March 15, 2021
Week of March 22: Lyric Commentaries for opera streaming and more
We hope you enjoy a new week of curated streaming opportunities that you can enjoy in the comfort of your own home! Warm up your biggest screen and check out our streaming suggestions below, along with commentaries that accompany Lyric titles.
As you enjoy this week's set of streaming opportunities, you can explore 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.
Sunday, March 21
Ryan Opera Center
Magical Music Around the World
Experience the artistry of The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center Ensemble in a delightfully entertaining, cabaret-style program featuring some of your very favorite bewitching melodies.
Our talented singers and pianists will whisk you away with a thematic performance of operatic and popular music, led by Grammy-winning Music Director Craig Terry. Thanks to some technological magic, alumni from around the globe will join the evening to share how their careers have benefited from the amazing training and experience they received at the Ryan Opera Center.
We hope you'll join us for this enchanting evening — the Ryan Opera Center Ensemble artists just might leave you spellbound.
Monday, March 22
San Francisco Opera
In Song
This digital offering from San Francisco Opera stars Ryan Opera Center alumna and Grammy Award-winner J’Nai Bridges in a solo recital. She returns back to her hometown to reunite with her "village"—the family, the elders, and members of her community who have guided her way. Join Bridges as she performs selections from a variety of genres, including bluegrass, traditional Samoan and Egyptian music.
Tuesday, March 23
LA Opera
Gabriela Lena Frank: The Five Moons of Lorca (Las cinco lunas de Lorca)
This digital short from LA Opera stars Irene Rodríguez and Jacob Ingbar. Featuring an original text from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz, the piece takes inspiration from events surrounding the assassination of poet Federico García Lorca at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.
Wednesday, March 24
Opera Philadelphia
Angélica Negrón:
The Island We Made
The Island We Made combines ethereal electronic music and the transformative art of drag lip-sync to explore familial relationships and a multi-generational depiction of “Mother.” A haunting lullaby formed from the memories and individual relationships of its collaborators—acclaimed composer Angélica Negrón, drag superstar Sasha Velour, and renowned filmmaker Matthew Placek—The Island We Made is a uniquely intimate art-opera film.
Velour, the beloved winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 9, is known for storytelling in her performances. As the film’s omniscient narrator, who she imagines as “the embodiment of queerness,” Velour lip-syncs to the music sung by vocalist Eliza Bagg. This digital offering is available through May 31.
Thursday, March 25
LA Opera
Missy Mazzoli:
Breaking the Waves
This production from LA Opera stars Kiera Duffy, John Moore, Patricia Schuman, Eve Gigliotti, David Portillo, Zachary James, and Marcus DeLoach, and was directed by James Darrah. Breaking the Waves was conducted by Steven Osgood, and is available through April 12.
Friday, March 26
Houston Grand Opera
Suite Española: Explorando Iberia
This digital concert from Houston Grand Opera, created by beloved Lyric artist Ana María Martínez, will celebrate the music of Spain, including the art form known as zarzuela, or Spanish musical theater, by featuring a collage of selections from the repertoire’s most beautiful pieces.
Martínez will be joined by pianist Kevin J. Miller, guitarist Jeremy Garcia, and percussionist Richard Brown; flamenco dancers Manuel Gutierrez Cabello and Ana María Barceló; and two HGO Studio artists, tenor Ricardo Garcia and baritone Blake Denson. Cuban artist Irma La Paloma serves as choreographer, and Ecuadorian composer Chia Patiño directs. Suite Española: Explorando Iberia premieres at 7:30pm CT, and will be available through April 25.
Saturday, March 27 and Sunday, March 28
San Francisco Opera
Wagner: Götterdämmerung
This performance from San Francisco Opera stars Daniel Brenna, Iréne Theorin, Brian Mulligan, Andrea Silvestrelli, Jamie Barton, and Falk Struckmann, and was directed by Francesca Zambello. Götterdämmerung was conducted by Donald Runnicles in 2018. This opera stream premieres on Saturday, March 20 at 12pm CT, and will be available through Friday, March 26.
">Lyric Commentary from the 2019/20 Season is by Colin Ure.
Götterdämmerung
Lyric Opera Commentaries are sponsored by the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Foundation in memory of their parents.
© 2019/20 Lyric Opera Commentaries. All rights reserved.
The music featured is generously furnished by Warner Classics.
A project of the Women’s Board.
Commentary by Colin Ure
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.