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Chicago

October 18-19, 2008

It's been a while since we've taken a trip to Chicago, but we found an irresistible weekend in Chicago that we just couldn't pass up. We will hear Natalie Dessay, today's reigning coloratura soprano, paired with the hot young tenor Jonas Kaufmann in one of Jules Massenet's most ravishing scores, Manon. Dessay, whom you might have recently seen in the Metropolitan Opera simulcast of La Fille du Regiment, is a master of the French repertory and should be spectacular. Kaufmann, a German, has been exciting audiences on both sides of the Atlantic with his movie star good looks and rock star persona.

As if that weren't enough, our Chicago trip also features a Lyric Opera of Chicago production of Bizet's melodic The Pearl Fishers. You may have heard our own Lyric Opera perform this work last fall and found the music ravishing. Well, this is your chance to hear it again, with a superstar cast consisting of the wonderful soprano Nicole Cabell as the priestess Leïla, the dashing baritone Nathan Gunn as Zurga, the leader of the fishermen, and tenor Eric Cutler as Nadir. Cabell is the winner of the prestigious Cardiff Singer of the World competition, just came out with a hit recital disc, and is one of the most popular young performers on the stage and just sang a celebrated Figaro with the Lyric Opera in Chicago. Cutler is one of the rising young tenors on today's opera scene.

 

Washington, D.C.

November 21-23, 2008

This will be your chance to experience a once in a lifetime event. Maestro Plácido Domingo conducts a quartet of soloists, including tenor phenomenon Andrea Bocelli, with the Washington National Opera Chorus and Orchestra, in a performance of Rossini's Petite Messe Solonelle. In Rossini's own words, "Is it indeed music for the blessed music?" Rossini's famous mass is the final work of the prolific opera composer in the twilight of his life. Andrea Bocelli's website lists this as his only American performance in 2008.

The following evening, to round out the trip, we will hear young pianist Lars Vogt, a Leeds International Piano Competition star, play Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20. Conductor Yakov Kreizberg also leads Dvorák's Carnival Overture and Franz Schmidt's romantic Symphony No. 4 in C Major. Both of these performances at the famed Kennedy Center should be real treats.

 

New York City

December 29, 2008 - January 1, 2009

Anna Netrebko, Renée Fleming, Angela Gheorghiu, Thomas Hampson, Ramon Varga, Roberto Alagna, Samuel Ramey

Wow! With a lineup of stars like that, what more do you need to know? But in case you would prefer more details, here you go:

The Lyric Opera Guild is taking its first-ever New Year's Eve trip to New York so you can enjoy seeing in the New Year, amidst all of the glitter and splendor of the Big Apple and the Metropolitan Opera, which is featuring three spectacular star-studded operas to finish out the year.

Monday, December 29. After our nonstop flight to New York, we will attend Giacomo Puccini's romantic La bohéme in the elaborate Franco Zeffirelli production at the Met (it has to be seen live to be believed!) starring tenor Ramon Vargas as Rodolfo (you may have seen him in the recent Met simulcast), the spectacular soprano Anna Netrebko as Mimi, and Polish superstar baritone Mariusz Kwiecien as Marcello. What a treat!

Tuesday, December 30. After a free day to enjoy New York, we return to the Met in the evening to see the radiant Renée Fleming in Jules Massenet's classic Thais. Fleming, one of today's most sought-after sopranos, is famed for this role, portrayed by many of the great sopranos in opera history, in which she plays a courtesan in search of spiritual sustenance. The renowned baritone Thomas Hampson portrays the monk who succumbs to her temptation and who falls from grace. Massenet’s sensual score is presented in a production by John Cox that originated at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Wednesday, December 31 (New Year's Eve). What does the Met have in store for us on New Year's Eve? A gala performance of Giacomo Puccini's gorgeous but rarely heard La Rondine, starring none other than the husband and wife team of Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna, both among today's most stellar performers. And if that weren't enough, the cast also includes basso favorite Samuel Ramey! Gheorghiu plays the kept woman who gambles on true love, and Alagna is the man who makes her question the cost of her glittering existence. Nicolas Joël directs the new Met production of this gorgeously melodic look at love.

Thursday, January 1, 2009. We return to Kansas City after three fabulous days in New York to close out the year 2008.

*****

Tour Cost:
Land Arrangements $1,930
Airfare from and to Kansas City $575
Total $2,505
***Single room supplement $360

**$1,000 per person deposit due by June 1, 2008.

Included in the Tour Cost:

• Roundtrip air fair between Kansas City and New York.
• Bus transportation to and from the airport and the hotel in New York.
• Hotel accommodations for three nights at The Milburn Hotel.
• Bus transportation to and from the opera each evening.
• Best available tickets to the Metropolitan Opera performances.
• Group meal at a restaurant to be determined.
• Tax deductible contribution to the Kansas City Lyric Opera Guild.

Please make your check payable to Lyric Opera Guild Trips and mail to:
Lisa Sicola
5633 Cherry
Kansas City, MO 64110

If you wish to make your own air and/or hotel arrangements, let us know and deduct the airfare and/or hotel cost from your final payment.

*** Have questions? Call Lisa Sicola at (816) 444-7154.

New York

March 17-21, 2009

If you haven’t heard Dvorak’s moving Rusalka, complete with the justly famous soprano aria, "Song to the Moon," then you haven’t experienced one of the most gorgeous moments in opera. We will hear none other than Renée Fleming sing it, along with fellow soprano Christine Goerke, mezzo star Stephanie Blythe, tenor Alexander Antonenko and Icelandic bass Kristinn Sigmundsson. Watch the enchanting Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale come to life on the Met stage.

The hit opera of this trip, though, will probably be Bellini’s melodious La Sonnambula (The Sleepwalker) featuring none other than Natalie Dessay and the high-flying tenor Juan Diego Florez. Bass baritone Michele Pertusi rounds out what will be a fabulous cast for this longtime favorite bel canto masterpiece.

Also on this trip will be a double bill of Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci with dramatic soprano Andrea Gruber, tenor Roberto Alagna, Italian soprano Nuccia Focile and baritone Alberto Mastromarino.

Rounding out four days of opera at the Met is Verdi’s potboiler Il Trovatore with Italian tenor Salvatore Licitra, superstar baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky, George London Foundation winner Sondra Radvanovsky, the imperial mezzo Luciana D’Intino and baritone Kwanghchul Youn.

This is a great lineup of melodic operas with outstanding stars. And remember that in New York if you want to substitute a Broadway show for any opera, just let us know!

 

Philiadelphia or Boston?

It’s likely that the Guild will wrap up its 2008-2009 trip schedule with an East Coast trip to either Philadelphia or Boston in May or June 2009. We have never taken an opera trip to either city, but both have excellent opera companies and lots of local attractions as well. We’re awaiting final information on schedules and casts, and as soon as we finalize this we will let you know!