Handel's Resurrection: In Concert

(La Resurrezione)

An Easter oratorio in two parts by George Frideric Handel

Saturday, March 20, 2027 | Harris Theater for Music and Dance, Chicago

Handel's Resurrection: In Concert

(La Resurrezione)

Music by George Frideric Handel
Libretto by Carlo Sigismondo Capece

Saturday, March 20, 2027, at 7pm
Performance length: 2 hours, including intermission
This performance is sung in the original Italian, with projected English titles.

Harris Theater for Music and Dance
205 E. Randolph, Chicago, IL, 60601

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About the performance

Presented by the Harris Theater Presents series, this performance features the Haymarket Opera Orchestra alongside Toronto’s acclaimed Opera Atelier in a three-company parntnership brought together by Chicago’s Harris Theater for Music and Dance. Featuring soloists of international acclaim, and accompanied by Chicago’s own Haymarket Opera Orchestra, this recital version of Resurrection allows audiences to experience the work as originally intended by the composer.  

Opera Atelier Music Director David Fallis conducts Handel’s The Resurrection in concert. Written for Easter in 1708, The Resurrection details the events between Good Friday and Easter Sunday and the tension leading up to Christ’s resurrection following his crucifixion and burial.

The role of the Archangel, written for a castrato in Handel’s original composition, will be performed by soprano Carla Huhtanen, renowned for her vocal range and razor-sharp coloratura. Baritone David Witczak will sing the role of Lucifer. A superb linguist, Witczak is praised for his impassioned delivery of Italian repertoire. Tenor Antonin Rondepierre as St. John the Evangelist, Soprano Meghan Lindsay as Mary Magdalene, and mezzo-soprano Mireille Lebel as Mary Cleophas round out the cast, promising deeply sensitive and nuanced performances. 

The opera’s narrative plays out simultaneously across two spheres. In the celestial realm, a militant Archangel demands entrance to Hades and disputes the claims of a boastful Lucifer, insisting Christ’s death was an act of sacrificial love. Meanwhile, on Earth, Mary Magdalene, Cleophas, and St. John the Evangelist struggle to make sense of Christ’s brutal death. Handel’s astonishingly sensual score and vivid word painting act as a catalyst for an exceptional play of emotions for the protagonists. 

The Cast

Archangel: Carla Huhtanen, soprano

Lucifer: David Witczak, baritone

St. John the Evangelist: Antonin Rondepierre, tenor

Mary Magdalene: Meghan Lindsay, soprano

Mary Cleophas: Mireille Lebel, mezzo-soprano

The Instrumental Ensemble

Conductor: David Fallis

Violin I & Concert Master: Rachel Barton Pine

Violin I: Marty Davids

Violin I: Wendy Benner

Violin I: Jaime Gorgojo

Violin II: Jeri-Lou Zike

Violin II: Charlene Kluegel

Violin II: Ann Duggan

Viola: Melissa Trier Kirk

Viola: Allison Nyquist

Viola da gamba: Craig Trompeter

Cello: Cora Swenson Lee

Cello: Erica Rubis

Bass: Jerry Fuller

Flute / Recorder: Lilith Ransburg

Oboe / Recorder: Geoffrey Burgess

Oboe: Dan Bates

Bassoon: Sally Jackson 

Trumpet: Ryan Berndt

Trumpet: David Kjar

Lute: Brandon Acker

Timpani: Brandon Podjasek

Harpsichord/Organ: Opera Atelier

About the Harris Theater for Music and Dance

The Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance is Chicago’s primary residence for music and dance, connecting diverse audiences with outstanding artists from across the city, the nation, and the world.

Opened in 2003 in Millennium Park, the Harris was the first multi-use performance venue built in downtown Chicago since 1929, and fulfilled the city’s need for a shared home for mid-size performing arts organizations. Today, the Theater features some of the most diverse arts and culture offerings of any venue in the city, and is a distinctive model for artistic quality, collaboration, and making the performing arts relevant and accessible to the widest possible audience.

Founded on the principle of serving Chicago’s vibrant community of performing arts organizations, the Theater provides subsidized rental, production, marketing, and professional development support for its Resident Companies. Since opening with 12 founding companies, the Harris has since served as a home for over 55 local arts and humanities organizations including Giordano Dance Chicago, Music of the Baroque, Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus, Chicago Humanities Festival, Chicago Opera Theater, Puerto Rican Arts Alliance, and WBEZ Chicago. In 2020, the Harris Theater Creative Future Fund was established to provide financial support to Resident Companies engaging audiences in-person and virtually. Fostering innovation amongst Resident Companies and local independent artists has led to new collaborations and strengthened partnerships within the arts and culture community.

Launched in 2006, the Harris Theater Presents series brings the highest caliber artists from every corner of the world to Chicago to tell stories of human experiences from a multitude of perspectives. Representing over 32 countries across six continents, ambitious international projects, new commissions, and co-productions have been presented on the Harris stage, the rooftop, the iconic Pritzker Pavilion, and the HT Virtual Stage. Harris Theater Presents has featured emerging voices and world-renowned artists including Laurie Anderson, Bangarra Dance Theatre, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Joshua Bell, Batsheva Dance Company, English National Ballet, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Angélique Kidjo, Paris Opera Ballet, and Silkroad Ensemble.

A commitment to excellence in all areas of production alongside the Theater’s adaptable architectural design has made the Harris a sought-after venue for important civic and cultural events. Organizations hosting their engagements at the Harris bring unique opportunities for dialogue between Chicagoans and the world’s leading thinkers, innovators, and artists.

Woven through each aspect of the Theater’s work are programs that nurture future generations of artists and audiences. The Harris breaks down barriers to experiencing the arts by building an inclusive environment and featuring accessible and captivating performances for all ages in the Mix at Six and Kids Meet the Music. Educational lectures, panels, and classes are held in tandem with the Theater’s presenting season to deepen audiences’ connection to the artists on stage and use the arts as a tool for lifelong learning. By cultivating partnerships with local organizations across the healthcare, human services, and education sectors to provide their participants with subsidized performance tickets and accessible enrichment activities, the Harris ensures that the arts reach as many individuals and families as possible.

About Opera Atelier

Established in 1985, Opera Atelier is Canada’s premier period opera/ballet company, specializing in producing opera, ballet, and drama from the 17th and 18th centuries. Their productions feature soloists of international acclaim, period ballet, original instruments, elaborate stage decor, intricate costumes, and an imaginative energy that sets Opera Atelier apart. Founding Co-Artistic Directors Marshall Pynkoski C.M. and Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg C.M. were both awarded the Order of Canada for their contributions to opera and ballet and were recently both named Officers of the Order of Arts and Letters (Officiers dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) from the French Republic.

Opera Atelier has been acclaimed throughout Canada and regularly tours to the Royal Opera House in Versailles. The company also performed at the Glimmerglass Festival in New York, Salzburg Festival, the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, and La Scala in Milan. Opera Atelier has collaborated with some of early music’s most distinguished artists, including Andrew Parrott, Trevor Pinnock, Hervé Niquet, Marc Minkowski, and many others.

Through historically informed performance practice, Opera Atelier allows audiences to experience the continuum of musical form — hearing and seeing great works in the ways these works might have first resonated. In inspired programming, Opera Atelier creates art that speaks to the here and now and finds fresh relevance for society in evergreen creations. Through impassioned outreach and audience development, Opera Atelier aims to secure a future by ensuring opera has a place in the hearts and lives of the upcoming generation.

Harris Theater for Music and Dance Sponsorship

Irving Harris Foundtion, Joan W. Harris

Merrillyn J. Kosier and James F. Kinoshita

If you require access support to fully participate or have any questions about accessibility, please contact us at info@haymarketopera.org. To ensure the best experience, please try to contact us at your earliest convenience.