Same as it ever was Same as it ever was

I must confess to feeling a bit of “Tosca fatigue” as I entered the Lyric Opera of Chicago house for Wednesday’s matinee of the Puccini standard.

Gianna Rolandi 1952-2021 Gianna Rolandi 1952-2021

American soprano Gianna Rolandi died Sunday morning, according to a number of her friends and colleagues. She was 68.

Fancy pants Fancy pants

A recent discussion here about Gianna Rolandi prompts Trove Thursday to present the American soprano in a rare trouser role in an even rarer opera, Cimarosa’s Gli Orazi e I Curiazi paired with Anna Caterina Antonacci.

All out of love All out of love

The success of Porgy and Bess at the Met forced bass-baritone Eric Owens, the newly installed director of vocal studies at the Curtis Institute, to cancel a long-planned afternoon recital at the school on February 16.

The three faces of Sondra The three faces of Sondra

It was a gloomy, chilly, rainy day in Chicago on Sunday afternoon, a perfect reflection of the sad and gloomy fates of the title characters in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s presentation of The Three Queens.

Sparkle, Lyric, sparkle! Sparkle, Lyric, sparkle!

It’s an old chestnut of a joke that applies even more to opera than to the theatre: A veteran actor is on his deathbed.

Ryan’s hope Ryan’s hope

Sunday’s “Rising Stars in Concert”, featuring the Ryan Opera Center ensemble and members of the Lyric Opera Orchestra, was a stirring and entertainingly musical afternoon.

Silver lining Silver lining

Saturday night, Lyric Opera of Chicago gave us a wonderful evening of vocalism in honoring Renée Fleming’s 25th anniversary at Lyric.