera of Chicago's 2015-16 season. The music is by the young Peruvian composer Jimmy Lopez, with libretto by Nilo Cruz. Renee Fleming curated it. The director will be Kevin Newbury, who directed "Anna Bolena." The conductor will be Andrew Davis.

The season:

• Marriage of Figaro (Mozart): 26 September-24 October. New Production.
  • Cast includes: Adam Plachetka (Figaro), Christiane Karg (Susanna), Amanda Majeski (Countess Almaviva), and Luca Pisaroni (Count Almaviva)
• Cinderella (Rossini): 40-30 October coproduction of Houston Grand Opera, Welsh National Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu, and Grand Théâtre de Genève.
  • Cast includes Isabelle Leonard (Angelina), Lawrence Brownlee (Prince Ramiro), Alessandro Corbelli (Don Magnifico), and Vito Prianti (Dandini)
• Wozzeck (Berg): 1-21 November. New Production.
  • Cast includes: Tomasz Konieczny (Wozzeck), Angela Denoke (Marie), Gerhard Siegel (Captain), and Stefan Vinke (Drum Major). Vinke was a fabulous Siegfried in the 2013 Seattle Ring.
• Bel Canto (Lopez): 7 December-17 January. World Premiere.
  • Cast includes Danielle de NIese (Roxanne Coss), J'nai Bridges (Carmen), Jeongcheol Cha (Hosokawa), and Andrew Stenson (Gen). Tenor Andrew Stenson made a brilliant in Seattle as a last-minute replacement for William Burden in "Orpheus ed Eurydice."
• Nabucco (Verdi): 23 January-12 February. Coproduction with Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and Gran Teatre del Liceu.
  • Cast includes Zeljko Lucic (Nabucco), Tatjana Serjan (Abigaille), Dmitry Belosselskiy (Zaccaria), and Elizabeth DeShong (Fenena)
• Der Rosenkavalier (R. Strauss): 8 February-13 March. Bavarian State Opera production.
  • Cast includes: Sophie Koch (Octavian, February), Alice Coote (Octavian, March), Amanda Majeski (Marshallin), and Matthew Rose (Baron Ochs)
• Romeo and Juliet (Gounod): 22 February-19 March. Metropolitan Opera production.
  • Cast includes: Susannah Phillips (Juliet), Joseph Calleja (Romeo, through 8 March), Eric Cutler (Romeo from 11 March), Christian Van Horn (Friar Lawrence)
• The King and I (Rogers & Hammerstein): 29 April-22 May. No cast info as of today.

9 January 2016: Ana Maria Martinez and Placido Domingo in Concert.

26 February 2016: Dmitri Hvorostovsky in Recital. In case you're not convinced, the website says, "Glorious Voice. Unparalleled Artistry. Serious Sex Appeal."