Bellissima’s Summer Opera 2025

Midsummer Dream Fairies & Fables
Thursday, July 17 & Friday, July 18 7:30-9:30pm

Join our cast of 34 Fairies and Elves, Queens and Sorcerers 
for the Chicago premiere of Pauline Viardot Garcia’s 
Le dernier sorcier (The Last Sorcerer) 
and Other Magical Works

Co-produced by Working In Concert and Chamber Opera Chicago

Carl Ratner & Christine Steyer, directors
Paul Geiger & Claudia Hommel, narrators
Nina Brewer-Davis, choreographer
Paul Lindblad, conductor
Peter Stigdon, pianist

  • Performances at the 19th Century Club, 178 Forest Ave, Oak Park
  • Low-cost parking lot next to venue
  • Venue is mobility accessible
  • Appropriate for ages 7+
  • In English and French with English supertitles
  • Last year’s summer production was sold out
  • Advanced ticket purchase is advised
  • Tickets: $10-$60

The evening features the The Last Sorcerer by rediscovered Romantic French composer Pauline Viardot Garcia (libretto by Ivan Turgenev) which tells of a once-powerful sorcerer bested by clever forest fairies and elves. When his daughter falls for a visiting suitor, he resists—until the suitor’s true identity is revealed. The music is ethereal, moving, comic, and always melodic. Highlights from Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and other magical works will complete the evening.