Lyric Theatre – Inaugural Performance

Tonight was the Inaugural Recital to benefit the new Lyric Theatre, featuring tenor Matthew Swensen. It was a reasonably good showing for a Friday evening – there were at least 200 people in the audience. Many seemed to be opera lovers, but some seemed just to be curious about this new theater. My pew-mate remarked that most were also members of the regular gray-haired crowd. Hopefully, that will change as the Lyric Theatre grows into a year-round space for a variety of performers.

Sue Cotroneo, Managing Director of the Rochester Lyric Opera, welcomed everyone and shared her excitement at the new home for the RLO. The acoustics were great, as you'd expect in a church of this caliber, so Sue didn't need a microphone for her introductory remarks. The only downside of the acoustics were that I could hear the couple two pews away whispering. The theater's rake isn't optimal for staged performances (it was probably fine for listening to a sermon), but the sightlines can easily be improved by raising the stage and/or staggering the new seats.

It was really pleasant to watch the diminishing light of the evening through the ten stained glass windows while enjoying Matthew's music (he seemed much more mature than his 22 years). Tonight's performance was a great demonstration of the newest addition to Rochester's performing arts community.