The Magic Flute - Metropolitan Opera

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
The
Magic Flute
CONDUCTOR
Jane Glover
PRODUCTION
Julie Taymor
Libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder
Monday, December 30, 2013, 11:00–12:40
SET DESIGNER
George Tsypin
COSTUME DESIGNER
Julie Taymor
LIGHTING DESIGNER
Donald Holder
PUPPET DESIGNERS
Julie Taymor
Michael Curry
CHOREOGRAPHER
Mark Dendy
STAGE DIRECTOR
David Kneuss
ENGLISH ADAPTATION
J. D. McClatchy
GENERAL MANAGER
Peter Gelb
MUSIC DIRECTOR
James Levine
PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR
Fabio Luisi
This abridged production of
The Magic Flute was made possible by
a gift from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation,
and Bill Rollnick and Nancy Ellison Rollnick.
The original production of Die Zauberflöte
was made possible by a gift from
Mr. and Mrs. Henry R. Kravis.
Additional funding was received from John Van Meter,
The Annenberg Foundation, Karen and Kevin Kennedy,
Bill Rollnick and Nancy Ellison Rollnick, Mr. and Mrs.
William R. Miller, Agnes Varis and Karl Leichtman,
and Mr. and Mrs. Ezra K. Zilkha.
Maestro Glover’s performances with the
Metropolitan Opera this season are dedicated
to the memory of Dr. Agnes Varis, who
championed women conductors.

2013–14 Season
The 414th Metropolitan Opera performance of
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s
The Magic Flute
Conductor
Jane Glover
in order of vocal appearance
Tamino
Alek Shrader
First Lady
Wendy Bryn Harmer*
Second Lady
Renée Tatum*
Third Lady
Margaret Lattimore*
Papageno
Nathan Gunn*
Queen of the Night
Kathryn Lewek
First Slave
Stephen Paynter
Second Slave
Kurt Phinney
Third Slave
Craig Montgomery
Monostatos
John Easterlin
Pamina
Heidi Stober
First Spirit
Connor Tsui
Second Spirit
Seth Ewing-Crystal
Third Spirit
Andre Gulick
Speaker
Shenyang*
Sarastro
Eric Owens
First Priest
Paul Corona
Second Priest
Scott Scully
Papagena
Ashley Emerson*
First Guard
Anthony Kalil**
Second Guard
Jordan Bisch*
solo dancer
Rachel Schuette
flute solo
Denis Bouriakov
Monday, December 30, 2013, 11:00–12:40

KEN HOWARD/METROPOLITAN OPERA
Nathan Gunn
as Papageno in
Mozart’s The
Magic Flute
* Graduate of the
Lindemann Young Artist
Development Program
** Member of the
Lindemann Young Artist
Development Program
Yamaha. Celebrating 25 Years
as the Official Piano
of the Metropolitan Opera.
Latecomers will not be
admitted during the
performance.
Visit metopera.org
Chorus Master Donald Palumbo
Musical Preparation Gregory Buchalter, Bradley Moore,
Liora Maurer, and Steven White
Assistant Stage Director J. Knighten Smit
Prompter Gregory Buchalter
Met Titles Michael Panayos
Children’s Chorus Director Anthony Piccolo
English Coach Erie Mills
Projection Designer Caterina Bertolotto
Makeup Designer Reiko Kruk
Associate Set Designer Iosef Yusupov
Associate Costume Designer Mary Peterson
Puppets constructed by Michael Curry Design, Inc.
and Metropolitan Opera Shops
Scenery, properties, and electrical props constructed
and painted in Metropolitan Opera Shops
Costumes executed by Metropolitan Opera
Costume Department
Wigs and Makeup executed by Metropolitan Opera Wig
and Makeup Department
This performance is made possible in part by public funds
from the New York State Council on the Arts.
Before the performance begins, please switch off cell phones
and other electronic devices.
This production uses lightning effects.
Met Titles
To activate, press the red button to the right of the screen in front of
your seat and follow the instructions provided. To turn off the display,
press the red button once again. If you have questions please ask an
usher at intermission.

LEE BROOMFIELD / METROPOLITAN OPERA
2013–14 season
Mariusz Kwiecien and Anna Netrebko
in Eugene Onegin
The Metropolitan Opera is pleased
to salute Yamaha in recognition
of its generous support
during the 2013–14 season.
Celebrating 25 years as the
official piano of the Metropolitan Opera

An Illustrated Synopsis for
The Magic Flute
1
Performed without intermission
A mythical land between the sun and the moon. Three ladies in the service
of the Queen of the Night save Prince Tamino from a serpent. When they
leave to tell the queen, the birdcatcher Papageno appears (1). He boasts
to Tamino that it was he who killed the creature. The ladies return to give
Tamino a portrait of the queen’s daughter, Pamina, who they say has been
enslaved by the evil Sarastro. Tamino immediately falls in love with the
(above) The birdcatcher Papageno explains that he is given food and drink by
the Queen of the Night in return for his birds.
Visit metopera.org
39

2
The Queen of the Night appears,
grieving over the loss of her
daughter.
3
(above) As Pamina sleeps,
Monostatos is startled by the
unexpected arrival of Papageno.
girl’s picture. The queen, appearing
in a burst of thunder (2), tells
Tamino about the loss of her
daughter and commands him to
rescue her. The ladies give a magic
flute to Tamino and silver bells to
Papageno to ensure their safety
on the journey and appoint three
spirits to guide them.
Sarastro’s slave Monostatos
pursues Pamina but is frightened
away by Papageno (3). The
birdcatcher tells Pamina that
Tamino loves her and is on his way
to save her. Led by the three spirits
to the temple of Sarastro, Tamino
learns from a high priest that it is
the Queen, not Sarastro, who is
evil. Hearing that Pamina is safe,
Tamino charms the wild animals
with his flute (4), then rushes off
to follow the sound of Papageno’s
pipes. Monostatos and his men
(below) Tamino hopes the charmed
animals will lead him to Pamina.
4
40

5
chase Papageno and Pamina but
are left helpless when Papageno
plays his magic bells (5). Sarastro
enters in great ceremony (6). He
punishes Monostatos and promises
Pamina that he will eventually set
her free. Pamina catches a glimpse
of Tamino, who is led into the
temple with Papageno.
(above) The magic bells save
Pamina and Papageno from
Monostatos’s men.
(below) Sarastro arrives at
his temple of wisdom.
6
7
Pamina contemplates the dagger her
mother gave her when she ordered
her to murder Sarastro.
Sarastro tells the priests that
Tamino will undergo initiation
rites. Monostatos tries to kiss the
sleeping Pamina but is surprised
by the appearance of the Queen
of the Night. The Queen gives her
daughter a dagger and orders her
to murder Sarastro (7).
Visit metopera.org
41

8
Papageno promises not to eat,
but quickly fails the test.
The Three Spirits lead Tamino
to his next trial.
9
Sarastro finds the desperate Pamina
and consoles her, explaining that
he is not interested in vengeance.
Tamino and Papageno are told by a
priest that they must remain silent
and are not allowed to eat (8), a
vow that Papageno immediately
breaks when he takes a glass of
water from a flirtatious old lady.
When he asks her name, she
vanishes. The three spirits guide
Tamino through the rest of his
journey (9) and tell Papageno to
be quiet. Tamino remains silent
even when Pamina appears.
Misunderstanding his action for
coldness, she is heartbroken.
The priests inform Tamino that
he has only two more trials to
complete his initiation. Papageno,
who has given up on entering
the brotherhood, longs for a wife
instead. He eventually settles for
the old lady. When he promises
to be faithful she is suddenly
transformed into a beautiful young
42

10
Papagena, then immediately
disappears (10).
Pamina and Tamino are reunited
and face the ordeals of water and
fire together, protected by the
magic flute.
Papageno pleads for a cute and
cuddly wife but an old lady
arrives instead.
Sarastro, Pamina, and Tamino
celebrate when the Queen of the
Night and her allies are defeated.
Desperate to be without a wife,
Papageno tries to hang himself on
a tree but is saved by the three
spirits, who remind him that if he
uses his magic bells he will find true
happiness. When he plays the bells,
Papagena appears and the two
immediately start making family
plans. The Queen of the Night,
her three ladies, and Monostatos
attack the temple but are defeated
and banished. Sarastro blesses
Pamina and Tamino as all join in
hailing the triumph of courage,
virtue, and wisdom (11).
11
Photos: 2 & 8, Cory Weaver/Met Opera; 9, Beatriz Schiller/Met Opera; all others by Ken Howard/Met Opera
Visit metopera.org
43

In Focus
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
The Magic Flute
Premiere: Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden, Vienna, 1791
The Magic Flute is the Met’s abridged English-language version of Mozart’s
Die Zauberflöte, a sublime fairy tale that moves freely between earthy comedy
and noble mysticism. Mozart wrote the original opera, in German, for a theater
located just outside Vienna with the clear intention of appealing to audiences
from all walks of life. The story is told in a Singspiel (“song-play”) format
characterized by separate musical numbers connected by dialogue and busy
action, an excellent structure for navigating the diverse moods, which range
from solemn to lighthearted, of the story and score. The composer and the
librettist were both Freemasons—the fraternal order whose membership is held
together by shared moral and metaphysical ideals—and Masonic imagery is
used throughout the work. The story, however, is as universal as any fairy tale.
The Creators
The music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) continues to enthrall
audiences around the world, and his achievements in opera, in terms of
beauty, vocal challenges, and dramatic insight, remain unsurpassed. He died
prematurely, three months after the premiere of Die Zauberflöte. It was his last
produced work for the stage. (The court opera La Clemenza di Tito had its
premiere three weeks before Die Zauberflöte, though its score was completed
later.) The remarkable Emanuel Schikaneder (1751–1812) was an actor, singer,
theater manager, and friend of Mozart. He suggested the idea of Die Zauberflöte,
wrote the libretto, staged the work, and sang the role of Papageno in the initial
run. After Mozart’s death, Schikaneder opened the larger Theater an der Wien
in the center of Vienna, a venue that has played a key role in the city’s musical
life from the time of Beethoven to the present day. The former main door of
the theater is called the “Papageno Gate,” a tribute to both men. The English
translation for the Met’s abridged version of The Magic Flute is by American
poet and librettist J. D. McClatchy.
The Setting
The libretto specifies Egypt as the location of the action. That country was
traditionally regarded as the legendary birthplace of the Masonic fraternity,
whose symbols and rituals populate this opera. Some productions include
Egyptian motifs as an exotic nod to this idea, but most opt for a more generalized
44

mythic ambience to convey the otherworldliness that the score and overall tone
of the work call for.
The Music
Die Zauberflöte was written with an eye toward a popular audience, but the
varied tone of the work requires singers who can specialize in several different
musical genres. The comic and earthy is represented by the baritone Papageno
in his delightful arias “I’m Papageno” and “A Cuddly Wife or Sweetheart,” with
its jovial glockenspiel accompaniment. Papageno meets his comic match in the
“Bird-Girl” Papagena and their funny (but rather tricky) duet “Pa-pa-pa-pa.” True
love in its noblest forms is conveyed by the tenor Tamino (in his ravishing aria
“This Portrait’s Beauty”) and the soprano Pamina (in the deceptively transparent
“Now My Heart Is Filled with Sadness”). The bass Sarastro expresses the solemn
and the transcendental in his noble “Within Our Sacred Temple.” The Three
Ladies have much ensemble work of complex beauty, and even the short
scene for the Three Spirits singing to the sunrise has a unique aura of hushed
beauty well beyond the conventions of standard popular entertainment of the
time. The use of the chorus is spare but hauntingly beautiful. The fireworks are
provided by the coloratura Queen of the Night with her first aria, “My Fate is
Grief,” scarcely less pyrotechnic than the more familiar “Hell’s Bitterness.”
The Magic Flute at the Met
The Met has a remarkable history of distinguished productions of Die
Zauberflöte with extraordinary casts. The opera was first given here in 1900
in Italian and featured Emma Eames, Andreas Dippel, and Pol Plançon. In
1941 a new production in English featured Jarmila Novotná, Charles Kullman,
Alexander Kipnis, Friedrich Schorr, and a young Eleanor Steber as the First Lady.
It was conducted by Bruno Walter, directed by Herbert Graf, and designed
by Richard Rychtarik. The legendary 1967 production, with designs by Marc
Chagall, featured Josef Krips conducting Pilar Lorengar, Nicolai Gedda, Lucia
Popp, Hermann Prey, Morley Meredith, Rosalind Elias, and Jerome Hines.
The Mozart anniversary year of 1991 saw the debut of a ravishing production
designed by David Hockney and directed by John Cox and Guus Mostart, with
James Levine conducting Kathleen Battle, Francisco Araiza, Luciana Serra, Kurt
Moll, and Wolfgang Brendel. The present production by Julie Taymor, with sets
designed by George Tsypin, costumes by Taymor, and choreography by Mark
Dendy, opened in 2004 with James Levine conducting a cast that included
Dorothea Röschmann, Matthew Polenzani, L’ubica Vargicová, Rodion Pogossov,
and Kwangchul Youn.
Visit metopera.org
45

A Note from the Translator
46
Ideally, a translation of an opera should be tailored to fit the production. If
a director wants Tamino in a powdered wig and frock coat enacting an
allegory of Masonic beliefs, that would suggest one kind of translation. If,
on the other hand, the director sets the opera in Disneyland, with Tamino in
jeans and an iPod for his magic flute, a very different verbal style would be
called for. Fortunately, for this enchanting Met production, Julie Taymor (and
I can’t help but think this is exactly what Mozart and Schikaneder would have
wanted) chose the timeless world of the fairy tale, with its deliberate mix of
high romance and low comedy, of mystery and mayhem. My task was to dress
it in an English that fits.
To be avoided at all costs was the usual opera-ese (“Wilt thou to the palace
with me now go, most valiant prince?”), which can often make opera-in-English
sound stranger than in the original language. After all, the style of a translation
affects how an audience understands and sympathizes with—or not—the
characters on stage. Stiff diction and forced rhymes can make a character seem
wooden and remote and thereby distort important emotional balances in the
structure of the opera.
Of course, it is not an “opera” one is translating, but a combination of very
distinct voices, a set of different characters each with his or her own personality
concocted of words and music. Tamino’s ardent nobility can at one moment be
vulnerable, at another courageous. Pamina’s emotions are more complex and
have a maturity forced on her by tortuous circumstances. Sarastro’s paternal
steadiness, the Queen of the Night’s grieving hysteria, and Monostatos’s oily
conniving are starkly different. And Papageno’s inimitable range of humorous
earthiness yields readily to a kind of “bird-language” all his own.
The style of The Magic Flute—a singspiel that intersperses arias and
ensembles with scenes of spoken dialogue—gave us another opportunity.
For our abridged version (it should be remembered that this opera has been
variously shortened and re-arranged in performance for over 200 years), I
have wanted both to follow the libretto and to clarify it. This opera’s plot has
sometimes confused its critics into complaining of inconsistencies, but the
word magic is not in its title by accident. As in a dream, an inner logic threads
together sudden changes of course or motivation, as the fates of three pairs—
Tamino and Pamina, Papageno and Papagena, Sarastro and the Queen of the
Night—are slowly entwined and transformed. Still, what in the original can seem
arcane or convoluted, I have tried to pose as the elemental struggle between
the forces of darkness and light, reason and chaos, and as the triumph of love
over adversity and isolation. Papageno finds the maiden beneath the crone, and
Tamino finds his love through trial and patience. Each discovers the world is
different than it seemed at first. I suppose that, in the end, you might even say
this is an opera about translation.
—J. D. McClatchy

The Cast
Jane Glover
conductor (london, england)
this season The Magic Flute with Opera Theatre of St. Louis and for her debut at the Met,
Lucio Silla in Bordeaux, her debut with the Cleveland Orchestra conducting Beethoven’s
Piano Concerto No. 1, and conducting assignments with the Mark Morris Dance Group.
career highlights She is music director of Chicago’s Music of the Baroque and artistic
director of Opera at London’s Royal Academy of Music, and made her professional debut
in 1975 conducting her own edition of Cavalli’s L’Eritrea at the Wexford Festival. Known
primarily as a Mozart specialist, she has conducted all the composer’s operas regularly all
over the world with notable performances including the Da Ponte trilogy in Chicago, Die
Entführung aus dem Serail at Covent Garden, and Così fan tutte in Berlin. Her core repertory
also includes works by Monteverdi, Handel, and Britten, among others. Highlights of
recent seasons include The Turn of the Screw and Jephtha in Bordeaux, Gluck’s Armide for
a joint production of the Met and the Juilliard School, Don Giovanni in St. Louis, Semele in
Milwaukee, La Clemenza di Tito and Die Zauberflöte for Chicago Opera Theatre, and The
Rape of Lucretia, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and L’Incoronazione di Poppea in Aspen.
Kathryn Lewek
soprano (east lyme, connecticut)
this season The Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute with Lyric Opera of Kansas
City and for debuts at the Met and Washington National Opera, the Fairy in Massenet’s
Cendrillon with New Orleans Opera, and Angelica in Handel’s Orlando in Tasmania with
Hobart Baroque.
career highlights She was a double prize winner of Plácido Domingo’s 2013 Operalia
World Opera Competition and recently sang the Queen of the Night with English
National Opera, Nashville Opera, in Leipzig, and at the Bregenz Festival. She has also
sung a number of roles with the Deutsche Oper Berlin including the Queen of the Night,
Frasquita in Carmen, the Sandman and Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel, Barbarina in Le
Nozze di Figaro, and Pisana in I Due Foscari. She has also sung with Berlin’s Deutsches
Symphonie-Orchester, Toledo Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Santa Barbara
Symphony, and at Carnegie Hall with Musica Sacra.
Visit metopera.org
47

The Cast CONTINUED
Heidi Stober
soprano (waukesha, wisconsin)
this season Pamina in The Magic Flute at the Met, Nannetta in Falstaff and Magnolia in
Jerome Kern’s Show Boat at the San Francisco Opera, and Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro
and Pamina at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
met appearances Gretel in Hansel and Gretel (debut, 2011).
career highlights She has been a member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin since 2008 where
she has sung a number of roles including Micaëla in Carmen, Oscar in Un Ballo in Maschera,
Princess Ninette in Prokofiev’s L’Amour des Trois Oranges, Nannetta, and Gretel. Recent
performances include Ada in the world premiere of Morrison’s Oscar with the Santa Fe
Opera and Musetta in La Bohème at Houston Grand Opera. Additional performances
include Atalanta in Handel’s Serse and Sophie in Werther with the San Francisco Opera,
Aminta in Mozart’s Il Re Pastore with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and Atalanta, Susanna,
Blondchen in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Drusilla in L’Incoronazione di Poppea, and
Norina in Don Pasquale with the Houston Grand Opera.
Nathan Gunn
baritone (south bend, indiana)
this season Papageno in The Magic Flute at the Met, James Dalton in the world premiere
of Iain Bell’s A Harlot’s Progress at Vienna’s Theater an der Wien, Figaro in Il Barbiere di
Siviglia at the Dallas Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Gaylord Ravenal in Jerome
Kern’s Show Boat with the San Francisco Opera.
met appearances Over 100 performances of 14 roles, including the title role of Billy
Budd, Raimbaud in Le Comte Ory, Clyde Griffiths in the world premiere of Picker’s An
American Tragedy, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
Schaunard in La Bohème, and in the ensemble of The Ghosts of Versailles (debut, 1995).
career highlights He created a number of roles in world premieres, including Yeshua
in Mark Adamo’s The Gospel of Mary Magdalene for the San Francisco Opera, Alec
Harvey in Previn’s Brief Encounter at the Houston Grand Opera, Father Delura in Peter
Eötvös’s Love and Other Demons at Glyndebourne, and Paul in Daron Hagen’s Amelia at
the Seattle Opera. He is a graduate of the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development
Program and in 2006 was the first recipient of the Met’s Beverly Sills Artist Award.
48

Eric Owens
bass-baritone (philadelphia, pennsylvania)
this season Sarastro in The Magic Flute at the Met, Vodník in Rusalka at Lyric Opera
of Chicago, the title role of Handel’s Hercules with the Canadian Opera Company, and
Alberich in Wagner’s Ring cycle at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Vienna State Opera.
met appearances General Leslie Groves in Doctor Atomic (debut, 2008) and Alberich.
career highlights Recent performances include Capellio in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi
with the San Francisco Opera and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly at the Los Angeles Opera.
He has also sung General Leslie Groves with the San Francisco Opera (world premiere)
and Lyric Opera of Chicago, Oroveso in Norma at Covent Garden and in Philadelphia,
Fiesco in Simon Boccanegra and Porgy in Porgy and Bess with Washington National
Opera, Ramfis in Aida in Houston and San Francisco, the Speaker in Die Zauberflöte with
Paris’s Bastille Opera, Rodolfo in La Sonnambula in Bordeaux, Ferrando in Il Trovatore
and Colline in La Bohème in Los Angeles, and Hercules with the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Shenyang
bass-baritone (tianjin, china)
this season The Speaker in The Magic Flute at the Met and concert appearances with the
New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and Huangzhou
Philharmonic.
met appearances Garibaldo in Rodelinda, Masetto in Don Giovanni (debut, 2009), and
Colline in La Bohème.
career highlights Recent performances include Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro in
Beijing, Alidoro in La Cenerentola for his debut at the Glyndebourne Festival, Osmin
in a concert performance of Mozart’s Zaïde at Carnegie Hall with Ensemble ACJW, and
concert engagements with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony
Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony
Orchestra, and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. He has also sung Brahms’s Liebeslieder
at Carnegie Hall with the MET Chamber Ensemble, was a winner of the 2007 BBC Cardiff
Singer of the World Competition, and is a graduate of the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist
Development Program.
Visit metopera.org
49

The Cast CONTINUED
Alek Shrader
tenor (cleveland, ohio)
this season Tamino in The Magic Flute at the Met and in concert with the Los Angeles
Philharmonic, Ernesto in Don Pasquale at the Santa Fe Opera, and Count Almaviva in Il
Barbiere di Siviglia at the San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Dallas Opera.
met appearances Ferdinand in The Tempest (debut, 2012) and Count Almaviva in The
Barber of Seville.
career highlights Recent performances include Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola in
Hamburg, Ernesto in Don Pasquale at the Glyndebourne Festival, Tom Rakewell in The
Rake’s Progress in Lille, Tamino with Lyric Opera of Chicago and San Francisco Opera,
the title role of Britten’s Albert Herring with the Los Angeles Opera and Santa Fe Opera,
Oronte in Handel’s Alcina in Bordeaux, and Gonzalve in Ravel’s L’Heure Espagnole at the
Glyndebourne Festival. He has also sung the title role of Bernstein’s Candide in concert
with the Los Angeles Orchestra, Egeo in Giovanni Simon Mayr’s Medea in Corinto with
Munich’s Bavarian State Opera, and Ferrando in Così fan tutte at the Salzburg Festival. He
was a 2007 winner of the Met’s National Council Auditon.
50