from Act II, Scene 2 of the English opera The Consul by Gian-Carlo Menotti

Libretto: Gian-Carlo Menotti

Role: Magda Sorel, wife of John Sorel

Voice Part: soprano       Fach: spinto soprano

Setting: The Consulate's waiting room, a totalitarian European country after World War II

Synopsis: Thwarted once again in an attempt to get her husband and herself out of the country by the endless documents and papers she must fill out, Magda explodes at the Secretary of the Consul, raging against bureaucracy and its ulterior motives. She finishes, declaring that someday, mankind will break out of the paper chains under which it has labored.

from Act II, Scene 2 of the English opera The Consul by Gian-Carlo Menotti

Libretto: Gian-Carlo Menotti

Role: Nika Magadoff, a magician in the Consul's waiting room

Voice Part: tenor       Fach: buffo tenor

Setting: The Consulate's waiting room, a totalitarian European country after World War II

Synopsis: In an attempt to entertain the others in the Consulate's waiting room, the Magician displays his magical talents while thoroughly annoying the Secretary of the Consul.

from Act II, Scene 1 of the English opera The Consul by Gian-Carlo Menotti

Libretto: Gian-Carlo Menotti

Role: The Mother, mother of John Sorel

Voice Part: contralto       Fach: contralto

Setting: Home of John Sorel, a totalitarian European country after World War II

Synopsis: As her grandchild lies sick in the cradle, the Mother sings a melancholy lullaby, singing that the baby should sleep for her because sleep for the old is too close to death.

from Act I, Scene 1 of the English opera The Consul by Gian-Carlo Menotti

Libretto: Gian-Carlo Menotti

Role: The Mother, mother of John Sorel

Voice Part: contralto       Fach: contralto

Setting: Home of John Sorel, a totalitarian European country after World War II

Synopsis: John Sorel has been shot after attending a secret revolutionary meeting. He comes back to his house and meets his wife Magda and his mother who is tending her grandchild. The secret police are after him and he leaves the house to go into hiding. The Mother sings a lament as she rocks the child, asking if they will ever see the end of the oppression and tyranny evident in the world.