April 16, 2021

Week of April 19: Lyric Commentaries for opera streaming and more

We hope you enjoy a new week of curated streaming opportunities that you can explore in 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, April 19

Opera San Jose
Love & Secrets: A Domestic Trilogy 

Romance so often conjures images of affectionate gestures grand and small: flowers, chocolates, initials carved in bark. But what lies hidden in the heart? Love & Secrets: A Domestic Trilogy, explores, in ways comedic and dramatic, three tales of couples contending with the tumult, joys, and heartache of love. Pay-what-you-can tickets are available now for on-demand streaming.

Tuesday, April 20

The Metropolitan Opera
Mozart: La Clemenza di Tito

Starring Lucy Crowe, Barbara Frittoli, Elina Garanča, Kate Lindsey, Giuseppe Filianoti, and Oren Gradus, conducted by Harry Bicket. Production by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. From December 1, 2012.

La clemenza di Tito

By Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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

Commentary by Sir Andrew Davis

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Wednesday, April 21

Opera Colorado
April in Paris

Tune in to this television-style digital program celebrating all things French! April in Paris, starring Catherine Cook and directed by David Lefkowich, features three whimsical episodes inspired by the golden age of television. You’ll see Cook become Julia Child in Lee Hoiby’s Bon Appetit!, transform into a Paris cabaret singer for a performance of delightful French songs, and more surprises. Music by: Lee Hoiby, William Bolcom, and more. Available to stream on-demand through April 29.

The Metropolitan Opera
Puccini: La fanciulla del West 

Starring Deborah Voigt, Marcello Giordani, and Lucio Gallo, conducted by Nicola Luisotti. Production by Giancarlo Del Monaco. From January 8, 2011. 

La Fanciulla del West

By Giacomo Puccini

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

Commentary by Sir Andrew Davis in collaboration with Nicholas Ivor Martin

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Thursday, April 22

Atlanta Opera
Orfano Mondo

Enjoy filmmaker, bass-baritone, and star of Lyric's 2019/20 productions of Dead Man Walking and Don Giovanni, Ryan McKinny's surrealist series of short films, giving an inside look into the struggle of making art during the pandemic and featuring iconic moments from Leoncavallo's Pagliacci and Ullmann's The Kaiser of Atlantis. This is available to stream indefinitely for $10.

Friday, April 23

Seattle Opera
Jonathan Dove, April De Angelis: Flight

A slice-of-life story set in the everyday world of an airport terminal. An omniscient air-traffic controller watches over a departure lounge bustling with cynical flight attendants, an excitable couple on vacation, a mysterious older woman, and a diplomat and his expectant wife, all of whom must spend the night waiting out a storm. A stateless refugee, stranded indefinitely in the terminal, listens to the passengers’ often-entertaining stories while haplessly dodging an immigration officer. Streaming April 23-25.

The Metropolitan Opera
Philip Glass: Satyagraha

Starring Rachelle Durkin, Richard Croft, Kim Josephson, and Alfred Walker, conducted by Dante Anzolini. Production by Phelim McDermott. From November 19, 2011.

Satyagraha

By Phillip Glass

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

Saturday, April 24

Dayton Opera
Verdi: La traviata: Essential Opera

La traviata: Essential Opera presents a second essential work of the opera repertory as we continue in a format that responds to the needs of our current times and to our artists and audience. The performance will also focus on the essence of the music and drama in an abridged, 90-minute production (with no intermission) that captures all of Verdi’s greatness in an exciting and 21st century way. Available for on-demand viewing April 24 at 8pm.

Sunday, April 25

The Metropolitan Opera
Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmélites

Starring Isabel Leonard, Adrianne Pieczonka, and Karita Mattila, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Production by John Dexter. From May 11, 2019.

Dialogues des Carmélites

By Francis Poulenc  

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

© 2006/07 Lyric Opera Commentaries
Original sound recordings of musical excerpts used by permission of Warner Classics. All rights reserved. Recording & Production services provided by Mark Travis.
A project of the Women’s Board.

Commentary by Roger Pines, Dramaturg

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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 is from Lyric's 2014 production of Clemenza di Tito, Todd Rosenberg

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.