05/30/15 – Capriccio – 1pm

Lyric Opera of Chicago

• by Richard Strauss
• In German with projected English texts
• Approximate running time: 2hrs, 50 min

The poet or the musician — which one will she choose?

She’s one of the most glamorous and gifted singers of all time, he’s one of the world’s finest conductors — and both of them are supreme interpreters of Strauss. Renée Fleming and Sir Andrew Davis make magic in this deliciously elegant masterwork.

The beautiful Countess has a difficult choice to make: will it be the amorous poet or the ardent musician whom she ultimately decides to love?

In this sophisticated drawing-room comedy, the Countess and her guests are trying to decide whether it’s the words or the music that triumph in creating great art. The theater director thinks it’s a silly question (he just wants to give the audience a good show!), the Count doesn’t care (he just wants an affair with the actress.). And so it goes in Strauss’s masterpiece, illuminated by some of his most lushly sensual music.

Four performances – Oct.9, 15, 22, and 28 – will broadcast HD video to four large screens (two each in the upper and lower balconies) to enhance the performance experience of this intimate opera for balcony patrons. The screens will hang on the sides of the theater so there will be no obstructed views of the stage or the projected titles.

Lyric Opera presentation generously made possible by an Anonymous Donor, Mr. and Mrs. J. Thomas Hurvis, Nancy W. Knowles, and Margot and Josef Lakonishok.

Production owned by the Metropolitan Opera.

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Starring

• 

  Countess

  Renée Fleming

  “Renée Fleming’s characterization is remarkable…there is something erotic about the exaltation she feels at being a muse to the creative figures in her life.” The Guardian
• 

  Clairon

  Anne Sofie von Otter

  What a luxury to have Anne Sofie von Otter as Clairon. “She wrings emotion from each syllable of the lyrics that sound life-changing when she sings them.” Financial Times
• 

  Count

  Bo Skovhus

  “Bo Skovhus is marvelous as the libidinous if prosaic Count.” The Guardian
• 

  Flamand

  William Burden

• 

  Olivier

  Audun Iversen

• 

  La Roche

  Peter Rose

  “The most crucial character is La Roche, a theater director, here the powerful bass Peter Rose.” The New York Times
• 

  Conductor

  Sir Andrew Davis

  “Sir Andrew Davis‘s conducting is passionate, lyrical, and admirably free from self-indulgence.” The Guardian