Boston Lyric Opera revealed details for its 2019–2020 season—the tenth under the leadership of General and Artistic Director Esther Nelson. The four titles comprising the lineup span three centuries, from Baroque to contemporary, and will take up multiple performance spaces around the city.
The season begins September 27 with a new, immersive staging of Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci. David Lefkowich will direct the staging (at a venue to be announced), which will feature dining, acrobatics, and a carnivalistic atmosphere.
The cast will include Rafael Rojas as Canio/the title murderous clown, with Lauren Michelle as Nedda, Tobias Greenhalgh as Silvio, Michael Mayes as Tonio, and Omar Najmi as Beppe-Harlequin. David Angus conducts the presentation, running through October 6.
Up next is the roster’s newest opera: composer Gregory Spears and librettist Greg Pierce’s 2016 piece Fellow Travelers. Peter Rothstein directs the opera, about a clandestine relationship in the midst of the anti-queer McCarthy era. The cast, under the baton of Emily Senturia, includes Jesse Darden, Jesse Blumberg, and James Maddalena. Performances will run November 13–17 at Emerson Paramount Center.
Bellini’s Druid drama Norma takes up the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre March 13–22, 2020. Elena Stikhina returns to BLO after making her U.S. debut with the company in 2017’s Tosca; joining her are Alfred Walker (soon to be seen in the Metropolitan Opera’s Porgy and Bess) as Oroveso, Jonathan Burton as Pollione, and Sandra Piques-Eddy as Adalgisa. BLO Music Director David Angus will conduct the presentation of the Stephanie Harvey staging.
Concluding the season is Handel’s Giulia Cesare, directed by Matthew Ozawa. Counter-tenor David Trudgen will sing the title role of Caesar, with Jacquelyn Stucker as Cleopatra; the cast also includes Siman Chung, Wallis Giunta, Simon Dyer, David McFerrin, and Renee Tatum. The Matthew Ozawa production, conducted by Gary Thor Wedow, runs May 8–17; no word yet on a venue.
For more information, visit BLO.org.
