Ravinia 2024 Issue 4

Act One. The captive Trojan princess Ilia, daughter of King Priam, laments her imprison- ment at the Cretan royal palace as well as her ill-advised love for Idamante, son of Idomeneo. Caught in a terrible storm at sea, Idomeneo ne- gotiates the safety of his troops with Neptune: if the god will calm the ocean, Idomeneo will sacrifice the first person he sees upon reaching dry land. Idamante joyfully rushes to greet the returning ships. Years have passed since Ido- meneo has seen his son. Horrified to realize that he has sealed Idamante’s fate, the king sends his son away. Act Two. In private, Idomeneo tells his advisor Arbace of the bargain with Neptune. The two devise a plan: Idamante will accompany princess Elettra (who is secretly in love with the Cretan prince) to her home country of Argos, never to return. A fearsome sea monster terrorizes the Cretans as retribution for Idomeneo’s attempted deceit of Neptune. The falsehearted king invites the god’s revenge on himself. The Cretan people flee in terror. Act Three. Ilia weeps bitter tears for Idamante and bids the winds carry a message of love to him. If the two cannot be together, Idamante will give his life in battle with the sea monster. Idomeneo and Elettra join Ilia and Idamante in an exquisite, emotionally complex quartet. The High Priest demands that Idomeneo confess his transgression and name the person whose sacrifice will appease Neptune. Idomeneo, fi- nally deciding to satisfy the god, processes with the priests to the temple. After killing the sea monster, Idamante prepares for his own death. However, before Idomeneo can strike the lethal blow, Ilia offers herself to appease the god. The resounding voice of Neptune absolves Idome- neo, but only if he relinquishes the throne to Idamante. –Program notes © 2024 Todd E. Sullivan Anton Raaff as Idomeneo in Munich (1781) JAMES CONLON Since his New York Philharmonic debut in 1974, James Conlon has conducted virtually every major North American and European orchestra. A highly versatile conductor, Conlon has been engaged as music director of Los Angeles Op- era since 2006—set to conclude his landmark work with the company in 2026, after more than 500 performances of over 60 works—and he was recently artistic advisor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (2021–23) and principal conductor of Italy’s RAI National Symphony Orchestra (2016–20), the first American to hold the position. For 11 years (2005–15) Conlon was Ravinia’s music director, a milestone of his now 35-season, 180-concert relationship with the festival that began in 1977. During his tenure, he led complete cycles of Mahler’s symphonies and Mozart’s piano concertos, several concert and semi-staged operas, and gala performances featuring Van Cliburn, Plácido Domingo, Pat- ti LuPone, and Jessye Norman, among many others. Conlon is Music Director Laureate of the Cincinnati May Festival—in recognition of his 37 years (1979–2016) as its leader, one of the longest tenures at any American classical music institution—and he has also been principal con- ductor of the Paris Opera (1995–2004); general music director of the City of Cologne, Germany (1989–2002), leading both the Gürzenich Or- chestra and Cologne Opera; and music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic (1983–91). His extensive opera credits include over 270 perfor- mances at the Metropolitan Opera since his 1976 debut, as well as conducting at Teatro alla Scala, Vienna State Opera, Maggio Musicale Fiorenti- no, Covent Garden, the Mariinsky Theater, and Lyric Opera of Chicago. Conlon has received the Roger E. Joseph Prize from the Hebrew Union College/Jewish Institute of Religion (2013), the Anti-Defamation League’s Crystal Globe Award (2007), and the Zeminsky Prize (1999) for his worldwide efforts to program and highlight composers who were silenced by the Nazi re- gime. His honors also include four Grammy Awards, the Medal of the American Liszt Soci- ety, the Sachs Fund Prize for his cultural contri- butions to Cincinnati, and the inaugural Opera News Award, as well as being named to Italy’s Order of Merit and France’s Order of Arts and Letters and Legion of Honor. MATTHEW POLENZANI An Illinois native, tenor Matthew Polenzani studied at Eastern Illinois University and the Yale School of Music before becoming a mem- ber of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s apprentice 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 Tucker Award (2004). This season he returned to the company in two Puccini roles: Rodolfo in La bohème and Pinkerton in Mad- ama Butterfly . Polenzani’s more than 300 cred- its on its 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 —his first Vaudémont in Tchaikovsky’s Io- lanta ; Giasone in Cherubini’s Médée ; Nadir in Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers ; the title role of Offen- bach’s The Tales of Hoffmann ; the Verdi roles of Macduff in Macbeth , Alfredo in La traviata , the Duke in Rigoletto , and the titular Don Car- los; and Donizetti’s Nemorino in The Elixir of Love , Roberto in Maria Stuarda , and the titular Roberto Devereux, the latter two in the Met’s first productions of each opera. This season, Po- lenzani made role debuts as Orombello in Belli- ni’s Beatrice di Tenda at Teatro di San Carlo and as Florestan in Beethoven’s Fidelio at Staatsoper Hamburg, and recently as Cavaradossi in Pucci- ni’s Tosca at the Savonlinna Opera Festival and Don José in Bizet’s Carmen with San Francisco Opera. He is a veteran of Lyric Opera of Chi- cago—where he gave his first essay of Massen- et’s titular Werther in 2012—Seattle Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Paris National Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, London’s Royal Opera, Canadian Opera Company, and the Vienna, Bavarian and Hungarian State Operas, as well as Milan’s La Scala, Madrid’s Teatro Real, and all three stages at Carnegie Hall, among many others. Follow- ing his Ravinia debut in 1995, Matthew Polenza- ni has led master classes for the Ravinia Steans Music Institute Program for Singers in 2016, 2019, and 2022. These performances mark his eighth summer at the festival, and he returns to the Martin Theatre stage on August 20. RAVINIA.ORG  • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 69 BONNIEPERKINSON(CONLON);FAYFOX(POLENZANI)