‘Ernani’ opens Lyric Opera season with strong singing and playing, awkward staging

Quinn Kelsey is a standout as Carlo, one of three suitors wooing Elvira (Tamara Wilson) in “Ernani.” (Cory Weaver)

After the September 2019 announcement of Enrique Mazzola as Lyric Opera of Chicago’s new music director, the Italian conductor jumped right into one of his first major initiatives, a plan to lead five of Giuseppe Verdi’s early operas — one a season.

Although not exactly a groundbreaking idea, the Early Verdi Series, as it is simply titled, gives Chicago audiences a chance to hear some of the less frequently performed operas by one of the field’s greatest creators, and it shows off a part of the repertory for which Mazzola is highly regarded.