Interview With Maestro Mazzoli

Enrique Mazzola. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

Maestro Enrique Mazzola Shares His Vision for the Lyric Opera of Chicago

Interview by Kathy D. Hey

Maestro Enrique Mazzola is now entering his 5th year as music director and conductor of the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Mazzola is the third music director since Bruno Bartoletti, when the Lyric was founded. He is the successor to the late Sir Andrew Davis, who served for over 20 years. Mazzola brings a wealth of experience and vision to the Lyric, promising artistic growth and expanded recognition on the world stage.

Enrique Mazzola is an Italian who was born in Spain. His musical talent was nurtured as a child with tutelage in singing, violin, and piano. He has served as principal guest conductor of several international orchestras, including the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and as a conductor at opera houses in Norway, Japan, Brazil, and many others. I had the privilege of meeting him in person at Space 519 on Chestnut Street. We had a lovely conversation about his vision for the trajectory of Lyric Opera of Chicago. He walked into the cafe full of the same energy and the smile that I have seen before every opera. He started with "Hello! I am sorry to be late. Traffic and transportation, well, you know." I replied, "No worries, Maestro, I am chronically early for most things, and I confess to being a bit nervous." "No, no, we will have a nice conversation."

‍ ‍ Maestro Enrique Mazzola. Photo by Todd Rosenberg

I covered this season’s opener, Medea. It had never been performed at Lyric, and Sondra Radvanovsky made the role hers.

Yesterday was our last show. It is very strange how a rare opera could generate such strong enthusiasm among the audience. I like to bring diversity to the productions, to show the abuse endured by women and the result of that abuse. Several new operas are being brought here —you said you liked The Listeners.

I did—the isolation and appearance of coyotes were the only friends, and, of course, it was new music.

I very much enjoy the new compositions for opera.

Maestro, I am thrilled that you are contracted through 2031, and I hope that it goes beyond that. What is your vision for the trajectory of Lyric?

I hope so, too. I really consider this my home. You know how you can say your home is where you find a beautiful house and a beautiful family? Well, I found a beautiful house and a beautiful family at the Lyric Opera, because my inspiration language is music. When I am in a place where I can speak my language, you know I am Italian and Spanish-born, but when I can speak the language of music, it is international. My trajectory for the Lyric is to build an opera house with the values of the 21st century. The diversity exposes how women are treated. I hope to operate in a way that fully speaks to the people. You know, some operas were written in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, but the political issues are still true today.

It is cyclical.

Yes, opera is a mirror to our society. You know, when a person gets home in their Uber, on the train, or however, they have time to think: this opera was written 120 years ago, and we are still there. But it could change the thinking. Opera is an equation of beautiful notes that a composer wrote. The composer is like a journalist, but not in black and white on paper. Music has nuances, and the message is more powerful because it has such a direct connection with our intellect and the subconscious. Composers today can touch on the sensitive subjects in our society. So it can be Latin America, Europe, or Asia that looks at the big repertoire operas and sees the past, but also how they reflect today. The trajectory is to declare that the Lyric Opera is Chicago’s house. It is a Midwestern opera house open to everyone. The music is expanding to incorporate styles that represent different communities. I want to show that opera is not just for the rich. I was shocked when I came here four years ago to see that it was still separated here by race.

It is getting better, but it's still there. It goes back to migration, and we’re seeing it again with newer migrant cultures, but hopefully, there will be a change. There is a new opera in the season: Sifronia by avery r. young, that speaks to the migration from the South.

Yes, I read about the Great Migration—the suffering, the misunderstandings, the clashes with society, and not wanting to accept these people. Sifronia brings gospel music into opera. Gospel music is fascinating. It is quintessential American music; it is powerful and unifying. That is what music does.

Coming from Europe and having traveled everywhere, you can see that America is comparatively young. We have not experienced all of the changes that happened in other nations.

Yes, but I love the Midwestern way. People are friendly and, with good will, good faith, and love, start to bring people together. I am very proud of the Lyric being a part of that. Two years ago, we did Champion and Fire Shut Up in My Bones. These are stories that reveal another side of America. There was also The Listeners that you mentioned. It shows another side, and it could be anywhere in America, about people who are a little bit different and how they can be taken advantage of by cults and such.

You’ve mentioned a particular interest in Verdi.

Verdi did not grow up privileged. He was a farmer and had his hands in the earth. When you come from the countryside, the view of life is different. He was an artist and composer connected directly to the earth. His portrayals of women are more realistic about the abuse and indignities they suffer because they are women. La Traviata was shocking because Violetta is known as a prostitute and is shunned by society. At that time, the opera was controversial, but it set the stage for later operas.

I see that Carmina Burana is coming up at the same time as Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci. I saw Mozart’s Requiem and thought it was fantastic. You are working on all of them at the same time?

Carmina Burana is going to be very exciting, with a cast of 250 people on the stage. You know the composer wrote this in the 20th century, but it's actually a fake medieval story written in early German. It is a series of short stories based on the wheel of fortune. We are going to continue this trajectory of concerts, offering a variety of music that hasn’t been performed anywhere else. We have Billy Corgan’s Mellon Collie (A Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness). It was a different experience, and this guy, Billy, is a Chicagoan. This is a way to open the trajectory to different spaces in the opera world: variety meeting opera. It is not just traditional classical music.

I attended the pre-opera talk for Medea, and the lecture focused on how Maria Callas is forever associated with the role. Is it that it was a different time when she sang it? Others have performed it, but Callas was still considered the definitive Medea. What do you think about that in light of this being a new century, new staging, new soprano?

You touch on a very special example. Callas was one of the most extraordinary sopranos of the 20th century. She was also a strategist, imposing her voice with her feelings, sometimes changing things. If a chorus were not to her liking in a certain part, she would cancel the chorus and make the entire opera center around her voice and strengths. I do the opposite process. It’s like if you do Shakespeare and cut something—you can’t do that. We work through the process as it is written. Sondra is amazing. She adjusted herself to the character, emphasizing the emotions differently. It is our job to interpret, not edit.

So what do you do in your own time?

As a conductor or director, you don’t stop. I am very passionate about art. I am a member of the Art Institute, as every good Chicagoan should be. I like to follow exhibitions and build parallels between the art and the composers of that era. I am a big walker, and it is a fantastic way to explore the neighborhoods and also the cities I visit and conduct: Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, and Vienna. I think rather than take the tourist bus, it is better to explore on my own, have long walks, get lost, and get the smell of the city.

I want to ask about the Ryan Opera Center.

The Ryan Opera is a diamond of the Lyric. Since I took my position as director, I really embraced the Ryan Opera Center. I participate in almost every event they are doing. Some of the finest young singers in the world are at the Ryan. When we did Sunday in the Park with Lyric, a man came up to me from the audience and whispered in my ear, “The Ryan Opera Center is the most beautiful example we have of diversity in Chicago.” He said that one sentence and then disappeared into the crowd. This group of young singers comes from everywhere in the U.S., and the only thing we care about is the talent. I can say loud and clear that I am a defender of this concept everywhere, and in everything in my life. I am very, very proud of–I call them my kids. We train them to be on stage and relate to great artists facing the same difficulties, the same sweat, the same problems, the same glory.

Is there anything else you are looking forward to?

I am a dreamer. Sometimes I wish I could stop dreaming, but my brain is created that way, and I don’t know how. I am a visionary, and I would like to see the Lyric Opera become one of the biggest contributors to Chicago's culture in the future.

One last thing, I enjoy watching you conduct. You use your physicality, putting your whole body into it. I imagine that you are absorbing and spreading tremendous energy. You must be exhausted.

I do not feel so much exhaustion. It is very taxing, and a lot of sweat goes into conducting. I remember my predecessor coming off the stage, sweating like me but still energized. The concentration is spread in many directions. Medea is a difficult opera, and the music was not familiar to everyone, so I had to coordinate with a new score, all the musicians, and the singers, and it worked well and was beautiful.

I can see that you love what you do and how you have developed your vision for the Lyric as opera for all of the people.

I needed time to arrive at this point, not specifically about Chicago, but in my head. Many conductors start their careers cultivating their egos. It’s a very individualistic journey, and if you want to excel, you have to fight. I think that probably now I am starting to enter the age where I have to fight less and concentrate on doing music. Yeah. I am very happy. I realize how the conductor is the interface between the music and the audience, and I have switched from doing it for myself to conducting energy to the music and the audience.

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to talk with me. I will be covering Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci and attending Carmina Burana.

Thank you. It is so nice to meet you. I have to run to rehearsal!

Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci are one-act operas that will be presented in a double-bill at the Lyric Opera of Chicago November 1-23. Carmina Burana will play November 14-16. Please visit lyricopera.org for tickets and more information.

This interview was originally published on Third Coast Review