As the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s mainstage programming winds down for the season, audience members may look forward to what lies ahead in the 2015-2016 season. The Lyric announced their upcoming season in January, spanning time-tested classics to their world premiere work.
The season opens with Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. This famous work, based on the second in a comedic trilogy of plays by French diplomat Pierre Beaumarchais, is full of historical and political context surrounding the French Revolution.
However, Nozze’s more recent history, specifically as Lyric’s season opener, is also fascinating.
Lyric promised an all-star cast for Nozze, its 2003-2004 season opener, but delivered on its promise in an unexpected manner! Two weeks before the premiere, mezzosoprano Angelica Kirschlager dropped out of the production, and Lyric Opera Center for America Artists (LOCAA, now the Ryan Center) student Lauren McNeese was called to fill the role of Cherubino.
McNeese’s LOCAA colleague, bass-baritone Wayne Tiggs, was also called upon to replace a cast member on even more extraordinary circumstances. Tiggs was attending the second performance of Nozze with his mother when, halfway through, he was asked to step-in for ailing bass-baritone Ildebrando D’Arcangelo in the role of Figaro.
To learn more about the events described above and to gain an inside look at the Lyric Opera’s Ryan Center for the next generation of operatic talent, check out William Murray’s book Fortissimo at the Naperville Public Library. The book recounts the experiences of many now-famous program alumni, including baritone Quinn Kelsey who was awarded the Beverly Sills Artist Award for young singers at the Metropolitan Opera in February.