Radiant mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and dashing Italian tenor Marcello Giordani are unlucky lovers in La Damnation de Faust, Hector Berlioz’s classic take on dancing with the devil, Saturday, February 28 at noon (ET) on Great Performances at the Met (check local listings). Presented by THIRTEEN in 5.1 digital surround sound on PBS HD, the new Met production is conducted by Music Director James Levine and conceived by visionary Canadian director Robert Lepage.

Nearly stealing the show: handsome young Canadian bass-baritone John Relyea as a most persuasive Méphistophélès.

“Stunning,” wrote The New York Times of Lepage’s breakthrough use of video imagery, depicting everything from a grassy field to a fiery hell. Also lauded were Graham’s “rapturous richness and elegant restraint,” Giordani’s “ardor and intelligence” and Relyea’s “wily, seductive lyricism.”

Based on Goethe’s Faust Part I, the work retells the timeless tale of the devil-dealing title character (Giordani) who ultimately barters his soul for the salvation of his beloved Marguerite (Graham). In one of music’s most chilling exits, he and his diabolical nemesis gallop to hell in Berlioz’s celebrated, and fearsome, “Ride to the Abyss.”

Perhaps best known today as the composer of the bizarrely delightful Symphonie Fantastique (1838), Hector Berlioz toiled relentlessly in the field of opera. Although slow to find their places in the world’s repertory, these efforts included Benvenuto Cellini (1838) and his masterpiece, Les Troyens (1858). La Damnation de Faust, which he termed a “légende dramatique” and not written for the stage, was first performed in Paris in 1846.

Director Lepage, in his Met debut, has reconceived the production he originally created for Japan’s Saito Kinen Festival and the Opéra National de Paris. The new staging features enhanced media and technology that was previously not available – some of which was developed by Lepage and his Quebec-based company, Ex Machina. The entire production team makes its Met debut with the production: set designer Carl Fillion, costume designer Karin Erskine, lighting designer Sonoyo Nishikawa, choreographers Johanne Madore and Alain Gautier, and video designers Holger Foerterer and Boris Firquet.

Great Performances at the Met: La Damnation de Faust, the third of 11 productions to air this season on the series, is sung in French with English surtitles. The libretto is adapted from Goethe by Berlioz and Almire Gandonnière. It was recorded on stage in performance November 22, 2008, as part of The Met: Live in HD series. Barbara Willis Sweete directs, with Susan Graham as opening host and baritone Thomas Hampson stepping in at intermission. Jay Saks is audio producer.

Great Performances is funded by the Irene Diamond Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, public television viewers, and PBS. Corporate support for Great Performances at the Met is provided by Toll Brothers. Telecast funding for La Damnation de Faust is provided by Donald G. Sisler.

Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera

Composer: Giacomo Puccini

Librettist: Giuseppe Adami, adapted from the play “La Houppelande” by Didier Gold

Production: Jack O’Brien

Conductor: James Levine

Performers:
“Il Tabarro”: Maria Guleghina (Giorgetta), Salvatore Licitra (Luigi), Juan Pons (Michele), Stephanie Blythe (Frugola), David Cangelosi (Tinca), Paul Plishka (Talpa), John Nuzzo (Song Seller), and Anne-Carolyn Bird and Tony Stevenson (Young Lovers)

“Suor Angelica”: Barbara Frittoli (Suor Angelica), Heidi Grant Murphy (Sister Genovieffa), Stephanie Blythe (La Principessa), Wendy White (The Monitor), Barbara Dever (Mistress of Novices), Maria Zifchak (Nursing Sister), Patricia Risley (The Abbess), Jennifer Black (First Alms Collector), Jane Gilbert (Second Alms Collector), Lisette Oropesa (First Lay Sister), Edyta Kulczak (Second Lay Sister), Anne-Carolyn Bird (First Novice), Leah Wool (Second Novice), and Jennifer Check (Sister Dolcina)

“Gianni Schicchi”: Olga Mykytenko (Lauretta), Massimo Giordano (Rinuccio), Alessandro Corbelli (Gianni Schicchi), Jennifer Check (Nella), Patricia Risley (Ciesca), Stephanie Blythe (Zita), Bernard Fitch (Gherardo), Jeff Mattsey (Marco), Donato Di Stefano (Simone), Patrick Carfizzi (Betto di Signa), Paul Plishka (Spinelloccio), Dale Travis (Amantio di Nicolao), Peter Volpe (Pinellino), Keith Miller (Guccio), and Jacob Wade (Gherardino)

Synopsis:

Act I: “Il Tabarro”
Michele’s barge on the Seine in Paris

Giorgetta is busy with her chores, while her husband, Michele, stands on deck. He asks her to kiss him, which she does, but without affection. She offers wine to Luigi, one of the stevedores, and they are joined by two other deckhands, Tinca and Talpa. They begin a dance, only to be interrupted by Michele. With a song seller peddling his songs in the background (”Primavera, primavera”), Giorgetta asks Michele why he seems so troubled, but he does not answer. Talpa’s wife, Frugola, arrives to take him home and displays the wares she has collected on her daily rounds (”Se tu sapessi”). Tinca plans to drown his troubles in drink; Luigi agrees that it is the only way to cope with their bleak existence (”Hai ben ragione”). Frugola dreams of a little house in the country (”Ho sognato una casetta”) and Giorgetta wishes she could leave the barge (”E ben altro mio sogno!”). She and Luigi consider the beauty of the city and its quiet suburbs. After Frugola and Talpa leave, Giorgetta and Luigi express their love for each other (”O Luigi! Luigi!”). Suddenly, Michele appears from the cabin, and Luigi, finding it unbearable to share his beloved Giorgetta with another, asks to be put off the barge when they reach Rouen. Michele convinces him not to leave his job, assuring him there’s no work in Rouen, and returns to the hold. Giorgetta and Luigi arrange to meet later that evening. She will leave the gangplank in place and light a match when Michele has gone to sleep. Luigi goes off and Michele again comes on deck. Sensing Giorgetta’s restlessness, he tries to evoke her past love for him by recalling happier days before the death of their child. Failing to regain her affection, Michele expresses his suspicions that Giorgetta is in love with another man, but he cannot figure out who it is (”Nulla! Silenzio!”). He settles down on the deck and lights his pipe. Seeing the light, Luigi rushes on board, thinking it is Giorgetta’s signal. Michele grabs him, forces him to admit his love for Giorgetta, and strangles him, then conceals the body in his cloak. Giorgetta reappears on deck to apologize to Michele, who throws open his cloak to reveal Luigi’s dead body.

Act II: “Suor Angelica”
A convent

Sister Angelica and two lay sisters are late for chapel. The Monitor chides them for not doing penance as Sister Angelica has done. Some of the sisters confess they still long for worldly pleasures — Sister Genovieffa for the lambs she used to tend and Sister Dolcina for sweet things to eat. Sister Angelica denies she has any such desires, but the others know she desperately longs for some word from her family. For seven years she has heard nothing from them, and the sisters speculate that she was a princess, banished to the convent for reasons they have been unable to discover. Soon alms collectors arrive, distributing the food they have gathered. One of them mentions that a magnificent coach bearing a visitor stands outside the convent gate. Angelica is startled and, with increasing anxiety, asks her to describe the coach in detail. A bell rings, announcing the visitor. The Abbess enters and tells Angelica that her aunt, the Princess, has come to see her. Approaching, the Princess rejects Angelica’s gestures of affection. The Princess explains that when Angelica’s parents died, she was made guardian of both Angelica and her sister, Anna Viola, and was given control over their inheritance (”Il principe Gualtiero”). Anna Viola is to be married, and the Princess demands Angelica sign her share over to her sister. Having brought disgrace on the family name, the Princess declares, Angelica is no longer entitled to any part of the inheritance. Crushed by her aunt’s cruelty, Angelica swears she has repented. She cannot, however, erase the memory of her little son, who, she learns, died two years ago. Her will now broken, Angelica sobs and signs the document. The Princess withdraws and Angelica grieves that her son died without his mother by his side (”Senza mamma”). Resolving to join her child in heaven, she drinks poison. She is then struck by the reality of what she has done and prays for salvation. A celestial choir is heard and Angelica sees a vision of the Blessed Virgin with her child.

Act III: “Gianni Schicchi”
The Palazzo of Buoso Donati in Florence

The greedy relatives of the wealthy Buoso Donati gather at his deathbed to mourn his passing and investigate the details of his will. There are rumors that the old man has left nearly everything to a monastery. If his will has not been filed with a notary, however, there is still hope for the relatives, who begin a frantic search for the document. Young Rinuccio finds it and makes his Aunt Zita promise to let him marry his beloved Lauretta if there is enough money. They read the will, which proves the rumors were true; the relatives finally shed genuine tears. Rinuccio suggests that Lauretta’s father, Gianni Schicchi, a shrewd self-made man, can help them: this new breed of peasant-turned-businessman will invigorate Florence, which the young man compares to a tree in full flower (”Firenze è come un albero fiorito”). Schicchi appears with Lauretta. Disgusted by the hypocrisy and avarice of the aristocratic family, he is about to leave, but decides to stay when Lauretta proclaims her intention to marry Rinuccio (”O mio babbino caro”). Reading the will, Schicchi devises a plan to impersonate the dead man. He sends Lauretta home and orders the body removed from the bed. The doctor arrives to check on Buoso, but Schicchi’s voice convinces the addled doctor that the patient is improving. Schicchi tells the relatives to send for the notary and, putting on Buoso’s nightshirt and cap, promises to dictate a new will. The relatives each try to get a promise from Schicchi that he will leave the best parts of the estate to them. Schicchi agrees with every secret request and warns each that they must keep the secret forever or face the punishment as accessories to a fraud — a hand cut off and eternal banishment from Florence. The notary arrives with witnesses, and Schicchi dictates that the great part of the estate, including the house they are all in, is to be left to his good friend Gianni Schicchi! The relatives are furious but can say nothing, and when the notary leaves they fall on Schicchi and steal what they can from the house. Schicchi orders them out of his house and points to the young lovers, standing out on the terrace gazing at the blossoming city. Turning to the audience, he points out how happy his fraud has made the lovers, and pleads for a verdict of not guilty.

Opera synopsis courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera.

Funding for GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET: “Il Trittico” has been provided by Toll Brothers, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Charles E. Culpeper Foundation, Donald G. Sisler, and the Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Charitable Foundation, Miami, FL, and PBS.

Related Web Sites

• Maria Guleghina
• Salvatore Licitra
• Juan Pons
• The Metropolitan Opera: Interview: Stephanie Blythe
• David Cangelosi
• Barbara Frittoli
• Kirshbaum Demler & Associates: Heidi Grant Murphy
• Wendy White
• Alste & Mödersheim: Olga Mykytenko
• Massimo Giordano
• The Metropolitan Opera: Alessandro Corbelli
• Land of Puccini
• The Metropolitan Opera: Interview: Jack O’Brien
• SONY BMG Masterworks: Artists: James Levine

Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera

Composer: Richard Wagner

Librettist: Richard Wagner

Production: Dieter Dorn

Conductor: James Levine

Performers: Deborah Voigt (Isolde), Robert Dean Smith (Tristan), Eike Wilm Schulte (Kurwenal), Matti Salminen (King Marke)

Synopsis:
Richard Wagner’s epic Tristan und Isolde is conducted by James Levine in this visually spare and dramatically gripping interpretation. Join GREAT PERFORMANCES at the Met for this special presentation, when Deborah Voigt—one of the world’s most celebrated Wagnerian sopranos—undertakes the iconic role of Isolde for the first time at the Met. Robert Dean Smith, a veteran Tristan of the Bayreuth Festival, portrays the other half of the archetypal couple on this transcendent theatrical journey.

Opera synopsis courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera

Funding for GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET: “Tristan und Isolde” has been provided by Toll Brothers, the Glibert S. Kahn and John J. Noffo Kahn Foundation, the Irene Diamond Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and PBS.

Related Web Sites

• James Levine, Conductor
  
• Deborah Voigt, Soprano
• Robert Dean Smith, Tenor
  
• Eike Wilm Schulte, Baritone

Producer: Anu Krishnan
Designer: Lenny Drozner
Graphic Art: Ying Zhou-Hudson, Emily Nonouchi
Technical Director: Brian Lee
Production Assistant: Diana Cofresí-Terrero
Copy Editor: Leslie Kriesel
HTML Implementation: Brian Santalone

GREAT PERFORMANCES Web pages copyright © 2007 Educational Broadcasting Corporation.

Thirteen Online is a production of Thirteen/WNET New York’s Kravis Multimedia Education Center in New York City. Anthony Chapman, Director of Interactive & Broadband. Bob Adleman, Business Manager. Carmen DiRienzo, Vice President and Managing Director, Corporate Affairs.

Television Credits

GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET: “Tristan und Isolde”

Coming Soon.

The contents of these GREAT PERFORMANCES Web pages are copyrighted under United States and other copyright laws. You may not download, reproduce, transmit, display, distribute or make derivative works from the contents of the GREAT PERFORMANCES Web pages other than for personal use without the advance written permission of the copyright owner. Any unauthorized use of any of the contents of the GREAT PERFORMANCES Online Web pages may result in civil liability and criminal prosecution.

Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera

Composer: Giacomo Puccini

Librettists: Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Domenico Oliva, Marco Praga, Giuseppe Giacosa, Luigi Illica, Giulio Riccordi

Production: Gina Lapinski

Conductor: James Levine

Performers: Karita Mattila (Manon Lescaut), Dwayne Croft (Lescaut), Dale Travis (Geronte di Ravoir)

Synopsis:
On the heels of her triumph in Jenufa, Finnish soprano Karita Mattila adds another landmark role to her Met repertory, the free-spirited beauty Manon Lescaut. Puccini’s early success tells the story of the magnetic attraction between two young lovers. Joined by acclaimed tenor Marcello Giordani and conducted by James Levine, Mattila finds the perfect vehicle for her exhilarating charisma in Puccini’s title heroine.

Opera synopsis courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera

Funding for GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET: “Manon Lescaut” has been provided by Toll Brothers, the Irene Diamond Fund, the Charles E. Culpeper Foundation, Donald G. Sisler, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and PBS.

Related Web Sites

• James Levine, Conductor
• Karita Mattila, Soprano
• Dwayne Croft, Baritone
• Dale Travis, Bass-baritone
• Marcello Giordani, Tenor

Producer: Anu Krishnan
Designer: Lenny Drozner
Graphic Art: Ying Zhou-Hudson, Emily Nonouchi
Technical Director: Brian Lee
Production Assistant: Diana Cofresí-Terrero
Copy Editor: Leslie Kriesel
HTML Implementation: Brian Santalone

GREAT PERFORMANCES Web pages copyright © 2007 Educational Broadcasting Corporation.

Thirteen Online is a production of Thirteen/WNET New York’s Kravis Multimedia Education Center in New York City. Anthony Chapman, Director of Interactive & Broadband. Bob Adleman, Business Manager. Carmen DiRienzo, Vice President and Managing Director, Corporate Affairs.

Television Credits

GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET: “Manon Lescaut”

Coming Soon…

The contents of these GREAT PERFORMANCES Web pages are copyrighted under United States and other copyright laws. You may not download, reproduce, transmit, display, distribute or make derivative works from the contents of the GREAT PERFORMANCES Web pages other than for personal use without the advance written permission of the copyright owner. Any unauthorized use of any of the contents of the GREAT PERFORMANCES Online Web pages may result in civil liability and criminal prosecution.

Producer: Anu Krishnan
Designer: Lenny Drozner
Graphic Art: Ying Zhou-Hudson, Emily Nonouchi
Technical Director: Brian Lee
Production Assistant: Diana Cofresí-Terrero
Copy Editor: Leslie Kriesel
HTML Implementation: Brian Santalone

GREAT PERFORMANCES Web pages copyright © 2007 Educational Broadcasting Corporation.

Thirteen Online is a production of Thirteen/WNET New York’s Kravis Multimedia Education Center in New York City. Anthony Chapman, Director of Interactive & Broadband. Bob Adleman, Business Manager. Carmen DiRienzo, Vice President and Managing Director, Corporate Affairs.

Television Credits

GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET: “The Magic Flute”

Directed by
Gary Halvorson

Conductor
James Levine

Production
Julie Taymor

Set Design
George Tsypin

Costume Design
Julie Taymor

Lighting Design
Donald Holder

Puppet Design
Julie Taymor
Michael Curry

Choreographer
Mark Dendy

English Adaptation
J. D. McClatchy

Characters in Order of Vocal Appearance
Tamino
Matthew Polenzani

First Lady
Wendy Bryn Harmer

Second Lady
Kate Lindsey

Third Lady
Tamara Mumford

Papageno
Nathan Gunn

Queen of the Night
Erika Miklósa

First Slave
Stephen Paynter

Second Slave
Kenneth Floyd

Third Slave
Gregory Cross

Monostatos
Greg Fedderly

Pamina
Ying Huang

First Spirit
Bennett Kosma

Second Spirit
Jesse Burnside Murray

Third Spirit
Jacob A. Wade

Speaker
David Pittsinger

Sarastro
René Pape

First Priest
Brian Davis

Second Priest
Tony Stevenson

Papagena
Jennifer Aylmer

First Guard
Michael Myers

Second Guard
Robert Lloyd

Solo Dancer
Rachel Schuette

Flute Solo
Michael Parloff

Chorus Master
Raymond Hughes

Musical Preparation
Jane Klaviter
Robert Morrison
Joshua Greene
Jens Georg Bachmann
Milos Repicky

Assistant Stage Directors
David Kneuss
J. Knighten Smit
Kathleen Smith Belcher

Libretto Consultant
Paul Cremo

Prompter
Jane Klaviter

Met Titles
Michael Panayos

English Diction Coach
Linda Gates

Children’s Chorus Director
Elena Doria

Projection Designer
Caterina Bertolotto

Makeup Designer
Reiko Kruk

Associate Set Designer
Iosef Yusupov

Associate Costume Designer
Mary Peterson

A Metropolitan Opera High-Definition Production
Supervising Producers
Mia Bongiovanni
Elena Park

Producers
Louisa Briccetti
Victoria Warivonchik

Audio Producer
Jay David Saks

Associate Director
Christine Clark Bradley

Engineer-in-Charge
Mark Schubin

Technical Supervisor
Ron Washburn

Technical Director
Emmett Loughran

Audio Supervisor
Bill King

Television Lighting
Wayne Chouinard

Writers
William Berger
Ellen Keel

Camera
Miguel Armstrong
Hank Geving
Manny Gutierrez
Charlie Huntley
John Kosmaczewski
Jay Millard
Alain Onesto
David Smith
Larry Solomon
Ron Washburn
Mark Whitman

Video
Billy Steinberg
Matty Randazzo
Paul Ranieri

Audio
Mel Becker
Chris Callus
Paul Cohen
Michael Shoskes
Shawn Walsh

Videotape
Alan Buchner
Steven Joyce

Television Stage Managers
Terence Benson
Karen Mclaughlin

English Subtitles Adapted by
Sonya Friedman

Broadcast Graphics
Deborah Cavanaugh

Score Reader
John Geller

Opening Segment
Director
Pat Jaffe

Lighting
Mitchell Bogard

Editor
Ernie Fritz

Post Production
Video Editor
Gary Bradley

Additional Video Editing
Eric Singer
Laura Young

Audio Editor
John Bowen

Post-Production Audio Mix
Ken Hahn

Production Secretary
Yolanda S. Williams

Production Assistants
Michael Griebel
Alyse Horn
Allegra Lucas
Enzo E. Martinez
Vanessa Palo
Harriet Snyder

Metropolitan Opera Association
General Manager
Peter Gelb

Music Director
James Levine

Assistant Managers
Sarah Billinghurst
Joseph Clark
Elena Park
Stewart Pearce
Bill Thomas
Coralie Toevs

Director of Media & Presentations
Mia Bongiovanni

Artistic Administrator
Jonathan Friend

General Counsel
Sharon E. Grubin

Senior Artistic Advisor
Eva Wagner-Pasquier

Director of Human Resources & Labor Relations
Ann Marie Hackett

Director of Music Administration
Craig Rutenberg

House Manager
James Naples

Chief Financial Officer
Marvin Suchoff

Press Director
Sommer Hixson

Director, New Business Development
Laura Mitgang

Marketing Director
Julie Borchard-Young

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Orchestra Manager
Robert Sirinek

Concertmaster
David Chan

Librarian
Robert Sutherland

Metropolitan Opera Chorus

Metropolitan Opera Ballet
Ballet Mistress
Diana Levy

Stage Managers
Thomas H. Connell, III
Raymond Menard
Scott Moon
Theresa Ganley
Margo Maier

Stage Operations
Master Carpenter
Stephen A. Diaz

Master Electrician
Paul Donahue

Properties Master
James R. Blumenfeld

Wig and Hair Stylist
Tom Watson

Makeup Artist
Victor Callegari

Wardrobe Supervisor
William Malloy

Costume Shop Head
Lesley Weston

Resident Costume Designer
Sylvia Nolan

Production Facilities
All Mobile Video Inc.
Dolby Laboratories

Remote Recording
Tandberg Television

Media Counsel
Franklin, Weinrib, Rudell & Vassallo, P.C.

This abridged production of “The Magic Flute” is made possible by generous gifts from Bill Rollnick and Nancy Ellison Rollnick and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

The original production of “Die Zauberflöte” was made possible by a generous gift from Mr. and Mrs. Henry R. Kravis

Additional generous stage production 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

For GREAT PERFORMANCES
David Horn
Series Producer

Bill O’Donnell
Director, Program Development

Barry Schulman
Executive Producer

A Metropolitan Opera production in association with PBS/Thirteen WNET New York

Executive Producer
Peter Gelb

Copyright 2006

The contents of these GREAT PERFORMANCES Web pages are copyrighted under United States and other copyright laws. You may not download, reproduce, transmit, display, distribute or make derivative works from the contents of the GREAT PERFORMANCES Web pages other than for personal use without the advance written permission of the copyright owner. Any unauthorized use of any of the contents of the GREAT PERFORMANCES Online Web pages may result in civil liability and criminal prosecution.

Ken Howard/The Metropolitan Opera

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Librettists: Emanuel Schikaneder; English translation by J.D. McClatchy

Production: Julie Taymor

Conductor: James Levine

Performers: Ying Huang (Pamina), Matthew Polenzani (Tamino), Nathan Gunn (Papageno), Erika Miklósa (The Queen of the Night), and René Pape (Sarastro)

Synopsis:
Three ladies in the service of the Queen of the Night save the fainting Prince Tamino from a serpent (”A serpent! A monster!”). When they leave to tell the queen, the bird catcher Papageno bounces in and boasts to Tamino that it was he who killed the creature (”I’m Papageno”). The ladies return to give Tamino a portrait of the queen’s daughter, Pamina, who they say is enslaved by the evil Sarastro, and they padlock Papageno’s mouth for lying. Tamino falls in love with Pamina’s face in the portrait (”This portrait’s beauty”). The queen, appearing in a burst of thunder, is grieving the loss of her daughter; she charges Tamino with Pamina’s rescue (”My fate is grief”). The ladies give a magic flute to Tamino and silver bells to Papageno to ensure their safety, appointing three spirits to guide them (”Hm! hm! hm! hm!”).

Sarastro’s slave Monostatos pursues Pamina (”You will not dare escape”), but is frightened away by the feather-covered Papageno, who tells Pamina that Tamino loves her and intends to save her. Led by the three spirits to the Temple of Sarastro, Tamino is advised by a high priest that it is the queen, not Sarastro, who is evil. Hearing that Pamina is safe, Tamino charms the animals with his flute, then rushes to follow the sound of Papageno’s pipes. Monostatos and his cohorts chase Papageno and Pamina, but are left helpless by Papageno’s magic bells. Sarastro, entering in great ceremony (”Long life to Sarastro”), promises Pamina eventual freedom and punishes Monostatos. Pamina is enchanted by a glimpse of Tamino, who is led into the temple with Papageno.

Sarastro tells his priests that Tamino will undergo initiation rites (”O Isis and Osiris”). Monostatos tries to kiss the sleeping Pamina (”Men were born to be great lovers”); he is discovered by the Queen of the Night, who dismisses him. She gives her daughter a dagger with which to murder Sarastro (”Here in my heart, Hell’s bitterness”).

The weeping Pamina is confronted and consoled by Sarastro (”Within our sacred temple”). Tamino and Papageno are told by a priest that they must remain silent and refrain from eating, a vow that Papageno immediately breaks when he takes a glass of water from a flirtatious old lady. The old lady vanishes when he asks her name. The three spirits appear to guide Tamino through the rest of his journey and to tell Papageno to be quiet. Tamino remains silent even when Pamina appears, which breaks her heart since she cannot understand his reticence (”Now my heart is filled with sadness”).

The priests inform Tamino that he has only two more trials to complete his initiation (”Why, beloved, must we part?”). Papageno longs for a cuddly wife, but settles for the old lady. When he promises to be faithful, she turns into a young Papagena but soon disappears.

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

Papageno is saved from attempting suicide by the spirits who remind him that if he uses his magic bells he will find true happiness. When he does, Papagena reappears and the two plan for the future and move into a bird’s nest (”Pa-pa-pa …”). The Queen of the Night, her three ladies, and Monostatos attack the temple, but are defeated and banished. Sarastro joins Pamina and Tamino as the people hail Isis, Osiris, and the triumph of courage, virtue, and wisdom.

Opera synopsis courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera.

Funding for GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET: “The Magic Flute” has been provided by Toll Brothers, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Charles E. Culpeper Foundation, the Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Charitable Foundation, Miami, Florida, and PBS.

Related Web Sites

• PBS.org: Broadway: The American Musical: Julie Taymor
• Sony Classical: James Levine
  
• Nathan Gunn
• Ying Huang
• Erika Miklósa
• René Pape
• Matthew Polenzani