Opera Innovators Series: Karen Slack

W.A. MOZART: “Non so più cosa son, cosa faccio” from Le Nozze di Figaro
Julia Janowski (M.M. '24), mezzo-soprano
Brett Hodgdon, pianist*^

DOUGLAS MOORE: “Willow Song” from The Ballad of Baby Doe
Laura Santamaria-Mendez (B.M. '23), soprano
James Myers, pianist*

PIOTR ILLYICH TCHAIKOVSKY: Lenski’s Aria, "Kuda, kuda vï udalilis” from Eugene Onegin
Fred C. VanNess Jr. (BLO Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist), tenor
James Myers, piano*

GIACOMO PUCCINI: “Donde lieta uscì” from La Bohème
Jamila Drecker-Waxman (P.S.C. '23), soprano
James Myers, piano*

W. A. MOZART: “Dove Sono” from Le Nozze di Figaro
Kayla Kovacs (M.M. '24), soprano
Brett Hodgdon, piano*^

*Boston Conservatory faculty member 
^BLO Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artist alum

Boston Conservatory at Berklee’s Voice Department accomplishes the extraordinary, meeting the needs of its community and the evolving industry through its relevant curriculum, and through a myriad of exciting opportunities that surface on our campus every day. The scope and variety of annual Voice Department performances and curated offerings testify of the ways Boston Conservatory mentors its students to thrive as artist-citizens in an ever-changing world and marketplace. We continue building on the rich history of our Voice Department that houses the oldest opera training program in America, and that has served young artists, the field of singing, and the city of Boston for more than 100 years. Indeed, our students, faculty and staff are heirs to a harvest of memory, spirit, dream, and music that long preceded us and that now nourishes and sustains us.

Just this past September, Boston Conservatory announced a new educational and artist development partnership with our neighbor, Boston Lyric Opera (BLO). The partnership unlocks incredible opportunities for Boston Conservatory students and members of BLO’s Jane and Steven Akin Emerging Artists, and includes the Opera Innovators Series—a curated collection of talks and master classes that engage some of the most innovative and sought-after figures in the opera world. Additionally, Voice Department classes in art song, vocal pedagogy, and the choral arts, will welcome an exceptional lineup of visiting clinicians, each of whom brings their own powerful and distinct voice to bear on our season’s productions and curricula. This academic year also welcomes several new faculty members, and my arrival as chair of the Department and artistic director of the voice and opera performance season.

I am so grateful to our generous donors whose support provides access to the tools and resources our students and faculty need to succeed here and beyond. Providing a transformative high level of training is Boston Conservatory’s reason for being. Inherent in this charge is our faculty and administration’s commitment to foster a genuine sense of goodness, breathing familial inspiration through our Conservatory’s hallways and learning spaces. There is an ethic of care here that is distinct, and that champions people’s goals and aspirations in ways where they feel creative, safe, powerful, and courageous in and through the learning. We’re helping students build a life for themselves through music that has purpose and that could actually change the world. With a faculty of international renown, a stealthy annual lineup of important visiting artists, and a strong commitment to a meaningful list of civic and global initiatives, Boston Conservatory’s Voice Department is an exciting place to be!

I hope you enjoy your experience with us this evening, and welcome you to join us again, and often.

—Isaí Jess Muñoz, Chair of Voice, Boston Conservatory at Berklee

W.A. MOZART: “Non so più cosa son, cosa faccio” from Le Nozze di Figaro

Non so piu cosa son, cosa faccio,
I don’t know any more what I am, what I’m doing,

Or di foco, ora sono di ghiaccio, 
Now I’m fire, now I’m ice,

Ogni donna cangiar di colore, 
Any woman makes me change color,

Ogni donna mi fa palpitar. 
Any woman makes me quiver.

Solo ai nomi d’amor, di diletto,
At just the names of love, of pleasure,

Mi si turba, mi s’altera il petto, 
My breast is stirred up and changed,

E a parlare mi sforza d’amore 
And a desire I can’t explain

Un desio ch’io non posso spiegar.
Forces me to speak of love.

Parlo d’amore vegliando,
I speak of love while awake,

Parlo d’amor sognando,  
I speak of love while dreaming,

All’acqua, all’ombra, ai monti, 
To the water, the shade, the hills,

Ai fiori, all’erbe, ai fonti, 
The flowers, the grass, the fountains,

All’eco, all’aria, ai venti,
The echo, the air, and the winds

Che il suon de’vani accenti
Which carry away with them

Portano via con se. 
The sound of my vain words

E se non ho chi m’oda,
And if there’s nobody to hear me,

Parlo d’amor con me! 
I speak of love to myself!

—Translation by Jane Bishop

DOUGLAS MOORE: “Willow Song” from The Ballad of Baby Doe

Willow, where we met together
Willow, when our love was new
Willow, if he once
should be returning
Pray tell him I am weeping too.

So far from each other
While the days pass
In their emptiness away.
Oh my love, must it be forever
Never once again
To meet as on that day?
And never rediscover
The way of telling
The way of knowing
All our hearts would say.

Gone are the ways of pleasure
Gone are the friends I had of yore
Only the recollection fatal
Of the word that was spoken:
Nevermore.

Oh, willow, where we met together
Willow, when our love was new
Willow, if he once
should be returning
Pray tell him I am weeping too.

PIOTR ILLYICH TCHAIKOVSKY: Lenski’s Aria, "Kuda, kuda vï udalilis” from Eugene Onegin 

Kudà, kudà, kudà vi udalilis,
Where, where have you gone,

vesni moyei zlatiye dni? 
Golden days of my spring?

Shto dyen griadushki mnye gatovit? 
What does the coming day have in store for me?

Yevo moi vzor naprasna lovit: 
It escapes my eyes, 

v glubokoi ts'me tayitsa on! 
It is hidden in deep darkness!

Nyet nyuzhde; prav sudbi zakon! 
But nevertheless, the law of fate cannot be wrong!

Paddu li ya, streloy pranzyonni, 
Shall I fall to the deadly arrow, 

il mima proletitona, 
or will it pass by?

vsyo blaga; bdieniya i sna 
All for the better; for life and for sleep

prikhodit cias apredelyonni! 
there is a predetermined time!

Blagaslovyen i dyen zabot,
Blessed is a day of simple tasks

blagaslovyen i ts'mi prikhod! 
And blessed is the day of darkness.

Blesnyeot za-utra luch dennitsi 
When the day beam shines in the morning,

i zayigrayet yarki dyen, 
And the bright day shall reign

a ya, bit mozhet, ya grobnitsi 
But I, perhaps, will descend

saiduv tayinstvennuyu syen! 
Into the mysterious darkness of my fatal tomb!

I pamyat yunovo poeta, 
And the memory of a young poet 

poglatit myedlanneya Lyeta. 
will fall into the Abyss.

Zabudet mir menya; no ti! ti!... Olga... 
The world shall forget me, but you, you, Olga!

Skhazi, pridyosh li, dyeva krasoti, 
Tell me, will you, the maiden of beauty, 

slezu prolit nad rannei urnoi 
come to shed a tear over the early urn?

i dumat: on menya lyubil! 
And think: “he loved me,

On mnye yedinoi posyatil 
he devoted to me

rassvyet pecialni zhizni burnoi, 
The gloomy dawn of his troubled life!”

akh, Olga, ya tebya lyubil! 
Ah Olga, I did love you,

tebe yedinoi posyatil
To you alone I devoted

rassvyet pecialni zhizni burnoi,
The gloomy dawn of my troubled life

akh, Olga, ya tebya lyubil!
Yes Olga, I did love you!

Serdyechni drug, zhelanni drug, 
My beloved friend, my dear friend,

pridì, pridì! zhelanni drug, 
Come, come! Beloved friend,

pridì, ya tvoi suprùg, 
Come, for I am your spouse…

pridì, ya tvoi suprùg, pridì, pridì! 
Come, for I am your spouse, come, come!

Ya zhdu tebya, zhelanni drug, 
I am waiting for you, oh beloved friend

pridì, pridì; ya tvoi suprùg!
Come, for I am your spouse!

—Transliteration by Don Taylor

GIACOMO PUCCINI: “Donde lieta uscì” from La Bohème 

Donde lieta uscì 
Once happily leaving

al tuo grido d'amore, 
To your cry of love,

torna sola Mimì 
Mimi returns alone

al solitario nido. 
To the solitary nest.

Ritorna un'altra volta 
She returns another time

a intesser finti fior. 
To weave together false flowers.

Addio, senza rancor.
Goodbye, without resentment.

Ascolta, ascolta. 
Listen, listen.

Le poche robe aduna 
Gather the little things 

che lasciai sparse.
That I have left scattered about.

Nel mio cassetto 
In my drawer

stan chiusi quel cerchietto d'or
Are enclosed that gold band

e il libro di preghiere. 
And a book of prayers.

Involgi tutto quanto in un grembiale 
Wrap everything much in a smock

e manderò il portiere…
And I will send the concierge...

Bada, sotto il guanciale 
Pay attention, on the pillow

c'è la cuffietta rosa. 
There is a pink bonnet

Se vuoi serbarla a ricordo d'amor!
If you want, keep a memory of love!

Addio, senza rancor. 
Goodbye, without resentment

 —Translation adapted from Terri Eickel

W. A. MOZART: “Dove Sono” from Le Nozze di Figaro

E Susanna non vien!
And Susanna hasn't come!

Sono ansiosa di saper     
I'm anxious to know

come il Conte accolse la proposta. 
How the Count took the proposition.

Alquanto ardito il progetto mi par, 
The plan seems to me a little rash,

E ad uno sposo si vivace e geloso!     
And against such a quick and jealous husband!

Ma che mal c'è?            
But what harm is there in it?

Cangiando i miei vestiti con quelli di Susanna,
To change my clothes with Susanna's,

E suoi co'miei      
And hers with mine

al favor della notte.   
Under cover of night.

Oh, cielo! a qual umil stato fatale     
Oh, Heaven! What a fatal comedown

 io son ridotta da un consorte crudel!    
I'm reduced to by a cruel husband!

Che dopo avermi con un misto inaudito
Who, after he had me, gave me an unheard-of mixture

d'infedeltà, di gelosia, di sdegno!  
Of infidelity, jealousy and rage!

Prima amata, indi offesa, e alfin tradita, 
First loved, then insulted, and at last betrayed,

Fammi or cercar da una mia serva aita!
You force me to seek help from one of my maids!   

Dove sono i bei momenti      
Where are the lovely moments

Di dolcezza e di piacer?    
Of sweetness and pleasure?

Dove andaro i giuramenti  
Where have the promises gone

Di quel labbro menzogner?       
That came from those lying lips?

Perchè mai, se in pianti e in pene   
Why, if all is changed for me

Per me tutto si cangiò,         
Into tears and pain,

La memoria di quel bene  
Has the memory of that goodness

Dal mio sen non trapassò?     
Not vanished from my breast?

Ah! se almen la mia costanza,     
Ah! if only, at least, my faithfulness,

Nel languire amando ognor, 
Which still loves amidst its suffering,

Mi portasse una speranza         
Could bring me the hope

Di cangiar l'ingrato cor!
Of changing that ungrateful heart!

—Translation by Jane Bishop

Boston Conservatory at Berklee's Opera Innovators Series engages today's most innovative leaders in the field of opera and art song to present master classes, panel discussions, Q&As, and more to Boston Conservatory students and members of Boston Lyric Opera's Jane and Steven Akin Emerging Artists. This series is made possible in partnership with Boston Lyric Opera—learn more.

Now in its 46th Season, Boston Lyric Opera’s programming is faithful to tradition while blazing new ground, building new audiences, and creating new ways to enhance the opera-going experience. Since its founding in 1976, BLO has celebrated the art of the voice through innovative productions and public programming. The company has produced World and U.S. premieres, ground-breaking commissions, and coproductions of note, ranging from live stage productions to films streamed worldwide on its platform operabox.tv.

BLO has partnered with organizations such as Detroit Opera, Long Beach Opera, Spoleto USA, Covent Garden, San Francisco Opera and many others. It is also a destination for leading artists, conductors, directors and designers from around the world.

Alongside its main stage programming, artists in BLO’s Jane & Steven Akin Emerging Artists initiative work to hone their craft and prepare for the next steps in their careers; BLO’s wide-reaching community programming and education initiatives introduce opera to new audiences across generations.

Earlier this year BLO launched a new five-year strategic plan, prioritizing fresh thinking about programming, its role in the community, its current and future space needs and strong leadership of all kinds alongside its ongoing commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.

BLO employs 500 artists and creative professionals annually—vocalists, stagehands, costumers, scenic designers, administrators and others. The Company proudly plays a significant and meaningful role in Boston’s vibrant arts community.

Senior Manager of Concert Services – Luis Herrera 
Concert Production Coordinator – Matthew Carey
Concert Production Manager – Kendall Floyd
Senior Manager of Performance Technology – Wes Fowler
Performance Technology Technicians – Sara Pagiaro, Goran Daskalov