Sound bites.(Ana Maria Martinez)

Ana Maria Martinez considers Mozart's Pamina "a good friend--she has been true blue for me." Martinez first sang the role in Giessen, Germany, in the 1994-95 season, and she stars in San Francisco Opera's Die Zauberflote this fall [Sept. 9-Oct. 3]. "I think you really do have to have a relationship with a character," she says.

"Pamina is the daughter of the Queen of the Night, with all these fantastic powers. I think Pamina is born with innate wisdom. She understands from the very beginning of her existence that the most important thing is love and connecting with one another." Though she concedes there are no three-dimensional characters in Schikaneder's timeless story, she notes, "It goes beyond the fairy tale--being swept off her feet by Prince Charming--to the idea of love. It's not the marriage license that defines a couple, it's going through those tests and surviving them."

The daughter of a psychoanalyst and a singer, Martinez takes a serious approach to characterization. She regales a listener with detailed descriptions of Mimi's low self-image and the "psychological devastation ... complete trauma" Pamina suffers when the Queen commands her ...