CONDUCTOR

Jane Glover DEBUT

PRODUCTION

Julie Taymor

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

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The Magic Flute

GENERAL MANAGER

Peter Gelb

MUSIC DIRECTOR

James Levine

PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR

Fabio Luisi

Libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder

Monday, December 16, 2013, 7:30–9:10 pm

First time this season

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.

The 409th Metropolitan Opera performance of

Monday, December 16, 2013, 7:30–9:10 pm

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s

The Magic Flute

2013–14 Season

This performance is being broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SiriusXM channel 74 and streamed at metopera.org.

in order of vocal appearance

ConductorJane Glover DEBUT

Tamino Alek Shrader

First Lady Wendy Bryn Harmer*

Second Lady Renée Tatum*

Third Lady Margaret Lattimore*

Papageno Nathan Gunn*

Queen of the Night Albina Shagimuratova

First Slave Steven Paynter

Second Slave Kurt Phinney

Third Slave Craig Montgomery

Monostatos John Easterlin

Pamina Heidi Stober

First Spirit Thatcher Pitkoff

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 Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson

* 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.

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Met TitlesTo 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.

Chorus Master Donald PalumboMusical Preparation Gregory Buchalter, Bradley Moore,

Liora Maurer, and Steven WhiteAssistant Stage Director J. Knighten SmitPrompter Gregory BuchalterMet Titles Michael PanayosChildren’s Chorus Director Anthony PiccoloEnglish Coach Erie MillsProjection Designer Caterina BertolottoMakeup Designer Reiko KrukAssociate Set Designer Iosef YusupovAssociate Costume Designer Mary PetersonPuppets constructed by Michael Curry Design, Inc.

and Metropolitan Opera ShopsScenery, properties, and electrical props constructed

and painted in Metropolitan Opera ShopsCostumes executed by Metropolitan Opera

Costume DepartmentWigs 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.

Nathan Gunn as Papageno in Mozart’s The Magic Flute

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ON STAGE NOWTwo new productions and two returning favorites!

MOZART

The Magic FluteDEC 16, 21, 24, 26 mat, 28, 30 mat JAN 2, 4 mat

Celebrate the holidays with Mozart’s enchanting classic in the Met’s beloved 100-minute English-language production for families, directed by Julie Taymor (�e Lion King).

VERDI

FalstaffDEC 18, 21 mat, 27, 30 JAN 3, 6, 11

“When it comes to theatrical flair, captivating costumes, stage antics and imagination, there are not many Broadway shows to rival the Met’s new Falstaff.” –�e New York Times. James Levine conducts Robert Carsen’s production, with Ambrogio Maestri in the title role.

PUCCINI

ToscaDEC 17, 20, 23, 28 mat

Following her triumph in Norma, Sondra Radvanovsky stars in the title role of Puccini’s fast-moving operatic thriller, opposite Marcello Giordani as Cavaradossi.

J. STRAUSS, JR.

Die FledermausDEC 31 JAN 4, 7, 11 mat, 15, 18 mat

Susanna Phillips and Christopher Maltman lead the sparkling cast in this English-language staging of Strauss’s beloved operatic confection, set in the opulent world of Belle Époque Vienna.

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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.

An Illustrated Synopsis for

The Magic Flute

1

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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

The Queen of the Night appears, grieving over the loss of her daughter.

(above) As Pamina sleeps, Monostatos is startled by the unexpected arrival of Papageno.

(below) Tamino hopes the charmed animals will lead him to Pamina.

2

3

4

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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.

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).

(above) The magic bells save Pamina and Papageno from Monostatos’s men.

Pamina contemplates the dagger her mother gave her when she ordered her to murder Sarastro.

(below) Sarastro arrives at his temple of wisdom.

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Papageno promises not to eat, but quickly fails the test.

The Three Spirits lead Tamino to his next trial.

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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

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Photos: 2 & 8, Cory Weaver/Met Opera; 9, Beatriz Schiller/Met Opera; all others by Ken Howard/Met Opera

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.

Papagena, then immediately disappears (10).

Pamina and Tamino are reunited and face the ordeals of water and fire together, protected by the magic flute.

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).

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The Magic Flute

In Focus

Premiere: Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden, Vienna, 1791The 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 CreatorsThe 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 SettingThe 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

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mythic ambience to convey the otherworldliness that the score and overall tone of the work call for.

The MusicDie 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 MetThe 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.

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A Note from the Translator

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

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The Cast

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.

Jane Gloverconductor (london, england)

this season The Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute at the Met and for her debut with Munich’s Bavarian State Opera, and the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor at La Scala and with the Los Angeles Opera.met appearances The Queen of the Night (debut, 2010).career highlights She has sung the Queen of the Night at the Salzburg Festival, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Los Angeles Opera, Bolshoi Opera, and Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Lyudmila in Ruslan and Lyudmila at the Bolshoi Opera, Violetta in La Traviata at the Bolshoi Opera and Houston Grand Opera, Gilda in Rigoletto at the San Francisco Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Lucia with the Houston Grand Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Bolshoi Opera. She is a graduate of the Houston Grand Opera Studio and in 2007 received a gold medal at Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Competition.

Albina Shagimuratovasoprano (tashkent, russia)

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The Cast CONTINUED

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.

Heidi Stobersoprano (waukesha, wisconsin)

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.

Nathan Gunnbaritone (south bend, indiana)

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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.

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.

Eric Owensbass-baritone (philadelphia, pennsylvania)

Shenyangbass-baritone (tianjin, china)

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The Cast CONTINUED

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.

Alek Shradertenor (cleveland, ohio)