Lyric Opera, 1954 to 1980Ĭarol Fox, America's first female opera impresario at the age of 28, began her first season in 1954 by bringing Maria Callas for her American debut in the title role of Norma, the first of many electrifying Callas performances in Chicago. Lyric Opera was formed in 1954 and has continued uninterrupted except for 1967. There were no seasons from 1947 until 1953, so opera was presented by other companies on tour. From 1936 to 1939, the company was called Chicago City Opera Company, and finally from 1940 to 1946 opera was presented by the Chicago Opera Company. After no season in 1932/33, the company was re-formed and again named the Chicago Grand Opera Company from 1933 to 1935. This lasted through 1921/22, when it became the Chicago Civic Opera from 1922 until 1932. Chicago had this first company for four seasons, then, after no season in 1914/15, it was re-formed as the Chicago Opera Association. Resident opera companies began in Chicago in 1910 with the Chicago Grand Opera Company being formed from the remains of the Manhattan Opera Company, which had been founded by Oscar Hammerstein I, and had been squeezed out by the more financially sound Metropolitan Opera. The old Auditorium continued to produce stage shows and musicals till it closed in 1941. In 1929 the current Civic Opera House on 20 North Wacker Drive was opened, though the Chicago Civic Opera Company itself collapsed in the Great Depression. The second opera house, the Chicago Auditorium, opened in 1889. Chicago's first opera house opened in 1865 but was destroyed in the Great Fire of Chicago in 1871.

The first opera to be performed in Chicago was Bellini's La sonnambula, presented by a traveling opera company on 29 July 1850. The Lyric is housed in a theater and related spaces in the Civic Opera Building. The company was re-organized by Fox in 1956 under its present name and, after her 1981 departure, it has continued to be of one of the major opera companies in the United States.

It was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria Callas's American debut in Norma. Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States.

Lyric opera chicago history