Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges’ legacy is broad. He was a biracial Frenchman, child prodigy as both a champion fencer and a virtuoso violinist, and later a celebrated and sought-after music director, composer, and officer in the French Revolution. He lived during a time that was full of innovation amid great political struggle and war across the Western world. Joseph was born on Christmas Day in 1745 on a coffee and sugar plantation on the Caribbean Island of Guadeloupe to Georges Bologne de Saint-Georges and a teenaged, enslaved Senegalese woman named Anne, known as Nanon. Despite being married to [...]

“Don’t look at me. Don’t look at me!” Eurydice implores her soon-to-be husband, mere minutes into Act I. Foreshadowing the moment of the backwards look, the moment which centuries of artists have repeatedly sought to capture, her words prompt us to ask several questions. Does she want Orpheus to lead her out of the underworld? What do we assume about what she feels in that fateful glance, that instant which symbolizes—as Greek mythology does so well—the eternal and unchanging capacity of humans to err? Matthew Aucoin and Sarah Ruhl’s version of the ever-popular tale of Orpheus and Eurydice is, [...]

Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges was a busy man. A fixture on the musical scene of eighteenth-century Paris, he might be found seated in the violin section of the orchestra Le Concert des Amateurs; performing the solo part of his many virtuosic violin concertos; directing a theater; or composing a string quartet, a symphony, or an opera. (And this is to say nothing of his astonishingly varied extramusical pursuits as a champion fencer, a soldier, and a political thinker.) Bologne’s atypical status – he was a Black composer in an overwhelmingly white art form, and he was accomplished in [...]

Dear friends,  As the curtain has closed on our fall Season, I find myself reflecting on the shared moments we have had these past few months. I am continually struck by the power of opera to create an atmosphere of connection, whether to speak to complex historical moments, prompt a belly laugh, or celebrate the bonds of family and friendship.  Some of my favorite highlights of our Fall season include:  Our largest audiences at Madama Butterfly since our 2016/17 Season  Over 2000 people engaging with our Butterfly exhibit, lectures, and partnership programs  Nearly 1000 student and community attendees at [...]

La Cenerentola begins with a radical act of kindness. In the opening scene, Alidoro, tutor to the prince Don Ramiro, knocks on the door, dressed as a beggar and asking for food. While her stepsisters want to send him away, Angelina (Cinderella) gives him bread and coffee. In the fairytale world, we’d all do the same. But what does this act look like in our modern world? If a stranger knocked on your door, begging for something to eat, what would you do?  Set in modern-day Boston, our new production of La Cenerentola allows us to explore the traditional themes in Cinderella [...]

There are approximately 3,000 different versions of the Cinderella story from many cultures worldwide, dating back over 2,000 years with roots in ancient Greece and China. In fact, it follows one of the seven major basic story arcs: “rags to riches.” In this archetype, described in a book by Christopher Booker, the protagonist is poor, in that they lack wealth, beauty, love, or power. They find what they seek, lose it, and then gain it back again. In the case of the Cinderella story, the society within which the story is set is defined by a social stratification that [...]

The halls of BLO’s rehearsal space have been filled with music and laughter since our cast and creative team arrived, and we can’t wait to share La Cenerentola with you! Rossini’s sparkling music requires immaculate comic timing and vocal fireworks from the entire cast, and our singers are up to the challenge. A true ensemble cast, this team of internationally acclaimed artists will wow you with their voices, make you laugh, and warm your heart. Let’s meet them! Cecelia Hall as Angelina (Cinderella) Cecelia Hall sings leading roles as a member of Oper Frankfurt's prestigious ensemble and appears regularly [...]

The cast and creative team of La Cenerentola are hard at work, and our rehearsal halls are filled with laughter, high notes, and sparkling coloratura. There’s nothing not to like about spending a month with the music of one of opera’s greatest stars: Gioachino Rossini.  Rossini is most known for his operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. Though he retired from large-scale composition while still in his thirties - at the height of his popularity - his work set many standards for both comic and serious opera. Opera fans know [...]

We’re still riding high on the success of our Butterfly, but there’s no rest for the weary in opera! We’re already hard at work on our next production: Rossini’s charming take on Cinderella, La Cenerentola.  The story of Cinderella has inspired writers, poets, artists, playwrights, and composers for thousands of years. The story of Rhodopis, recounted by the Greek geographer Strabo sometime between 7 BC and AD 23, about an enslaved Greek woman who marries the king of Egypt, is usually considered to be the earliest known version of the Cinderella story. The Chinese fairy tale Ye Xian, in which the main character [...]

Welcome to Boston Lyric Opera’s 47th Season! On behalf of all of us at Boston Lyric Opera, I extend a hearty welcome to the beginning of our 2023/24 season. This season, we embark on a journey of love – exploring the idea “All I have, I give for love.” This quote comes from our closing opera of the season, Eurydice, a new work by Boston-born composer Matthew Aucoin, based on the famous play by Sara Ruhl, and has become a theme that has resonated as we prepare these productions for the stage. Each story this season asks the question, [...]