Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera brings Spanish to the Lyric Opera

Ana María Martínez (Catrina) and ensemble

Ana María Martínez (Catrina) and Daniela Mack (Frida Kahlo)

El último sueño de Frida y Diego

Alfredo Daza (Diego Rivera), Daniela Mack (Frida Kahlo) and ensemble

By Graham Meyer, 31 March 2026

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“Frank’s music has wonderful, novel textures”

Reviewed at Lyric Opera House, Chicago on 29 March 2026

Frank, El último sueño de Frida y Diego (The Last Dream of Frida and Diego)

Lyric Opera of Chicago

Roberto Kalb, Conductor

Lorena Maza, Director

Jorge Ballina, Set Designer

Eloise Kazan, Costume Designer

Victor Zapatero, Lighting Designer

Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra

Chicago Lyric Opera Chorus

Daniela Mack, Frida Kahlo

Alfredo Daza, Diego Rivera

Ana María Martínez, Catrina

Key'mon W. Murrah, Leonardo

August Tye, Choreography

Sir David McVicar’s psychologically driven Salome arrives in Chicago

Graham Meyer, 25th January

Revived at Lyric Opera of Chicago, the notorious opera director’s take stirs sympathy for Salome, but leans on some of his theatrical hobby-horses

****1

Missy Mazzoli’s The Listeners takes its Chicago bow

Graham Meyer, 2nd April

Lyric Opera of Chicago's production of Missy Mazzoli's opera, which the company co-commissioned, has strong, dramatic, expressive music throughout, but the story lacks continuity.

**111

A light Marriage of Figaro makes the case for fun in Chicago

Graham Meyer, 9th November

Lyric Opera of Chicago revives its diverting and divisive 2015 original production by Barbara Gaines, who does it like a Shakespearean sex farce.

****1

Rigoletto cast dazzles in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s season opener

Graham Meyer, 14th September

Through brilliant singing and layered acting, Javier Camarena, Mané Galoyan, and Igor Golovatenko drive a Rigoletto to warm a traditionalist's heart.

****1

Davidsen and Stemme anchor an extraordinary Jenůfa in Chicago

Cameron Kelsall, 12th November

Claus Guth's production foregrounds the regimented, repressive world that drives the plot of Janáček’s tragic masterpiece.

*****

A vibrant, urgent Ariodante at Lyric Opera of Chicago

Katherine Syer, 2nd March

A revival of Richard Jones’ production of Handel’s emotionally probing opera.

*****

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Graham Meyer

Graham is a Chicago-based arts and culture journalist, covering all forms of live performance, and specializing in classical music. His work has appeared extensively in Chicago magazine and Crain’s Chicago Business, as well as in The Chicago Tribune and at Chicago Classical Review. He has also covered dining and restaurants, winning a City and Regional Magazine Award for the restaurant newsletter Dish. Semi-professionally, he sings baritone in the choir Vox Venti, plays amateur piano, and composes music, especially choral. Apart from music, he constructs crossword puzzles and plays competitive bridge with his teenage daughter.

Sueño world: Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera brings Spanish to the Lyric Opera of Chicago