April 30, 2021

Week of May 3: Lyric Commentaries for opera streaming and more

We hope you enjoy a new week of curated streaming opportunities that you can explore from the comfort of your home! Turn on your biggest screen and check out our streaming suggestions below, along with commentaries that accompany Lyric titles.

As you delve into this week's set of streaming options, you can peruse Lyric Opera Commentaries, which discuss the synopses, music, and some historical insights of the world's most beloved operas, and musical masterpieces you might never have experienced.

Lyric Opera Commentaries are sponsored by the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Foundation in memory of their parents.

Monday, May 3

The Atlanta Opera
Brecht: The Threepenny Opera

The Atlanta Opera is offering a special pre-order price of $10 each for The Threepenny Opera film (starring Jay Hunter Morris, Kevin Burdette, Ronnita Miller, Kelly Kaduce, Gina Perregrino, Joshua Conyers, and Susanne Burgess) and The Threepenny Carmen film (starring Megan Marino, Richard Trey Smagur, Michael Mayes, Jasmine Habersham, and flamenco dancer Sonia Olla). 

The Metropolitan Opera
Strauss: Elektra

Starring Nina Stemme, Adrianne Pieczonka, Waltraud Meier, and Eric Owens, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. Production by Patrice Chéreau. From April 30, 2016.

Elektra

by Richard Strauss

Lyric Opera Commentaries are sponsored by the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Foundation in memory of their parents.

© 2018/19 Lyric Opera Commentaries. All rights reserved. Recording & Production services provided by Mark Travis. The music featured in Lyric Commentaries is generously furnished by Warner Classics.
A project of the Women’s Board

Tuesday, May 4

The Metropolitan Opera
Handel: Rodelinda

Starring Renée Fleming, Stephanie Blythe, Andreas Scholl, Joseph Kaiser, and Shenyang, conducted by Harry Bicket. Production by Stephen Wadsworth. From December 3, 2011.

Wednesday, May 5

The Metropolitan Opera
Thomas: Hamlet

Starring Marlis Petersen, Jennifer Larmore, Simon Keenlyside, and James Morris, conducted by Louis Langrée. Production by Patrice Caurier & Moshe Leiser. From March 27, 2010.

Boston Lyric Opera
Repairing America: Racial Equity and Recovery

Boston Lyric Opera and the Boston Public Library are offering a lecture as part of the “Repairing America: Racial Equity and Recovery” initiative, focusing on Black American-rooted musical forms and their connections to opera. Led by musician and scholar Dr. Tammy L. Kernodle. The lecture will remain available on BLO's operabox.tv platform

Thursday, May 6

The Metropolitan Opera
Bellini: Norma

Starring Sondra Radvanovsky, Joyce DiDonato, Joseph Calleja, and Matthew Rose, conducted by Carlo Rizzi. Production by Sir David McVicar. From October 7, 2017.

Norma

by Vincenzo Bellini

Lyric Opera Commentaries are sponsored by the Patrick G. and Shirley Welsh Ryan Foundation in memory of their parents.

© 2016/17 Lyric Opera Commentaries
Musical excerpts provided through generous arrangement with Warner Classics, Official Education and Promotion Music Provider for Lyric Opera of Chicago. All rights reserved. Recording & production services provided by Mark Travis.
A project of the Women's Board.

Friday, May 7

Seattle Opera
Karen Vuong in Recital

Following her Seattle Opera debut in Flight, enjoy soprano Karen Vuong in an online recital "wielding her expressive soprano to fine effect" (The New York Times). Ms. Vuong is joined by pianist David McDade for a program of luscious French and vibrant German art song including selections by Claude Debussy, Henri Duparc, and Richard Strauss. This free-to-the-public recital premieres Friday, May 7, 2021, and is available through May 28, 2021.

Sunday, May 10

The Metropolitan Opera
Handel: Agrippa

Starring Brenda Rae, Joyce DiDonato, Kate Lindsey, Iestyn Davies, Duncan Rock, and Matthew Rose, conducted by Harry Bicket. Production by Sir David McVicar. From February 29, 2020.

Sole e Amore (Sun and Love)

Sole e Amore (Sun and Love)

Revel in the sounds of Italy with a virtual recital awash with beautiful lesser-known musical gems by beloved Italian opera composers, curated and hosted by Lyric’s Music Director Designate Enrique Mazzola and presented by The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center. With Maestro Mazzola  and Ensemble member Chris Reynolds alternating at the piano, members of the Ryan Opera Center 2020/21 Ensemble perform songs by Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, Verdi, Puccini, and Mascagni, selected with love by Mazzola.

Creating The Factotum

Creating The Factotum

Follow the development of a new opera by Ryan Opera Center alumnus Will Liverman and DJ/recording artist K-Rico that transcends the limits of traditional repertoire. The Factotum, inspired by Rossini's The Barber of Seville, takes place in a present-day Black barbershop in Chicago and combines operatic singing with hip-hop, barbershop, gospel, funk, neo soul, and R&B music.

Chicago filmmaker Raphael Nash has captured the behind-the-scenes process of creating this new work and brings us backstage to meet the artists, hear from the creators, and feel the energy of a new opera being born.

Pasión Latina

Pasión Latina

Celebrate music of the Spanish-speaking world with a free virtual concert starring and hosted by renowned soprano and Lyric favorite Ana María Martínez, and featuring Ryan Opera Center artists and alumni. 

These engaging artists perform a dynamic selection of some of their favorite music from Puerto Rico, Mexico, Cuba, Guatemala, Argentina, and Spain, with piano accompaniment by Ryan Opera Center Music Director Craig Terry and current Ensemble pianist Chris Reynolds.

Lawrence Brownlee and Friends: The Next Chapter

Lawrence Brownlee and Friends: The Next Chapter

Lyric's Ryan Opera Center presents a free virtual concert celebrating the depth and breadth of Black artistry, hosted by world-renowned tenor Lawrence Brownlee, who also serves as artistic advisor for the event. The concert also features prominent Ryan Opera Center alumni—soprano Whitney Morrison, mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges, and baritone Will Liverman—and three current 2020/21 Ryan Opera Center Ensemble members—tenors Martin Luther Clark and Lunga Eric Hallam, and baritone Leroy Davis.

Header photo from Lyric's 2017 production of Norma: Cory Weaver

All other photos: Lyric Opera of Chicago, Todd Rosenberg

Music used in Lyric Commentaries is provided courtesy of Warner Classics, the Official Education and Promotion Music Provider of Lyric Opera of Chicago.