The Queen is dead. Long live Pamina.

After nearly a decade of singing the Queen of the Night in the world’s leading opera houses, Mary retired the role in 2002, and turned her attention to wicked queen's daughter. In 2006, she became only the third woman in the Met's history to sing both roles for the company in different seasons (Lucia Popp and Colette Boky preceded her). So what’s it like to be on the other end of the dagger? “It’s so relaxing to be on the other side! No F’s, no worries! Although I do find it a little distracting to stay in character as Pamina. I find myself singing every note in my head with the Queen.”

It’s one of the few times Mary’s mind has ever strayed from the task at hand in Mozart. “You can’t fool around with Mozart. You either have it or you don’t.” Especially with the killer passages written for Konstanze, one of Mary’s signature roles with NYCO, Philadelphia, Washington, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, and most recently, the Cincinnati May Festival with James Conlon. “There’s nothing so exhilarating and empowering as sailing through some of the most difficult coloratura ever written. It’s like I’m riding the perfect wave and all I really have to do is let it take me along for the ride.”

“Mozart just feels different from other operas. I have a sense of being part of a masterpiece, a part of history. In the Act II finale of Figaro, I feel transported, transcending time and place. It's such an incredible fusion of drama, characters, circumstance and music. Performing it is like the difference between looking at a Renoir or Monet and actually being inside it, living it.”