Glyndebourne Festival Opera the Makropulos Case
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February 2001 BAMci nematek 2001 Spring Season 651 ARTS Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra BAM Spring Season sponsor: PHILIP MORRIS ~lA6f8lll COM PAN' E SIN C . 200] Spring Brooklyn Academy of Music Bruce C. Ratner Alan H. Fishman Chairman of the Board Chairman, Campaign for BAM Karen Brooks Hopkins Joseph V. Melillo President Executive Producer presents Glyndebourne Festival Opera The Makropulos Case Running time: BAM Howard Gilman Opera House approximately February 11,13,15, & 17, 2001, at 7:30pm two hours with Opera in three acts based on the comic play by Karel Capek one intermission Sung in Czech with English surtitles Music by LeosJana~ek Conductor David Atherton Director Nikolaus Lehnhoff Associate director Daniel Dooner Set and costume designer Tobias Hoheisel Original lighting designer Mark Henderson Revival lighting designer Jon Stevens English surtitles lIya Bohac Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra New York Virtuoso Singers First performed at the National Theatre, Bmo, on December 18, 1926 Used by arrangement with European American Music Distributors LLC , sole U.S. and Canadian agent for Universal Edition Vienna, publisher and copyright owner. Alberto Vilar Honorary Chairman, BAM Opera Leadership support has been provided by The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, The Andrew W Mellon Foundation, The Vincent Astor Foundation, and Glyndebourne Association America Inc. Additional support has been provided by The Eleanor Naylor Dana Charitable Trust. Support for the Spring Gala featuring The Makropulos Case has been provided by Bowne of New York and The Alex Hillman Family Foundation. 25 Cast Vitek, Dr. Kolenaty's clerk Neil Jenkins Albert Gregor, a client of Dr. Kolenaty Par Lindskog Kristina, Vitek's daughter, a young opera singer Linda Tuvas Dr. Kolenaty Jonathan Veira Emilia Marty, a famous opera singer Anja Silja Baron Jaroslav Prus, a lawyer and Gregor's legal adversary Steven Page Cleaner / Chambermaid Menai Davies Stagehand Henry Waddington Janek, Prus' son Steven Rooke Hauk-$endorf, an old , half-witted ex-diplomat Nigel Douglas Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra VIOLIN CELLO BASSOON TIMPANI Eva Gruesser David Calhoun Harry Searing Richard Fitz Diane Bruce La nny Payki n Jeff Marchand Carlos Villa Peter Rosenfeld Ako Sato PERCUSSION Lenard Rivlin Sally Cline James Preiss Sander Strenger Michael Finckel HORN William Trigg Sarah Schwartz Robert Larue Francisco Donaruma Deborah Buck Richard Sher Katie Dennis HARP Conrad Harris Kaitilin Mahony Karen Lindquist Martin Agee BASS Larry Dibello EI izabeth Nielsen Joseph Bongiorno CELESTE Kate Light Gregg August OFF-STAGE HORN Ken Bowen Wharim Kim Richard Ostrovsky Peter Reit Troy Rinker David Wakefield Katherine Hannauer Pawel Knapik MUSIC DIRECTOR Shinwon Kim TRUMPET Robert Spano Heidi Modr FLUTE Jim Stubbs Cecelia Hobbs Katherine Fink Tom Hoyt PRESIDENT Gardner Brian Miller Lorraine Cohen Craig Matthews Stephani J. Bell David Wechsler Rena Isbin Dan Gerhard OFF-STAGE ADVISOR TO THE Roxanne Bergman TRUMPET BOARD OF Hector Falcon OBOE Don Batchelder DIRECTORS Janet Sung Henry Schuman Steve Ametrano Catherine M. Cahill Heather Bixler Pedro Diaz Melanie Feld TROMBONE LIBRARIAN VIOLA Thomas Olcott David Carp Ah Ling Neu CLARINET Keith Green Alexander Rees Steven Hartman Lawrence Benz PERSONNEL Jessica Troy Paul Garment MANAGER Monica Gerard Dennis Smylie TUBA Jonathan Taylor Juliet Haffner Andrew Seligson Leslie Tomkins Kenji Bunch Christine Ims 26 1\/1 ~ kropu lo~ New York Conductor Harold Rosenbaum Virtuoso Singers TENOR BASS Gregory Davidson Frank Barr Dennis Delgado Paul Burket Ronald Forsmo Roderick Gomez James Fredericks Rick Hoffenberg Richard Pickett Lawrence Picard John Steven Raiford Paul Rhodes Thomas Roche Mark Sullivan Daniel Smith Mark Wagstrom Nathan Wesselowski Lewis White Additional Scenery construction Flint Scenery production Painting Chris Clarke credits Costumes made under the supervision of Pamela Mcintyre in the Glyndebourne Wardrobe Department Headdresses and jewelry Sally V. Smith Tutu by Jane Johnson Wig designs realized by Barbara Burrows, made under her supervision in the Glyndebourne Wig Department Props made under the supervision of Vigee Harding, in the Glyndebourne Props Department Surtitles administered and stage managed by Sarah Plummer 27 I\/I:::l kropu 10, Glyndebourne Founded in 1934 by Audrey & John Christie Festival Opera President Sir George Christie Executive chairman Gus Christie Music director Vladimir Jurowksi Director of music admin istration Steven Naylor Production and technica l director Peter Horne Director of finance and resources Sarah Hopwood Company manager/Head of planning Bernard W. Davies Musical resources administrator/Senior librarian Sarah Plummer Fund-raising and membership administrator Jenny KilBride Assistant conductor and chorus master Tecwyn Evans Senior coach David Gowland Repetiteur Steven Maughan Language coach lIya Bohac Production manager Dave Locker Senior stage manager Stephen Cowin Deputy stage manager Stephane Marlot Assistant stage managers Robbie Cullen , Ben Sedgewick Lighting manager Keith Benson Running wardrobe manager Christine Parker Wig manager Barbara Burrows Makeup manager Sarah Piper Stage technicians Andy Loader, Adrian Peacock, Stuart Wilson Controls systems Euart Richardson 28 The Makropulos Case Act I Prague, the 1920s. The office of Dr. Kolenaty, a lawyer Albert Gregor is visiting his lawyer's office in the hope of learning the outcome of the case of Gregor vs . Prus, a complicated lawsuit that has dragged on for nearly a century but is due to be decided today. While Gregor and the clerk, Vitek, await Dr. KolenatY's return from court, they are joined by Vitek's daughter Kristina , who is in rapture over the stage performances of the mysteri ous and beautiful singer, Emilia Marty. Dr. KolenatY arrives with none other than Emilia Marty herself, who inquires about the case of Gregor vs. Prus. The lawyer explains: upon the death of Baron Josef Prus in 1827, the inheritance of his wealth and estates was disputed between a cousin (another Baron Prus) and one Ferdinand Gregor, ancestor of Dr. KolenatY's client. Emilia Marty shows surprisingly detailed knowledge of the facts and personalities of the case, and asserts that Ferdinand Gregor was the illegitimate son of Baron Prus by a Scottish actress, Ellian MacGregor. She says that a hitherto undiscovered will naming Ferdinand as the rightful heir is concealed among Ellian MacGregor's letters at the house of the present Baron Prus-Gregor's opponent in the lawsuit. Dr. KolenatY is understandably skeptical, but since his case has foundered on the lack of documentary evidence, he goes off in search of the will. Left alone with Emilia Marty, Albert Gregor finds himself simultaneously repelled by and attracted to her. She asks him for a document in Greek that she believes he must have inherited from Ferdinand Gregor. Dr. KolenatY returns in triumph with the present Baron , Jaroslav Prus: the missing will was indeed among Ellian MacGregor's letters. He can now establish Albert Gregor's right to the inheritance. Only one thing is lacking: documentary proof that Ferdinand Gregor really was the son of the 19th-century Baron Prus. Emilia Marty promises to provide something in writing. Act II The stage of the theater The curtain has just come down on a triumphant performance by Emilia Marty. Kristina tells her lover Janek-who is Jaroslav Prus' son- that Marty's talents have made her despair of pursuing her own career on the stage. Emilia has only harsh words for Janek and Kristina, and for Albert Gregor, who attempts to give her a present. However, when the dotty old Count Hauk-Sendorf appears, declaring that Emilia Marty reminds him of his Andalusian lover of 50 years ago , she lapses into Spanish and reveals that she is his beloved Eugenia Montez in person. After signing a photograph for Vitek to give to his daughter Kristina, she dismisses all her admirers except for Baron Prus, who tells her that he has traced the record of Ferdinand Gregor's birth in 1806 in the parish register, where he is listed not as Gregor but as Ferdinand Makropulos, illegitimate son of one Elina Makropulos-thus negating Albert Gregor's claim to the inheritance. Emilia Marty begs Prus to give her the mysterious Greek document, but he refuses . Albert Gregor reappears and declares his growing passion for the unfeeling Emilia. She tries to persuade him to steal her letter of authentication of Ferdinand Gregor's parentage back from Dr. KolenatY's office so that she can replace it with another in the name of Makropulos. 29 1\/1:::1 kropu 10, Marty turns her attention to Janek, asking him to steal the Greek document from his father's house. Prus interrupts them ; as Janek slinks away, the Baron agrees to bring Marty the document if she will meet him later tonight. Intermission Act III A hotel room Baron Prus has spent the night with Emilia Marty, but complains that her lovemaking was cold and passionless. Nevertheless he fulfills the bargain and hands over the envelope. Prus receives a message that his son Janek has killed himself for love of Emilia: she is unmoved. Count Hauk-Sendorf appears, saying that he has come to take his "Eugenia Montez" back to Spain. He is led away by a doctor, as KolenatY , Vitek, Kristina , and Gregor all arrive to demand an explana tion from Emilia: the signature on the photograph she gave Vitek matches that on the letter supposedly signed a hundred years earlier proving that Ferdinand Gregor was the son of Baron Josef Prus. She refuses to answer their questions and goes off to get dressed, leaving them to rummage through her belongings in search of clues. Emilia reappears and at last tells her story: she is Elina Makropulos, born in 1585, daughter of Hieronymus Makropulos from Crete, a physician at the court of Emperor Rudolf II. Her father invented a magic formula to prolong the Emperor's life for 300 Photo, Mike Hoban years, but Rudolf insisted that the physician try it out on his daughter first. She has lived on for more than 300 years, changing her name several times , always with the initials EM: she was Ellian MacGregor, and is Albert Gregor's great-great-great great-great-great-grandmother.