Best of the Best

Are you new to opera? And do you want to explore it in the most exciting way possible? Or are you a seasoned opera lover, looking for the perfect way to introduce an "opera newbie" in your life to the art form? If so, look no further! Lyric has created four different series that bring you four of the greatest operas ever written. Whether in Italian, French, German, or Russian, each opera is full of music and drama that you’ll never forget. (And with projected English texts above the stage, you'll always understand the story.) Together they make a spectacular introduction to the most thrilling of all the live performing arts.

Lyric makes it easy to enjoy these great operas.  Why not bring a friend and share a fabulous experience in the opera house? Choose between Wednesdays (Series B2), Tuesdays (E1, E3) or Saturdays (F1) — you’ll save up to 40% off the cost of single tickets! 

Italian opera is represented by Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, with all the dazzling singing you could ask for. Every high soprano longs to sing Lucia, the Scottish lass in love with her family’s enemy. She’s betrayed by her brother and, after being forced into a politically advantageous marriage, she goes mad and kills her bridegroom on their wedding night! Her music — and everyone else’s in this opera — is glorious, culminating in Lucia's mad scene, which will leave you breathless. With Russian star Albina Shagimuratova and one of today’s finest tenors, Poland’s Piotr Beczała, Lucia is going to be stupendous!

A prince, Tamino, and a birdcatcher, Papageno, go on a harrowing journey, searching for Pamina, a captive princess. These wonderful make-believe characters all figure prominently in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, an opera for everyone. The music enthralls, whether in the high-flying revenge aria of Pamina’s ruthless mother, the Queen of the Night, or in the bass depths of the Queen’s nemesis Sarastro, the noble high priest. There are the folksy melodies of Papageno, the soulful music of Tamino and Pamina, and so much more. This opera is funny, heartbreaking, exhilarating, touching, and in the end, totally life-enhancing. A cast of irresistible Mozartians — including Andrew Staples, Matthew Polenzani, Christiane Karg, and Adam Plachetka — will be onstage in Neil Armfield’s delightful new production.

You’ll thrill to Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, the most universally beloved of all Russian operas. From the composer who gave the world Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, Onegin is a miracle of heartstoppingly beautiful melody and devastating emotion. Tatiana, an impressionable country girl, writes a letter to the sophisticated young Onegin declaring her love. He rejects her, but years later he sees her again (now the wife of a prince) and realizes he loves her! The story unfolds through an ever-fresh score, with characters created by Russia’s greatest poet, Alexander Pushkin. Lyric’s cast — led by Mariusz Kwiecień and Ana María Martínez — is unbeatable, as is Robert Carsen’s extraordinarily insightful production.

And finally there’s Bizet’s Carmen, with its gypsy heroine, blazing with allure and white-hot passion! She seduces a young corporal, Don José, who deserts the army for her only to have her discard him in favor of a sexy bullfighter. There’s a deadly confrontation at the end, in one of the most powerfully dramatic finales in all of opera! This score boasts one terrific aria after another, lively choruses, and thrilling orchestral music. Lyric’s two leading couples — Ekaterina Gubanova and Joseph Calleja, Anita Rachvelishvili and Brandon Jovanovich — will prove that there’s nothing like Carmen — it’s eternally fresh, vibrant, and totally electrifying.