Wednesday, December 16, 2020 | 1 PM MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC GRADUATE OPERA THEATRE Tazewell Thompson, Director of Opera Studies presents RESISTANCE • RESILIENCE • RECONCILIATION SCENES OF MORAL STRUGGLE AND SOCIAL JUSTICE from Le nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte, Falstaff, Werther, Roméo et Juliette, Anna Bolena, The Crucible, Tosca, The Consul, Margaret Garner, I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky, and Mrs. President A. Scott Parry, Director MSM Opera Theatre productions are made possible by the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation and the Joseph F. McCrindle Endowment for Opera Productions at Manhattan School of Music. Wednesday, December 16, 2020 | 1 PM MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC GRADUATE OPERA THEATRE Tazewell Thompson, Director of Opera Studies RESISTANCE • RESILIENCE • RECONCILIATION SCENES OF MORAL STRUGGLE AND SOCIAL JUSTICE from Le nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte, Falstaff, Werther, Roméo et Juliette, Anna Bolena, The Crucible, Tosca, The Consul, Margaret Garner, I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky, and Mrs. President A. Scott Parry, Director Myra Huang, Vocal Coach & Pianist Kristen Kemp, Vocal Coach & Pianist Thomas Muraco, Vocal Coach & Pianist Nicolò Sbuelz, Vocal Coach & Pianist Danielle Ranno, Production Stage Manager Megan Kolpin, Props Coordinator Steven Jude Tietjen, Supertitles Author RESISTANCE • RESILIENCE • RECONCILIATION: A NOTE FROM TAZEWELL THOMPSON In a bitterly divided world, the future relies on those willing to take a stand against oppression. Resistance takes many forms: battles can be fought with military force, martyrdom, nonviolent resistance, philosophical argument, and/or witty maneuvers, as we see in some of the scenes that follow. But confrontation is only the first step: opera also gives us models for binding up our wounds, healing our divisions, and moving forward, wiser than before. –Tazewell Thompson, Director of Opera Studies DIRECTOR’S NOTE It’s a daunting task to put together a program with so raw and challenging a subject, but when Tazewell put forward this title and charged me with effectuating it for this fall, I felt it a privilege to do so. During this extremely uncertain time of great struggle and division, it is imperative that we as performing artists step into the public square to provide a purposeful voice with which to gather communities into conversation. Throughout opera’s history, it has taken up themes that are core to the human experience and made them sing. Whether it be a piece from hundreds of years ago, or just this last decade, opera has the power to speak directly to us in our own time and place regardless of the era in which it was composed. All opera is contemporary because it engages us in the here and now, in the moment that we currently experience, with all the resonance of the news of the day and the multifaceted lives we all lead. Although distressing at times, it is our hope that this program may help to provide a sense of greater empathy and understanding to build better bridges between us. We are proud to raise our voices together in this cause, to breathe life into these characters, to embody their experiences, and to engage in this conversation with you. – A. Scott Parry 3 SCENES Act I, scene 1, “Cinque... dieci...” from Le nozze di Figaro (1786) Music by W. A. Mozart Libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte Figaro Daniel Choi Susanna Tate Chu Myra Huang, coach-pianist Livestreamed from Gordon K. and Harriet Greenfield Hall Today is the day that Figaro, the Count’s valet, is set to marry Susanna, the Countess’s maid. Figaro measures their work room for a bed that the Count has gifted them, but Susanna objects, revealing that the Count plans to exert his right as “Lord of the Manor” to claim her virginity, a custom that had been previously abolished. Figaro resolutely determines to subvert his Master’s unscrupulous plans. “O zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn!” from Die Zauberflöte (1791) Music by W.A. Mozart Libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder Königin der Nacht Melanie Spector Thomas Muraco, coach-pianist Recorded in Leonia, NJ and NYC The Queen of the Night implores Prince Tamino to rescue her imprisoned daughter Pamina who was cruelly abducted by the Queen’s political rival Sarastro. If Tamino succeeds, he will win Pamina’s hand. Act I, scene 2, “Nonet” from Falstaff (1893) Music by Giuseppe Verdi Libretto by Arrigo Boito Alice Ford Makila Kirchner Nannetta Ripley Lucas-Tagliani Meg Page Rosario Hernández Armas Mistress Quickly Maria Consamus Fenton Alexander Rodriguez Master Ford Gerardo Becerra de la Torre Dr. Caius Marcus Jefferson Bardolfo Nicolas Farrauto Pistola Yi Yang Nicolò Sbuelz, coach-pianist Kristen Kemp, second coach-pianist Livestreamed from Neidorff-Karpati Hall The aging, corpulent knight, Sir John Falstaff, has run out of funds. He instructs his henchmen Bardolph and Pistol to deliver identical letters to Alice Ford and Meg Page in hopes of seducing these wealthy wives of Windsor into gaining access to their fortunes. The henchmen refuse the assignment and go to find Master Ford to report the indecency, just as Alice and Meg compare their two letters, determined to upend the old knight’s agenda. All the while, Nannetta and Fenton try to consummate their love and thwart her parents’ desire for their daughter to marry the sycophantic Dr. Caius. 4 “Werther… Werther… Qui m’aurait dit la place” from Werther (1892) Music by Jules Massenet Libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet, and Georges Hartmann Charlotte Xiao Xiao Myra Huang, coach-pianist Recorded in Changsha, China and NYC Rereading again the many letters she has received from him, Charlotte marvels at how she ever had the strength to send Werther away. Indeed, she returns his love, but is married to Albert, her deceased mother’s choice as her husband, to whom she has vowed to remain constant regardless her desires. Act V, Final Scene, from Roméo et Juliette (1867) Music by Charles Gounod Libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré Roméo Montague Giwooung Kim Juliette Capulet Heather Lake Thomas Muraco, coach-pianist Livestreamed from William R. and Irene D. Miller Hall An age-old vendetta between their powerful families have driven these two star-crossed lovers to take desperate measures. Although their parents object, and Romeo having been banished, the lovers persist in their hope to be united. Juliet has imbibed a potion, making her appear dead so as to be able to eventually escape with her love. However, word of her secret plans fail to reach Romeo, who, believing Juliette to be deceased, arrives at her tomb to say a last goodbye and to end his own life. “Al dolce guidami” from Anna Bolena (1830) Music by Gaetano Donizetti Libretto by Felice Romani Anna Bolena Hyeseong Kim Kristen Kemp, coach-pianist Recorded in Incheon, South Korea and NYC Locked in her cell in the Tower of London, the Queen, Anne Boleyn awaits execution, having been wrongly convicted by her husband King Henry VIII for infidelity with her former lover Richard Percy. She remained resolute in her wedding vows and so would not admit to the false charge of adultery. As such, she now recounts happier days with Percy as she awaits the horrors of the beheading scaffold. 5 Act III, scene 2, “Courtroom Scene” from The Crucible (1961) Music by Robert Ward Libretto by Bernard Stambler, after Arthur Miller John Proctor Michael Leyte-Vidal Judge Thomas Danforth Ongama Mhlontlo Abigail Williams Suehyun Ko Mary Warren Jordan Beaver Giles Corey Marcus Jefferson Ezekiel Cheever Alexander Rodriguez Elizabeth Proctor Maria Consamus Reverend Samuel Parris Nicholas Farrauto Thomas Putnam Daniel Chiu Ann Putnam Sara Mortensen Reverend John Hale Yi Yang Francis Nurse Wei Chen Ruth Putnam Haeun Baek Martha Sheldon Elizabeth Perry Betty Parris Julia Garcia Bridget Booth Heesoo Shin Susanna Walcott Martha Allen Mercy Lewis Ping Gu Myra Huang, coach-pianist Kristen Kemp, second coach-pianist Recorded Live in Assembly Hall at Riverside Church A conspiracy of witchcraft has overtaken Salem, Massachusetts, as a group of teenage girls, led by Abigail Williams, claim they have been psychically attacked by certain members of the community and now sit as special witnesses of the court. Judge Danforth has been summoned from Boston to oversee the proceedings, as has Reverend Hale, an expert in the occult. The well- respected farmer John Proctor’s own wife Elizabeth has been accused and taken into custody. John Proctor arrives at court with Mary Warren, the Proctor’s new house maid and former member of the girls’ crew, to try to dispel the machinations of Abigail Williams and the other girls whose motives are not as virtuous as they might appear. “E lucevan le stelle” from Tosca (1900) Music by Giacomo Puccini Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa Mario Cavaradossi Xiaojie Ji Nicolò Sbuelz, coach-pianist Recorded in Changsha, China and NYC Even after severe physical torture, Cavaradossi, a political sympathizer to the former Roman Republic, has refused to provide information to Baron Scarpia, the chief of police, concerning the whereabouts of the resistance movement. In the early morning hours on the rooftop of the Castel Sant’Angelo, Cavaradossi awaits his death by firing squad and reminisces on his loving memories of Tosca. 6 Act I, scene 2, “Papers Scene” from The Consul (1950) Music and Libretto by Gian-Carlo Menotti Magda Sorel Tiffanie Trujillo Secretary Kalyn Powers Thomas Muraco, coach-pianist Livestreamed from Gordon K. and Harriet Greenfield Hall Magda Sorel has tried in vain to escape her home country in order to join John, her political refugee husband, in freedom across the border. She arrives again at the Consulate only to be told once more that she has not submitted all of the required paperwork - she will need an additional appointment to speak with the Consul directly.