World News – CA – Lyrical opera veteran and CSO soprano Erin Wall dies at 44

Soprano Erin Wall, 44, died Thursday Wall was a member of the Lyric Opera at the Ryan Opera Center in Chicago and went on to perform in lead roles
Courtesy of Kristin Hoebermann

Soprano Erin Wall was a member of Lyric Opera at the Ryan Opera Center in Chicago She would go on to star in lead roles such as Fiordiligi in a 2007 lyrical cover of Mozart’s « Cosi fan tutti »
Courtesy of Dan Rest / Lyric Opera of Chicago

Soprano Erin Wall portrayed Freia, right, opposite Russian mezzo-soprano Larissa Diadkova as Fricka in a Chicago lyric opera in 2004, cover of « Das Rheingold » by Wagner « Wall, 44, died thursday after a long illness
Courtesy of Dan Rest / Lyric Opera of Chicago

Erin Wall, one of the world’s greatest opera sopranos, died Thursday of metastatic breast cancer She was 44

Wall was born in Calgary, Canada to American parents, and she retained dual citizenship throughout her life Her singing career was revived in 2001 when she was chosen to be a member of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center, a professional artist development program

Wall also made his Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut that year, singing selections by Mozart and Lehár for a New Year’s Eve concert

Wall had an ongoing « understudy for the star » moment in 2004 for a new lyrical staging of Mozart’s « Don Giovanni » She stepped in at the last minute as Donna Anna for a Karita Mattila indisposed for the opening night of the gala marking the start of Lyric’s 50th anniversary season

Wall would continue to perform with the world’s largest opera companies and symphony orchestras in North America, Europe, and Asia. Yet Wall also maintained close ties to Chicago throughout his career. p>

Wall’s two appearances with the Chicago Symphony at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park both performed Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony – first in 2005 with conductor Christoph Eschenbach, then in 2009 with conductor James Conlon

Wall performed 13 roles at Lyric, including Pamina in « The Magic Flute » by Mozart, Helena in « A Midsummer Night’s Dream » by Britten and Antonia in « The Tales of Hoffmann » by Offenbach « 

In early 2018, Wall was set to reprise the role of Marguerite in a new lyric production of Gounod’s ‘Faust’ But Wall had to drop out to undergo chemotherapy treatments when she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer at the age of 42

Wall was open about her battle with cancer, writing extensively about her experiences in a February 2019 blog post when she appeared on « Elektra » for the Canadian Opera Company Wall openly shared photos of her with and without wigs, and she even posted a pic after finishing the 2018 NYC Marathon

Two of Wall’s last performances in Chicago were at the end of 2018 In October and November, Wall played Princess Elettra in a lyrical cover of Mozart’s « Idomeneo » « Wall then performed the » Four Last Songs « – a farewell to the life of composer Richard Strauss – with the Chicago Symphony in December

« At the Lyric Opera in Chicago we are all heartbroken at the news of Erin Wall’s death, » Lyric General Manager Anthony Freud said in a statement « We have all been inspired by her art, her spirit and her commitment to the art form and her colleagues She will be sorely missed »

Erin Wall, Canada, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Canadian Opera Company