Lucas Meachem Steps In To Make Debut At Teatro Alla Scala In THAÏS, February 10 - March 2

It was just announced that American baritone Lucas Meachem will step in to perform Athanaël in a new Olivier Py production of Jules Massenet's Thaïs at Teatro alla Scala, marking his house debut.

Only the second presentation of the opera in Teatro alla Scala's history, and the first in 80 years, Thaïs continues conductor Lorenzo Viotti's exploration of French music on February 10, 16, 19, 22, 25, and March 2, 2022. Meachem stars alongside Marina Rebeka as Thaïs, Giovanni Sala as Nicias, Caterina Sala as Nicias, Anna-Doris Capitelli as Myrtale, Valentina Pluzhnikova as Albine, Federica Guida as Charmeuse, Insung Sim as Palémon, and Jorge Martínez as the Servant. Meachem's appointment follows the unfortunate resignation of Ludovic Tézier, who recently recovered from COVID-19, and was unable to participate in the production.

Meachem's season also includes performances at the Los Angeles Opera (Wolfram in Tannhäuser), Bayerische Staatsoper (Escamillo in Carmen), Teatro Real Madrid and Metropolitan Opera (Marcello in La Bohème), The Dallas Opera (Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia) and Royal Opera House (Sharpless in Madama Butterfly).

Grammy Award-winning baritone Lucas Meachem is one of the most accomplished, in-demand singers of the moment, captivating audiences around the world with his "earnest appealing baritone" (The New York Times) and "commanding presence" (San Francisco Chronicle). "A rock star of opera" (Opera Pulse), Meachem's post-COVID season begins with returns to San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Dallas Opera, Festival Napa Valley, and Santa Fe Opera as the title role in Eugene Onegin.

After a year of theatres gone dark, Meachem returned to the stage this past spring where he sang his "signature role for good reason," (Opera News) as Figaro in San Francisco Opera's Il Barbiere di Siviglia for an innovative "drive-in" experience. Meachem then filmed a movie-version of Pagliacci as the romantic lead Silvio with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, set within their own opera house. Meachem's summer includes Eugene Onegin at Santa Fe Opera and Gianni Schicchi at Festival Napa Valley with Kent Nagano.

Named the winner of San Francisco Opera's inaugural "Emerging Star of the Year" Award in 2016, notable performances in Meachem's American career include marking his 50th role debut as Athanaël in Thaïs (Minnesota Opera), Chorèbe in Les Troyens, Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Valentin in Faust at Chicago Lyric Opera; Eugene Onegin, Don Giovanni, and Il barbiere di Siviglia, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, and Fritz/Frank in Korngold's Die Tote Stadt at San Francisco Opera; General Rayevsky in Prokofiev's War & Peace, Robert in Iolanta, Marcello in La bohéme, Silvio in Pagliacci, and Mercutio in Roméo and Juliette at the Metropolitan Opera; Don Giovanni with Chicago Lyric Opera, Santa Fe Opera, New Orleans Opera, and Opera Cincinnati Opera; Zurga in Les pêcheurs de perles at the Florida Grand Opera; Germont in La traviata at Washington National Opera; Il barbiere di Siviglia at San Diego Opera, Opera Colorado, Houston Grand Opera, and Los Angeles Opera where he also gave his Grammy Award-winning performance of Figaro in The Ghosts of Versailles.

A regular performer across Europe, Meachem has performed the title role in Il barbiere di Siviglia with the Vienna Staatsoper, Royal Opera House, Den Norske Opera; the title role in Don Giovanni at Glyndebourne Festival and Semperoper Dresden; the title role in Britten's Billy Budd at Opéra national de Paris; as Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro at Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and Royal Opera House; Wolfram von Eschenbach in Tannhäuser at the Saito Kinen Festival in Japan under the baton of Seiji Ozawa; the title role in Eugene Onegin with Komische Oper Berlin and Opéra national de Montpellier; Zurga in Les pêcheurs de perles at Bilbao Opera; Escamillo in Carmen with Teatro Regio di Torino; with the Teatro Real de Madrid in the world premiere of El Viaje a Simorgh, Frank/Fritz in Die Tote Stadt, as well as Oreste in Iphigénie en Tauride; and a European tour with Anna Netrebko as Robert in Iolanta with 11 performances at Europe's most important musical centers and venues including Vienna, Munich, Paris, Berlin, and Amsterdam.

Last summer Meachem performed with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal under the baton of Kent Nagano as the opening concert for the Salzburg Festival of Penderecki's St. Luke Passion. Additionally, Meachem was part of the opening concert for the Grafenegg Music Festival of the Britten War Requiem and performed the Mahler Kindertotenlieder with Emmanuel Villaume and the Prague Philharmonia. Other notable concert performances in Europe include the Fauré Requiem with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino under Seiji Ozawa and Carmina Burana in Rome with the Accademia Nazionale de Santa Cecilia. Meachem made his Hollywood Bowl debut in 2014 as Silvio in Pagliacci with Gustavo Dudamel. He has sung with the New York Philharmonic in Bach's St. Matthew Passion under Kurt Masur; the San Francisco Symphony in concert performances of Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe; the American Symphony Orchestra in the United States premiere of Ferdinand Hiller's oratorio The Destruction of Jerusalem at Avery Fisher Hall.

In September 2021, Meachem released his debut solo album Shall We Gather (Rubicon Classics), a plea for a more tolerant world through 15 art songs that offer a vision of America's truly rich national character. Performed with his wife, pianist Irina Meachem, Shall We Gather was described as "a thought-provoking experience... all rendered in the multi-colored hues of Meachem's splendid baritone and the unfailingly astute pianism of Irina Meachem" (The Arts Fuse) and prompted The New Yorker to write, "There is much to enjoy in Lucas Meachem's first solo album, a plea for togetherness in a divided country. Meachem's voice - a substantial and propulsive lyric baritone with pillowy edges - records beautifully." All of the proceeds from the album go to the Meachems' Perfect Day Music Foundation, a non-profit promoting diversity in classical music. Listen to Shall We Gather.

Born in North Carolina, Lucas Meachem studied music at Appalachian State University, the Eastman School of Music, and Yale University before becoming an Adler Fellow with the San Francisco Opera. Learn more at www.lucasmeachem.com.

Jules Massenet's Thaïs
Teatro alla Scala | Via Filodrammatici, 2, 20121 | Milano, Italy
Tickets and Info: www.teatroallascala.org/en/season/2021-2022/opera/thais.html

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