Verdi's Bittersweet Romance Comes To Chicago

Verdi's exquisite melodies and sumptuous orchestral writing shine in Luisa Miller, his middle period opera in three acts. Directed by American opera and theater maker Francesca Zambello, the never-before-seen-in-Chicago production forms part of the Lyric Opera's hotly anticipated 2019/20 season and stars Bulgarian soprano Krassimira Stoyanova as Luisa and Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja as Rodolfo, the ill-fated lovers at the center of drama-filled, tumultuous storm of an opera. 

Set in The Tyrol, a historic region in the Alps in the 17th century, the twisting and turning tale follows Luisa, daughter of retired soldier Miller and her lover Carlo. Miller disapproves of Carlo, a man he perceives to be a stranger, but upholds his daughter may marry any man she chooses. He tells the courtier Wurm as much, but vying for Luisa's hand, he reveals Carlo's true identity to be that of Rodolfo, son of Count Walter, a cataclysmic play that ends in tragedy.