New Orleans Opera General And Artistic Director Emeritus Robert Lyall Dies at 76

The New Orleans Opera Association has sadly announced the passing of its General and Artistic Director Emeritus Robert Lyall. Maestro Lyall fought his battle of cancer from his diagnosis in April 2023 until his death on Friday, January 5, 2024. In addition to being widely known as a conductor of opera, symphony, and ballet, Maestro Lyall also served as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the New Orleans Opera Association for 25 years with his tenure ending in 2021.

"In Maestro Lyall, the city of New Orleans has lost a cultural icon," says NOOA Board Chair Emmet Geary. "He was invariably kind and thoughtful, and he truly cared about the staff, production crew, singers, and everyone who contributed to New Orleans Opera's artistic vision. Robert has left a tremendous legacy that has enriched the cultural life of the city and will be remembered for generations to come."

ARTISTIC VISION

Maestro Lyall was an operatic visionary who frequently explored beyond the traditional canon to bring new artistic experiences to New Orleans. Throughout his 25-year tenure, Maestro Lyall produced a world premiere, Broadway favorites, beloved operas, and new works reflecting life in the 21st century. Beginning in 2003, New Orleans Opera presented the world premiere of composer Thea Musgrave's Pontalba, a New Orleans Opera commission that celebrated the two hundredth anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase. Building on the production of Die Walküre was produced in 2001, Maestro

In 2004, Maestro Lyall ventured into unchartered territory to produce all four operas of Richard Wagner's ring cycle, Der Ring des Niebelungen, in New Orleans. Die Walküre was produced in 2001, Das Rheingold in 2004, and Siegfried in 2005. Götterdämmerung was set to close the ring cycle but was cancelled due to the devastating Hurricane Katrina.

Eager to reinstate New Orleans Opera, Maestro Lyall immediately got to work to support the city's effort to restore its treasured arts and culture landscape in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath. During 2007, he gained special recognition following the devastating impact of the hurricane on New Orleans. World renowned Spanish tenor, conductor, and arts administrator Placido Domingo accepted his invitation to join the Night for New Orleans Gala in March 2006 to re-launch the city's arts seasons. Opera celebrities Denyce Graves, Frederica von Stade, Richard Leech, Paul Groves, Elizabeth Futral, and others joined Domingo in this grand affair held in the New Orleans Arena. The Night for New Orleans Gala became the single largest operatic event in the history of New Orleans, the city that boasts the longest operatic heritage on the North American continent (since 1796). As a result of this success, Lyall was recognized with a Creative Achievement Award by the City of New Orleans, and the New Orleans Opera received a Special Achievement Award at the 2007 Opera America national conference.

Maestro valued the vocal versatility and resilience of singers in New Orleans and incorporated them into the opera's next three seasons. Beginning in March 2006, New Orleans Opera returned to the stage at Tulane University's McAllister Auditorium. In 2008, Maestro Lyall programmed the uplifting production of Broadway favorite, West Side Story. In January 2010, New Orleans Opera presented Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem Mass - one of classical music's most famous bodies of work. Continuing with works highlighting vocal mastery, he led the choral masterpiece Carmina Burana by Carl Orff. The highlight of the 2013-2014 season was the production of Heinrich Marschner's grand romantic opera Der Vampyr.

Maestro Lyall valued the artistry and exploration surrounding new works in the opera sphere. In March 2016, he brought Jake Heggie and Terrence McNealy's arresting Dead Man Walking. In March 2017, he also brought to the New Orleans Opera stage another Broadway favorite, Sweeney Todd. Maestro Lyall further embraced his ambition by excellently producing both beloved and 21st century-works. He produced Terrance Blanchard's Champion, Jean-Philippe Rameau's one-act opera-ballet Pygmalion, Benjamin Britten's one-act opera Noyes Fludde, and Jacques Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld, which had not been performed in New Orleans in over 100 years. Just before the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, he produced Tchaikovsky's Maid of Orleans - an opera that had rarely been done in the United States.

ROBERT LYALL'S BIOGRAPHY

Maestro Robert Lyall is widely known as a conductor of opera, symphony, and ballet and served as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of New Orleans Opera for 25 years, Opera Grand Rapids for 27 years, Knoxville Opera, and Mississippi Opera in addition to serving as Music Director of the Victoria Symphony Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Istanbul State Opera in Turkey from 1998-2000.

Maestro Lyall made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1998 with the New England Symphony. Guest engagements have included work at Seattle Opera, Cleveland Opera, The Chautauqua Festival, Opera Carolina, Hawaii Opera, and Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Symphonic engagements include the Las Palmas Symphony, Guadalajara Symphony, Guanajuato Symphony, The New World Symphony, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Prince George Philharmonic, the Asheville Symphony, Corpus Christi Symphony, Knoxville Symphony. Lyall has led ballet productions for the Dallas Ballet, Fort Worth Ballet, San Antonio Ballet, Corpus Christi Ballet, and Chattanooga Ballet.

International guest appearances include performances with Italy's Arena of Verona, the Bulgarian State Opera's tour of the Netherlands; and his Russian debut at the Rostov State Musical Theatre with Puccini's Madama Butterfly, which was nominated for Russia's leading arts award, "The Golden Mask," for which he also conducted performances in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Lyall returned to the Rostov State Musical Theatre in 2006 to conduct Madama Butterfly for their 75th Anniversary Festival and transcribed the English-language score of Pasatieri's opera The Seagull into the original Russian of Chekov's celebrated play for the opera's Russian premiere.

Significant performance highlights include a production of Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio at Istanbul's Topkopei Palace in honor of the 700th Anniversary of the founding of the Ottoman Empire; the world premiere of Thea Musgrave's opera Pontalba, commissioned for the 2003 bicentennial celebration of the Louisiana Purchase; a production of the American classic, Susannah, by Carlisle Floyd, broadcast on Public Television; and Arts Awards for productions of Previn's Die Walküre, Wagner's Die Walküre, Puccini's Turandot, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann, and Wagner's Siegfried.

Among his many awards and distinctions, Maestro Robert Lyall was Knighted by the French government in 2016 as a "Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres."

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