November 19, 2019
“Glorious vocals shine” in MADAMA BUTTERFLY, on stage through March 8
Audiences and critics alike are raving about Lyric’s Madama Butterfly, featuring some of opera’s most famous melodies and a world-class cast.
There are just two performances left starring not just one but two pairs of brilliant singers in the leading roles. On March 7, Cio-Cio-San and Pinkerton will be played by Lianna Haroutounian (in her Lyric debut) and Lyric favorite Brandon Jovanovich, and on March 8, Ana María Martínez and Brian Jagde, who have been praised for their performances throughout the run, take the stage once more. Check out what the press has had to say about Puccini’s masterpiece.
From deceptively simple staging to gorgeously emotive performances to breathtaking orchestration, this production reminds us what a jewel we have in a theater as dedicated to presenting world-class opera as the Lyric.
"A rare, truly exceptional intersection of art, emotion and beauty, the kind of elusive perfection that is the reason we go to the theater."
–Third Coast Review
“A Butterfly both vulnerable and marvelous.”
–Stage and Cinema
"Ana María Martínez has the acting and vocal skills to make Cio-Cio-San an admirable and magnetic heroine."
–Stage and Cinema
“Jagde produced radiant timbre from his opening aria, ‘Dovunque al mondo,’ his voice ample in tone and focused in pitch.”
–Chicago Tribune
"In the end, Butterfly reminds us that certain scores are timeless because of the composer’s craft and the story’s universality."
–Chicago Tribune
“In ‘Un bel di vedremo,’ Martínez fills out every little detail of Butterfly’s suspense-filled account with the vocal embroidery of a desperate soul who has re-visited this moment over and over in her head. It is the showpiece aria of the opera, indeed one of Puccini’s most famous ever for soprano, and in Martínez’s care it rose to its glorious imaginary heights right alongside the counter-balancing, relentlessly tragic undertone.”
–Chicago Sun-Times
