118 / 124
JAMES CONLON,
conductor
James Conlon’s biography appears on page .
NADINE SIERRA,
soprano
Nadine Sierra’s biography appears on page
.
In the Act One duet “Lucia, perdona,” Edgar-
do approaches Lucia in a park at twilight to
inform her of his plans to set sail for France
in the morning on a secret mission for Scot-
land.
ough Edgardo has sworn to wage war
against Lucia’s family, he is in love and will seek
her hand in marriage before departing. In Act
ree, following Arturo’s murder, Lucia sings
the famous Mad Scene (“Il dolce suono”) as her
psyche shi s wildly between elations, terror,
and false visions of Edgardo. Donizetti original-
ly employed a glass harmonica in this scene to
depict her mental instability, but later substitut-
ed a solo ute. Not long a er, Edgardo su ers
anguish at the thought of living without Lucia,
and longs for his own death in a duel with Lord
Enrico Ashton, Lucia’s brother (“Tombe degli
avi miei”).
–Program notes ©
Todd E. Sullivan
MATTHEW POLENZANI,
tenor
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
, he was per-
sonally invited to audition for the Metropolitan
Opera—before the year’s end, he had a contract
with America’s premier company and made his
debut in Mussorgsky’s
Boris Godunov
. Polenza-
ni has appeared on the Met stage every season
since, as well as with the company on two inter-
national tours, and in
he was honored with
its Beverly Sills Artist Award. Also the recipient
of the
Richard Tucker Award, he appeared
in the title role of Donizetti’s
Roberto Devereux
and as Roberto in the same composer’s
Maria
Stuarda
for the Met’s rst productions of each,
with recent highlights also including portray-
ing Nemorino in Donizetti’s
e Elixir of Love
,
Nadir in Bizet’s
e Pearl Fishers
, the title role
of O enbach’s
e Tales of Ho mann
, Alfredo
and the Duke respectively in Verdi’s
La traviata
and
Rigoletto
, and Ferrando and Don Ottavio
respectively in Mozart’s
Così fan tutte
and
Don
Giovanni
, as well as the title role of the com-
poser’s
Idomeneo
. Following his rst essay of
Massenet’s titular Werther at the Lyric Opera in
, Polenzani reprised the role at the Vienna
and Bavarian State Operas in
, and in
he made his debut at Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del
Liceu as Rodolfo in Puccini’s
La bohème
. He re-
cently returned to the Lyric Opera as the Duke
in
Rigoletto
and Nadir in
e Pearl Fishers
, and
he will appear with the company in the title role
of
Idomeneo
this fall. He is also a veteran of San
Francisco Opera, Seattle Opera, Los Angeles
Opera, Paris National Opera, Munich Opera
Festival, Deutsche Oper Berlin, and London’s
Royal Opera, as well as Milan’s La Scala and
all three stages at Carnegie Hall, among many
others. Matthew Polenzani made his Ravinia
debut in
, and in
he led a master class
for Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute Program for
Singers. Tonight marks his
h appearance at
the festival.
Salvadore Cammarano
RAVINIA MAGAZINE | AUGUST 6 – AUGUST 12, 2018
116