Lyric Opera Presents LUISA MILLER Review

Russian mezzo-soprano Alisa Kolosova arrives on a horse statue --one leg up, as if signaling a wound. She is the soon-to-be-spurned Federica, Duchess of Ostheim. Before her entrance, we see an equestrian-garbed crowd, frozen in the background. Lighting Designer Mark McCullough has transformed this ensemble-- crop gripping, top hat wearing-- into 2D silhouettes. It is one of many uses of light to create silhouettes and shadows that make this aspect of the Luisa Miller production the star of the show, by this writer’s lights. We might already think that the music Verdi gives bass Soloman Howard to sing defines his character Wurm as the bad guy. But it’s McCullough’s touch to show Wurm as a threatening larger than life shadow looming over beleaguered Luisa (Bulgarian soprano Krassimira Stoyanova). This lighting touch says who he is, ,just as loudly as his booming voice. You get to see these shadow clues throughout.

Truth to tell, while the visual lighting highlights are informative, the story in this opera is actually very straightforward. The set up is not unlike Giselle. A disguised royal (Rodolfo, tenor Joseph Calleja) has fallen in love with a country girl, Luisa. Luisa reciprocates the feeling. A disapproving royal parent has other plans for their child’s marriage. In this case, the disapproving parent is the wicked Count Walter. He also has a bass voice, and this voice is Christian Van Horn! Bad guy Wurm and the Count force Luisa to renounce her love in order to save her father (baritone Quinn Kelsey). Meanwhile Rodolfo thinks he has been betrayed by Luisa. This leads to their shared death by poison, but not before he sticks it—quite literally --to bad guy Wurm.

No happily ever after here!

Yet, despite the dark, dark story, in typical Verdi bel canto fashion, the non-Italian speaker might be hearing beautiful arias, duets, and trios, and mistakenly think it’s about spring flowers and the merry month of May. Actually these beautiful songs are relaying the turmoil or torment told by the story.

Beautiful singing it is!

Beautiful orchestral music it is too, including a clarinet motif weaved throughout. It is conducted by the newly announced music director designate, cheerful Enrique Mazzola. On opening night, Mazzola came to talk to those of us who came to the highly recommended pre-concert lecture. This reviewer can report he is one heckuva charming value-add for the Lyric!

Lyric Opera Assembles Amazing Vocal Talents

As with most Lyric performances, you too may be hard put to find a favorite performer. These are stellar talents—all! This writer though, feels compelled to give a special shout out to tenor Joseph Calleja. He is the romantic lead. On opening night, he seemed to lose his voice for a few notes, likely a casualty of the sudden wintry chill that had overtaken Chicago. Calleja’s voice is soothingly tenor sweet. We noted how he simply modulated his volume a tad, after that vocal dustup. It was truly stirring. It was hard not to love him.

The good news/bad news about Lyric’s Luisa Miller, is that there seemed to be an unusually high number of empty seats in the audience. It might have been because the aforementioned wintry snap on the city kept some indoors. More likely, it’s because this Verdi opera is lesser known. Though melodic to the max, this opera doesn’t have any songs that are part of Operas Greatest Hits, Bel Canto Greatest Hits, or Verdi Greatest Hits. That means-- this is potentially an opportunity for anyone who wants to hear opera greats up closer with better seats! At the time of this writing, there were half-price tickets available at Hot Tix.

Run, run, run—get them while you can.