OK, in high school, the big musical theatre group (composed of juniors and seniors) put on a semi-staged production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute (auf Englisch, näturlich). The parts were divided in three: three Taminos, three Paminas, etc. and the arias were divided up similarly. I forget the aria I sang, as Tamino, but I do remember what the other two guys sang. In retrospect, the best of us was Matt Polenzani, who sang the love aria “Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön”, though at the time I thought we were all pretty good. The reason I bring this up:

The tenor Matthew Polenzani has been named the winner of the $50,000 Beverly Sills Artist Award for young American singers at the Metropolitan Opera. The award is intended to further the careers of gifted singers between the ages of 25 and 40 who have appeared in featured solo roles with the Met. Mr. Polenzani will appear as Belmonte in Mozart’s “Die Entführung aus dem Serail” (“The Abduction From the Seraglio”) at the Met, beginning on Saturday. Since his Met debut on Dec. 19, 1997, as Khrushchov in “Boris Godunov,” he has sung 27 roles with the company. Previous recipients of the prize include the baritone Nathan Gunn in 2006 and the mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato in 2007.

Hmm, you should have kept up with your scales and arpeggios, Hugh.