Lyric Opera of Chicago presents an unprecedented gathering of forces — Chicago’s hometown diva Sondra Radvanovsky, the incomparable Lyric Opera Orchestra led by Music Director Enrique Mazzola, and the music of the beloved composer Giacomo Puccini — in Sondra Radvanovsky in Concert: The Puccini Heroines, for three performances only, February 8–16, 2025. At these groundbreaking concerts, Radvanovsky will sing Puccini’s most iconic soprano arias — from Tosca’s "Vissi d’arte" and Madama Butterfly's "Un bel di vedremo" to famous selections from La Bohème, Turandot, Manon Lescaut, and more — together in one monumental program.
While the concerts feature some of the most familiar and beloved arias in all of opera, these selections are also some of the most fiendishly difficult to perform. Only a singer of Radvanovsky’s strength, stamina, and virtuosity can deliver this program’s intense vocal and dramatic demands. And luckily for Chicago audiences, Radvanovsky has Mazzola and the Lyric Opera Orchestra as her esteemed musical partners. While both Radvanovsky and Maestro Mazzola have impressive experience performing Puccini at the leading opera houses of the world, these concerts mark the first time that both artists will be showcasing their interpretations of Puccini for Lyric audiences.
Radvanovsky, who was born just outside of Chicago in Berwyn and now calls suburban Evanston home, is one of the world’s most renowned and in-demand vocal artists. Since beginning her Lyric career in the title role of Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah in the 2002/03 Season, she has performed the heroines of Verdi, Bellini, Tchaikovsky, and more alongside the Lyric Opera Orchestra. Her innovative Lyric concert performances of The Three Queens, in which she explored the music of each of Donizetti’s three Tudor operas in a single evening, was recorded by Pentatone and released to great critical acclaim. Most recently, she ushered Lyric back into live performances with her role debut as Lady Macbeth in Verdi’s Macbeth at the start of the 2021/22 Season, conducted by Maestro Mazzola in his first performances as Music Director.
At the Metropolitan Opera, she has regularly appeared in leading roles since her debut in 1996. A highlight of her extensive career at the Met was her 2015/16 Season portrayal of each of Donizetti’s Three Queens — the title roles of Anna Bolena and Maria Stuarda and Elisabetta in Roberto Devereux — a feat not accomplished at an American opera house since the legendary Beverly Sills sang the roles at New York City Opera in the 1970s. Radvanovsky opened the Met’s 2022/23 Season in the title role of Cherubini’s Medea in a Lyric co-production directed by Sir David McVicar. This season, she returns to the Met for the title role in Puccini’s Tosca, reprising it later in the season for both Deutsche Oper Berlin and Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. She also sings the title role in Puccini’s Turandot for London’s Royal Ballet & Opera.
Away from the opera stage, Radvanovsky is a co-creator and co-host of the podcast and video series Screaming Divas, now in its fourth season, in which she and fellow soprano Keri Alkema talk with great humor and frankness about their lives and operatic careers.
At Lyric’s presentation of Sondra Radvanovsky in Concert: The Puccini Heroines, audiences familiar with Puccini’s artistry will thrill at hearing one of his greatest interpreters perform his most famous arias in a single evening, and those new to opera will discover why the magic of Puccini has endured as an audience favorite for more than 100 years. This world-premiere concert event promises to be a true highlight of the Chicago cultural season.
Important to know:
- Only three performances of Sondra Radvanovsky in Concert: The Puccini Heroines: Saturday, February 8 at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, February 13 at 7:00 p.m.; and Sunday, February 16 at 2:00 p.m.
- Performed in Italian, with easy-to-follow English translations projected above the stage.
- A total running time of 2 hours, including one intermission.
- Ticketholders are invited to a free pre-performance talk by noted opera scholar and former Lyric dramaturg Roger Pines, who will discuss how Puccini crafted some of the most famous operas in all of opera and how Radvanovsky is preparing for these marathon performances. Talks begin one hour prior to each concert and last approximately 30 minutes.
- Braille and large-print programs, high-powered opera glasses, assistive listening devices, and booster seats are available from the main floor coat check at all performances. For more information on these and other accessibility assets, visit lyricopera.org/accessibility.
- For more information and tickets, visit lyricopera.org/puccini or call 312.827.5600.
About Lyric
Lyric Opera of Chicago is committed to redefining what it means to experience great opera. The company is driven to deliver consistently excellent artistry through innovative, relevant, celebratory programming that engages and energizes new and traditional audiences.
Under the leadership of General Director, President & CEO John Mangum and Music Director Enrique Mazzola, Lyric is dedicated to reflecting, and drawing strength from, the diversity of Chicago. Lyric offers, through innovation, collaboration, and evolving learning opportunities, ever-more exciting, accessible, and thought-provoking audience and community experiences. We also stand committed to training the artists of the future, through The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center; and to becoming increasingly diverse across our audiences, staff, programming, and artists — magnifying the welcoming pull of our art form, our company, and our city.
Through the timeless power of voice, the splendor of a great orchestra and chorus, theater, dance, design, and truly magnificent stagecraft, Lyric is devoted to immersing audiences in worlds both familiar and unexpected, creating shared experiences that resonate long after the curtain comes down.
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For more information, visit lyricopera.org.