Close Up with LEONORA
A FREE EVENT
Thursday, September 12, 2024 - 6:30 PM- 7:40 PM
Harold Washington Library
Cindy Pritzker Auditorium
400 S. State Street, Chicago, IL
Chicago Opera Theater is thrilled to bring Ferdinando Paër’s Leonora to Chicago for its North American premiere in October 2024. Leonora is based on the deeply moving true story of a woman in 18th century France who disguised herself as a man to rescue her wrongfully imprisoned husband. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, four different operas were written based on this story - the most famous of which is Beethoven's Fidelio. But Paër's Leonora, which premiered a year before Beethoven's opera, is not only a remarkable and beautiful work in its own right - it also influenced Beethoven's writing.
During the free Close Up on September 12th, you'll learn about Paër - who wrote over 50 operas - and discover the fascinating history behind this unjustly neglected Italian masterpiece. In addition, you'll get an exclusive sneak-peek at the upcoming production, and hear musical excerpts from the opera. This event will be led by COT's Edlis Neeson General Director Lawrence Edelson with special guest Jesse Rosenberg. Rosenberg is a specialist in 19th- and 20th-century Italian opera, with articles published on Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, and Verdi and papers read at national and international conferences on opera and film music history.
COT thanks Nancy Dehmlow and the Morse & Genius Operating Reserve Fund for their generous support of the 2024/25 Season. Leadership support for COT’s production of Leonora has been provided by Julie and Roger Baskes and the COT President’s Council.
Who was Ferdinando Paër?
While works by composer Ferdinando Paër (1771-1839) are not frequently performed today, the Italian composer wrote at least 55 operas. Beethoven had a high opinion of Paër, once jesting that the funeral march in Achille was so fine he "would have to compose it”’; and in 1810 Paër composed a bridal march for Napoleon's wedding to Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma. In 1812, he succeeded Spontini as conductor of the Opéra-Italien in Paris, a position he held until 1823 when he retired and was succeeded by Rossini, who as a boy made his debut in Paër’s Camilla. A leading figure in the musical life of Paris, Paër gave voice lessons to soprano Giuditta Pasta, composition lessons to the young Franz Liszt, and he was responsible for introducing Chopin and Bellini in the most important salons of the French capital. The Chicago premiere of Paër’s Leonora will undoubtedly be a highlight of the fall opera season.
Portrait of Ferdinando Paër. Bibliothèque Paul-Marmottan, Ville de Boulogne-Billancourt, Académie des Beaux-Arts, France.