UN BALLO IN MASCHERA.(Metropolitan Opera radio broadcast)

BROADCAST OF FEBRUARY 10, 2001

SPONSORED BY TEXACO OVER THE TEXACO-METROPOLITAN OPERA INTERNATIONAL RADIO NETWORK, 1:30 P.M.

UN BALLO IN MASCHERA

 
THE CAST (in order of vocal appearance) 
De Horn (Samuel)         bass, PAUL PLISHKA 
Ribbing (Tom)            bass, JULIEN ROBBINS 
Oscar                    soprano, YOUNGOK SHIN 
Gustavo III (Riccardo)   tenor, FRANCO FARINA 
Anckarstrom (Renato)     baritone, ALEXANDRU AGACHE 
Chief Justice            tenor, BERNARD FITCH 
Ulrica                   mezzo, ELENA ZAREMBA 
Christiano (Silvano)     baritone, MEL ULRICH 
Amelia's Servant         tenor, TIM WILLSON 
Amelia                   soprano, MICHELE CRIDER 
 
Conducted by PLACIDO DOMINGO 
 
Production: Piero Faggioni 
Set and costume designer: Piero Faggioni 
Lighting designer: Piero Faggioni 
Stage director: Laurie Feldman 
Chorus master: Raymond Hughes 
Musical preparation: Joan Dornemann, 
  Robert Myers, Franz Vote, Lucy Arner 
Assistant stage directors: 
  David Kneuss, Gina Lapinski 
Children's chorus director: Elena Doria 
Stage band conductor: Gregory Buchalter 
Prompter: Joan Dornemann 
 
Production a gift of the 
  Annie Laurie Aitken Charitable Trust 
Additional funding from the Jacob Burns 
  Foundation, The William T. Morris 
  Foundation, the Metropolitan Opera Club 
  and Mr. and Mrs. Samuel L. Tedlow 
Revival a gift of Doris J. Sleight 
 
THE SCENES                                Timings (ET) 
  (Stockholm, March 1792) 
ACT I                                     1:30-2:19 
  Sc. 1 Throne room of the royal palace 
  Sc. 2 A warehouse at the port 
ACT II A gorge                            2:48-3:19 
ACT III                                   3:50-4:37 
  Sc. 1 Study in Anckarstrom's mansion 
  Sc. 2 A room in the king's palace 
  Sc. 3 The royal opera house 
 
Announcer: Peter Allen 
Audio director: Jay David Saks 
 
INTERMISSION FEATURES 
 
Producer: Michael Bronson                    Timings 
James Levine talks with Luciano             2:19-2:48 
  Pavarotti, on the occasion of the 
  fortieth anniversary of his opera debut 
Texaco's Opera Quiz(*)                      3:19-3:50 
William Livingstone questions 
  Martin Bernheimer, Suzanne Martinucci, 
  William Weaver 

(*) Send quiz questions to Texaco's Opera Quiz, F.D.R. Station, P.O. Box 805, N.Y.C. 10150, or via Texaco's homepage at www.texaco.com.

THE STORY

ACT I. Courtiers of Gustavo III (Riccardo) await an audience with him in the throne room of the palace, among them a group of conspirators led by Counts De Horn and Ribbing (Samuel and Tom). As the king enters, his page, Oscar, hands him the guest list for a masked ball. Seeing the name of Amelia -- wife of his first minister, Anckarstrom (Renato) -- he muses on his secret passion for her ("La rivedra nell' estasi"). His reverie is interrupted by the arrival of Anckarstrom himself, who has learned of a plot against the king's life. The two men are left alone. Gustavo forbids Renato to reveal any of the conspirators' names, lest he be forced to punish them, but Renato expresses deep concern for the monarch's safety ("Alla vita che t'arride"). Oscar returns with a magistrate who is pressing for the banishment of a fortune-teller, Ulrica. After Oscar defends her ("Volta la terrea"), the king lightheartedly decides to inspect the sorceress's practice and bids his court join him in an incognito visit to her lair (ensemble: "Ogni cura si doni al diletto").