Carmen Balthrop 1948–2021
UMD Professor of Voice and Opera 1980–2021

Our Pamina has left us. In this dark season of dark theaters, our Carmen Balthrop passed away and we have felt our loss achingly. The longest serving member of our Voice and Opera Division, born and raised only a few miles from this theater, embodied the spirit of her Muse, and nurtured the dreams of students for decades. Her absence is palpable, her contributions a vibrant legacy. The Maryland Opera Studio returns to the light with these performances of Die Zauberflöte, The Magic Flute, and offers them in dedication and tribute to one who glowed with light, our Carmen Balthrop, our Pamina.

Carmen fell in love with opera as a child, listening to radio broadcasts with her father. It was a love that grew to a life’s calling, manifesting itself in an international career with a bevy of leading operatic roles. Fate decreed one of her portrayals would be Mozart’s iconic Pamina. As a young woman of color, her path to a career in opera was not an easy one. She, like her onstage persona, faced her own trials. But she wisely exercised fluidity in her response to prevailing prejudice, forged an indomitable will that burned in her soul, and through it carved her own magic. With successes in theaters and on stages in far flung countries secured, her Muse led her home to her alma mater, the University of Maryland. It was here she chose to teach and share her passion for opera.

When the curtain rises before you, we celebrate the life of our mentor, our colleague, our sister, our Pamina. May the glorious music of Mozart you share with us adorn her path in the eternal light through infinite Widsom’s portal.

— Gran Wilson, Professor and Coordinator of the Voice and Opera Division

SYNOPSIS
 

Act I

Tamino, a prince, is pursued by a monster. The Three Ladies, who serve the Queen of the Night, come to his rescue and kill the monster. They stand over the unconscious Tamino, discussing which of them should guard the prince and which should go and tell the queen, finally deciding that all three of them will go. Tamino awakes as the bird catcher Papageno arrives and introduces himself to the prince, saying that he was the one to slay the monster. The Ladies return and punish Papageno’s lie by placing a padlock on his mouth. They give Tamino a portrait of the Queen’s daughter Pamina, who, they tell him, is being held by the evil Sarastro. He instantly falls in love with Pamina’s portrait. The Queen of the Night appears and charges Tamino with rescuing her daughter. The Ladies give Tamino and Papageno magic instruments to protect them on their journey. The prince is given a flute while the bird catcher receives a set of bells. Joining them are three Spirits who guide their way.

In a room in Sarastro’s palace, his slave Monostatos pursues Pamina. Papageno, sent ahead by Tamino, enters and the slave and the bird catcher frighten each other away. Papageno soon returns however and tells Pamina that her mother has sent Tamino to rescue her and that he is in love with her. She is overjoyed to hear the news and, upon learning of Papageno’s desire to find a wife, the two sing of their hopeful love.

The Spirits guide Tamino to Sarastro’s temple, telling him that if he is steadfast, patient and silent, he will defeat Sarastro. Tamino is denied entrance at two of the three temple doors. At the third door, a high priest appears and tells Tamino that it is the Queen, not Sarastro, who is evil. Assured that Pamina is alive, Tamino plays his flute to summon Papageno. As wild animals are charmed by its sounds, he hears Papageno’s pipe in response and runs toward the sound. While trying to escape, Papageno and Pamina are captured by Monostatos. But Papageno plays his magic bells and Monostatos is left helpless. Sarastro enters to great fanfare. Papageno trembles in fear but Pamina tells him that they must speak the truth. She tells Sarastro that she was trying to escape because of Monostatos’s unwanted advances. Sarastro says that he cannot return her to her mother but promises her eventual freedom after she has learned the ways of virtue. He punishes Monostatos, and orders Pamina and Tamino to be veiled and led into the temple for purification.

Act II

Sarastro tells the priests that Tamino will undergo the initiation rites and that Pamina and Tamino will be married. Sarastro separates the couple, saying that they must remain apart while Tamino undergoes the dangerous trials.

The Priest tells Tamino that he can still turn back, but Tamino says that he is determined to do anything necessary to win Pamina. Papageno at first refuses to undergo the trials, but when the Priest tells him that, if he does, he'll be able to meet Papagena, he agrees. Tamino and Papageno are told that to pass the test they should not trust women and that they must not speak to them. The Three Ladies appear asking what they are doing there saying that the Queen is on her way. Papageno is scared but Tamino tells him to be quiet and refuses to speak to them.

Pamina is asleep. Monostatos approaches her, full of lust. The Queen of the Night arrives and scares him away. She gives Pamina a dagger and tells her she must kill Sarastro. After she leaves, Monostatos returns and threatens to reveal the plot. Sarastro enters and drives him away and comforts Pamina.

Tamino and Papageno are still in the midst of their trial. Papageno is tempted by an old woman who offers him water. She disappears when the Spirits arrive to bring them actual refreshments and guide Tamino through the rest of the trials. Pamina enters and tries to speak with Tamino. When he only responds in silence she believes that he no longer loves her and she leaves in despair.

Papageno enters and plays his bells, singing that all he wants is a wife. The old woman reappears and tells him that if he doesn’t marry her he will remain alone forever. After Papageno reluctantly agrees, she magically becomes the young and beautiful Papagena. But before he can embrace her, she disappears again.

The Spirits find Pamina attempting to commit suicide with her mother’s dagger, thinking that Tamino has abandoned her. They take the dagger from her and assure Pamina that she will see Tamino soon.

Two men sing of the triumph of the brave. Tamino says that he is ready to be tested. When he hears Pamina’s call, the men assure Tamino that the test of silence is over. Pamina and Tamino rush toward each other and she shares loving words. United, they pass through the final two trials unscathed.

Papageno, in despair at his loss of Papagena, attempts to commit suicide. The Spirits arrive and tell him he should play his magic bells to call her. Once he does, she instantly appears and the two sing a stammering duet of their wedded bliss soon to come.

Monostatos appears with the Queen and her Ladies, as they plot to destroy the world, but Sarastro appears with Tamino and Pamina at his side. The young lovers are united and everyone gives thanks to the gods.

— Opera Philadelphia

DIRECTOR'S NOTE
 

What a thrill it has been to be back in the rehearsal room preparing our return to the Kay Theatre with Mozart and his beloved Magic Flute. As with many things in 2021, even an opera as revered as this well-known work is not without its challenges. Written in 1791, The Magic Flute comes to us from another time, when gender and gender roles were clearly scripted, when race and class defined status without question, and when the body's wisdom was pushed aside in favor of the brain's knowledge. Our students are both eager to devour this beautiful music and unafraid to question the values held within. Not surprisingly, there is much for us all to hold in common, perhaps above all, love's ability to hold us together in challenging times.

— Amanda Consol

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

In the 2014–15 season, Craig Kier joined the University of Maryland School of Music as the director of the Maryland Opera Studio and in 2020, assumed the role of artistic and music director of the Annapolis Opera. Productions since the beginning of his tenure have included Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro, Così fan tutte and La clemenza di Tito, Handel’s Ariodante, Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges, Blitzstein’s Regina, Rossini’s L’occasione fa il ladro, Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld and Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites. This season includes this production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute and John Musto’s Later the Same Evening with the Maryland Opera Studio and La Cenerentola, La bohème and Into the Woods with Annapolis Opera. In the 2019–20 season, he led Tosca with Annapolis Opera, was scheduled to return to the Brevard Music Center to conduct their season opening concert and Die Enführung aus dem Serail, returned to Houston Ballet to lead gala performances and The Nutcracker, which he has done since 2011, and continued his association with the National Symphony Orchestra, assisting Gianandrea Noseda. In the 2018–19 season, he made his San Francisco Merola Opera Center debut, Indianapolis Opera debut and returned to Opera Birmingham and Houston Ballet. At the University of Maryland, he served as artistic director of the year-long Kurt Weill Festival, conducting performances of The Road of Promise, Mahagonny Songspiel and Street Scene. Recent season highlights include conducting debuts with Wolf Trap Opera leading Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, Brevard Opera Center leading La cenerentola, Anchorage Opera leading Don Pasquale, Arizona Opera leading Madama Butterfly and Opera Saratoga leading Verdi’s Falstaff. From 2010–13, Kier was associate conductor under Patrick Summers at Houston Grand Opera. During his time with the company, he led dozens of performances including Madama Butterfly, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Die Fledermaus, Trial by Jury and the world premiere of Huang Ruo’s Bound. Additional guest engagements for Kier include La bohème with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Il barbiere di Siviglia with Atlanta Opera, Kurt Weill’s Lost in the Stars with the Glimmerglass Festival, The Sound of Music with Central City Opera, Thomas’ Hamlet and La traviata with Opera Birmingham, L’italiani in Algeri with Opera Santa Barbara and The Music Man at Royal Opera House Muscat, Oman.

Stage Director Amanda Consol’s recent projects include a double bill of Cendrillon and Savitri for Wolf Trap Opera, Street Scene and The Dialogues of the Carmelites at the Maryland Opera Studio, and workshops and readings of new works with companies including Vital Opera and Washington National Opera (WNO). At WNO, Consol’s work includes programs for the American Opera Initiative and scenes programs with the Cafritz Young Artists where she has also served as dramatic instructor. Consol teaches young artists around the country for programs including CoOPERAtive at the Westminster Choir College, Sewanee Music Festival and at the University of Maryland where she has served as the director of acting for the Maryland Opera Studio since 2018.
 

Celebrated as a “fresh presence,” and “fully alive” (Washington Post), Jonathan King, assistant conductor, currently serves as interim associate conductor with The Washington Chorus and is a doctoral candidate in choral conducting at the University of Maryland School of Music, where he has directed the University Chorale and serves as assistant conductor and junior lecturer with Maryland Opera Studio. King has prepared choirs to work with eminent conductors including Leonard Slatkin, Marin Alsop and Gianandrea Noseda, and regularly serves as assistant conductor to John Nelson. In 2022, King will work closely with Nelson in a monumental recording project of Handel’s Messiah at Westminster Abbey in London. As “a deft and sensitive accompanist” (Chicago Tribune), King has served as a répétiteur with the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Unlimited Series, and at the Oregon Bach Festival, where he also served as assistant conductor during the 2018 and 2019 seasons. As a collaborative pianist, King has worked with celebrated singers including Nicole Cabell, J’Nai Bridges, Nicholas Phan and Will Liverman. As a duo, King and Liverman have recorded with Odradek Records and Deutsche Grammophon, and maintain an active recital schedule. They have appeared on historic world stages including Wigmore Hall and the Kennedy Center, and their album, “Whither Must I Wander” (Odradek, 2020), was named one of ten “Best Classical Recordings of 2020” by the Chicago Tribune, and “one of 2020’s finest classical releases” by ArtsFuse. The album also received a Critic’s Choice Award by Opera News. King holds two Master of Music degrees in piano chamber music and choral conducting from the University of Michigan, where he was the recipient of the Edward P. Frolich and Brehm Fellowship awards, and a Bachelor of Music degree from Wheaton College (IL).

 

 

 

 

PRODUCTION CREDITS