Ravinia 2023 Issue 4

DARIO ACOSTA (BRUGGER); FAY FOX (POLENZANI) I ; I congratulate Tamino and Papageno on their resoluteness in the face of temptation. In a garden, Monostatos laments his recent punishment for the mere act of loving Pam- ina. As the Moor silently approaches the princess, the Queen of the Night unexpect- edly reappears to shield her daughter. The Queen tells how her husband bestowed a symbol—the sevenfold circle of the sun—on Sarastro and the Initiates. Unless Pamina can convince Tamino and Papageno to abandon their search for wisdom, they will be lost for- ever. The Queen entreats the princess to kill Sarastro with a dagger and to reclaim the sev- enfold circle of the sun; her blood boils with vengeance. Monostatos threatens to reveal the murderous plot to Sarastro. The Moor of- fers to save the Queen of the Night from the High Priest’s fury for a price: Pamina’s love. The princess, however, has given her love to Tamino and rejects Monostatos. Sarastro casts Monostatos away. For his part, the Moor has decided to pursue the mother since the daughter is unattainable. The High Priest declares that only forgiveness, and not vengeance, belongs in the sacred hall. Tamino and Papageno are ushered into a hall and are reminded of their vow of silence. Papageno yearns for something to drink. An Old Wom- an carrying a container of water arrives. She is “18 years and two minutes” old and has a boyfriend “about 10 years older”—Papageno! Thunder ends their conversation before Pa- pageno can discover the Old Woman’s name. The Three Spirits enter with the magic flute and glockenspiel, food and wine. Playing his bells, Papageno dreams of someday finding his Papagena. Tamino plays his flute; Pamina hears the music and rushes to her lover, who remains silent and motions her to leave. The distraught princess bursts into tears. Tamino resumes the journey. Trombones herald the arrival of the priests. In a vaulted hall, the priests sing praises to Isis and Osiris as the Initiates reach the end Papageno of their ordeal. Papageno laments his prince’s absence. Thunder and fire keep Papageno from following Tamino through the pyramid door. A Voice tells Papageno that the gods have released him. The simple-minded bird catcher longs for only two things: wine and a little wife. The Old Woman enters on cue and tells Papageno that she will caress and love him forever. Papageno accepts the Old Wom- an, who instantly transforms into a young woman dressed like the bird catcher. This is his Papagena, who must wait until her beau has completed his trial. The Three Spirits encounter the grieving Pamina in a garden. She appears mad and on the verge of suicide. They stop her desperate act and tell Pamina that Tamino loves her alone. She agrees to follow them. Two Armored Men guard the pyramid and warn all who approach that they must be purified by fire, water, air, and earth. Pamina rushes onto the scene. Tamino asks the Ar- mored Men if he can speak, and they approve. The lovers finally share a moment of joy be- fore passing through the door together. Tami- no’s magic flute protects them through fire and water on the path to the temple, where the priests welcome them with a triumphal chorus. Papageno, who has been unable to remain si- lent or resist temptation, laments the loss of Papagena due to his weakness. He contem- plates sacrificing his own life, but lacks the courage to follow through. The Three Spirits remind Papageno to play his magic glocken- spiel, and Papagena returns. Monostatos, the Queen of the Night, and her Ladies come to claim Pamina, who is to become the Moor’s wife, and to overthrow Sarastro. Their con- spiracy crumbles as Sarastro marshals in Tamino and Pamina in ceremonial robes, the Three Spirits bearing flowers, and a chorus of priests as light floods the temple. –Program notes © 2023 Todd E. Sullivan MARIN ALSOP, conductor For Marin Alsop’s biography, see page 43. Special thanks to Cory Lippiello and Kevin Murphy for advising the casting of these performances. JANAI BRUGGER A native of Chicago, soprano Janai Brugger completed a master’s degree at the Universi- ty of Michigan, where she studied with the late Shirley Verrett, and a bachelor’s degree at DePaul University, subsequently joining the Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera and becoming a Domingo-Thornton Young Artist at Los Angeles Opera for two seasons. In 2012, she not only won the Met- ropolitan Opera National Council Auditions but also took all three top prizes in the Op- eralia competition: Opera Prize, Song Prize, and Audience Prize. Since debuting at the Met as Liù in Puccini’s Turandot , Brugger has appeared with the company as Jemmy in Ros- sini’s Guillaume Tell , Micaëla in Bizet’s Car- men , Helena in the pastiche The Enchanted Island , Pamina in Mozart’s The Magic Flute , and Glauce in Cherubini’s Médée (a role de- but), as well as Clara in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess for several recent productions. She previ- ously essayed the role at Dutch National Op- era, where she has also sung Servilia in Mo- zart’s La clemenza di Tito and Haydn’s Missa in tempore Belli . In recent seasons, Brugger has reprised Pamina for her Royal Opera at Covent Garden debut and Palm Beach Op- era’s first Outdoor Opera Festival; Servilia at Los Angeles Opera; Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni at Tanglewood; Liù at Opera Colo- rado and Lyric Opera of Chicago, where she also appeared at Ilia in Mozart’s Idomeneo ; and Susanna in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro at LA Opera and Cincinnati Opera, where she also sang Micaëla. She made her role debut as the title character of Floyd’s Susannah with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in June, and next spring she will reprise Glauce with Ca- nadian Opera Company. In concert, Brugger recently sang Haydn’s Creation at the Grant Park Music Festival and made her Vienna de- but at the Musikverein singing Brahms’s Re- quiem with the City of Birmingham Sympho- ny Orchestra, which she rejoined for Mahler’s Second Symphony in the UK. Janai Brugger was a fellow at Ravinia Steans Music Institute in 2011 and appeared at Ravinia twice in 2012, for the US premiere of Weill’s Zaubernacht and in The Magic Flute . Last summer she re- turned to sing Zerlina and Servilia as well as Bernstein’s Kaddish Symphony, which will be broadcast on PBS’s Great Performances later this month. MATTHEW POLENZANI An Illinois native, tenor Matthew Polenza- ni studied at Eastern Illinois University and the Yale School of Music before becoming a member of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s ap- prentice program for two seasons. In 1997, he auditioned for the Metropolitan Opera, and before the year’s end made his debut in Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov . Polenzani has appeared on the Met stage every season since, and has been honored with its Beverly Sills Artist Award (2008) and Richard Tuck- er Award (2004). This season he starred as Giasone in Cherubini’s Médée following his role debut earlier that year as Verdi’s titu- lar Don Carlos, which he reprised in Italian ( Don Carlo ) at Teatro di San Carlo last fall. This summer includes Polenzani’s role debuts as Jean in Massenet’s Hérodiade at Deutsche Oper Berlin and as Orombello in Bellini’s Be- atrice di Tenda at Teatro di San Carlo, add- ing to recent seasons’ debuts as Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca at the Savonlinna Opera Festival and Don José in Bizet’s Carmen with San Francisco Opera. Polenzani’s more than 300 credits on the Met stage include several Mozart roles—Tamino in The Magic Flute , Ferrando in Così fan tutte , Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni , and the title roles of Idomeneo and La clemenza di Tito —Nadir in Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers ; Offenbach’s titular Hoffmann; Vaudémont in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta ; Ro- dolfo in Puccini’s La bohème ; the Verdi roles of Macduff in Macbeth , Alfredo in La tra- viata , and the Duke in Rigoletto ; and Doni- zetti’s titular Roberto Devereux, Nemorino in The Elixir of Love , and Roberto in Maria Stuarda . He is also a veteran of Lyric Opera of Chicago—where he gave his first essay of Massenet’s Werther in 2012—Seattle Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Paris National Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, London’s Royal Op- era, and the Vienna, Bavarian and Hungarian State Operas, as well as Milan’s La Scala and all three stages at Carnegie Hall, among many others. Following his Ravinia debut in 1995, Matthew Polenzani has led master classes for the Ravinia Steans Music Institute Program for Singers in 2016, 2019, and 2022. These per- formances mark his seventh summer at the festival. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIA MAGAZINE 27