Opera North: The Magic Flute

**french frank** · 02-02-19, 09:50

Brilliant review, ferney. Much as I'm devoted to Mozart, I find myself slipping away from the Flute and towards the Abduction as a favourite theatrical performance. The oddnesses of the plot often seem to be replicated in the production, which may well be intentional - but …

What do you have against boys/children singing the Boys? There have been some exceptionally good boys in WNO productions: at least, good singing and if the 'acting' is a bit robotic, well, it makes them seem more otherworldly.

The Singspiel dialogue can be a bit of a headache. The WNO have had the singing in German, the spoken dialogue in English which, in one sense sort of works, but … My one recording of the Abduction is Böhm, Staatskappelle Dresden, with Auger, Grist, Schreier, Neukirch and Moll - and all the spoken dialogue is by actors (as is Selim Bassa!).

Anyway, sounds as if you had a good night's entertainment (just bought my ticket for Roberto Devereux in April).

**Conchis** · 02-02-19, 10:15

I think the problem with Zauberflote is Schikanader's poor libretto/plot, which is unclear, episodic and wanders off into ellipsis at the end. In fact, this opera doesn't seem to end at all - I can never remember what happens other than some vague stuff about the Konigin and Monostasos being defeated and Sarastro 'winning'.

I saw it in Hamburg last month, in a production that had decided the work was a pantomime. It wasn't too bad, but I think there is a strong case for performing it as an oratorio (as Klemperer more or less did in his recording) and leaving the spoken word/acting bits out. I think most would agree, they are no great loss, in fact not a loss at all. It's too much of a call to ask singers to be 'real' actors.

And sung in English? Very hard to justify that, I'd say. Give me original German, or nothing.

**ferneyhoughgeliebte** · 02-02-19, 10:38

Originally posted by french frank View Post

What do you have against boys/children singing the Boys? There have been some exceptionally good boys in WNO productions: at least, good singing and if the 'acting' is a bit robotic, well, it makes them seem more otherworldly.

I can imagine it could work well - with good, strong children's voices. But these three (two girls and a boy, I think) had very small voices, which squeaked when they tried to get stronger (the quartet with Pamina was terribly disappointing as she tried to tone down her voice to blend with hers and they still struggled to be heard) - and tuning was often a problem, too. Yes, my "should be done with adults", with its implication of "always" was too sweeping, but the dangers inherent in using children were made rather apparent last night.

And, yes, I did have a wonderful time, for all my reservations; there's just something indestructible about Mozart, and this work in particular (this was my sixth Flute - it's the "opera" I've seen most productions of, and was my first experience of a professional opera production when I was 15). And it was a very full Grand Theatre - I didn't see a single empty seat (and all the ice cream "fridges" had run out by the end of the interval: I've never known that to happen before!) and of all ages - including some very small [and very well-behaved] children (I think, perhaps, siblings of the children onstage), as well as teenagers and young adults - and everybody seemed to have had a good time jusging from the enthusiastic applause at the very end* and the comments during the interval and as we left the theatre. That's near enough 1500 very satisfied customers!

* = almost no applause after the arias, except for Ms Hay (we're only human, even if I suspect that she isn't!)

**french frank** · 02-02-19, 13:32

Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View Post

I can imagine it could work well - with good, strong children's voices. But these three (two girls and a boy, I think) had very small voices, which squeaked when they tried to get stronger (the quartet with Pamina was terribly disappointing as she tried to tone down her voice to blend with hers and they still struggled to be heard) - and tuning was often a problem, too.

Yes, that sounds like a production miscalculation. It does need good, 'cathedral choir' trebles who can belt it out.

Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View Post

And it was a very full Grand Theatre - I didn't see a single empty seat (and all the ice cream "fridges" had run out by the end of the interval: I've never known that to happen before!) and of all ages - including some very small [and very well-behaved] children (I think, perhaps, siblings of the children onstage), as well as teenagers and young adults - and everybody seemed to have had a good time jusging from the enthusiastic applause at the very end* and the comments during the interval and as we left the theatre. That's near enough 1500 very satisfied customers!

I did read something somewhere recently about the Christmas season ending, so how about a good pantomime - referring to a production of The Magic Flute. So many operas need to be a good romp which 'anyone can enjoy' and no one should be 'intimidated' by. But … but … but … we lot do have our expectation of high musical standards which, as far as we're concerned, opera demands.

**ferneyhoughgeliebte** · 02-02-19, 15:18

Originally posted by french frank View Post

I did read something somewhere recently about the Christmas season ending, so how about a good pantomime - referring to a production of The Magic Flute.

Oh, I hate it when people do this sort of thing!

**oddoneout** · 02-02-19, 16:00

Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View Post

And, yes, I did have a wonderful time, for all my reservations; there's just something indestructible about Mozart, and this work in particular (this was my sixth Flute - it's the "opera" I've seen most productions of, and was my first experience of a professional opera production when I was 15). And it was a very full Grand Theatre - I didn't see a single empty seat (and all the ice cream "fridges" had run out by the end of the interval: I've never known that to happen before!) and of all ages - including some very small [and very well-behaved] children (I think, perhaps, siblings of the children onstage), as well as teenagers and young adults - and everybody seemed to have had a good time jusging from the enthusiastic applause at the very end* and the comments during the interval and as we left the theatre. That's near enough 1500 very satisfied customers!

* = almost no applause after the arias, except for Ms Hay (we're only human, even if I suspect that she isn't!)

What a heartwarming post, thank you. In these fractious and grey times it is good to be reminded that lovely things are still happening.

**Darkbloom** · 02-02-19, 23:03

Has anyone ever heard a good Sarastro in the theatre? Unless you were lucky enough to hear Kurt Moll in his prime it's usually a bit of a compromise. All too often it turns out to be a buzzy baritone. It just doesn't work. I know basses aren't usually rated for their low notes but in this role it makes a big difference if they don't have them.

**ferneyhoughgeliebte** · 02-02-19, 23:06

Originally posted by Conchis View Post

I think the problem with Zauberflote is Schikanader's poor libretto/plot, which is unclear, episodic and wanders off into ellipsis at the end. In fact, this opera doesn't seem to end at all - I can never remember what happens other than some vague stuff about the Konigin and Monostasos being defeated and Sarastro 'winning'.

IIRC, Brigid Brophy sets out the history of Schikaneder's libretto in her book Mozart the Dramatist - that the original commissioner wanted Sarastro to be the villain, but this backer pulled out, and Schikanedar reused the material he'd written - at so late a date that there wasn't time to rewrite any of it - for another commission in which the Queen could be used as the villain. None of this is mentioned in the ON programme book, so it might have been discredited since; but it does account for much of the muddled continuity of the plot. The director's idea that the whole thing might have been a dream could create "sense" out of the plot - and making both Sarastro and the Queen equally tyrannical also fits neatly from such a "spliced" story - but neither idea was thoroughly thought-out.

I saw it in Hamburg last month, in a production that had decided the work was a pantomime. It wasn't too bad, but I think there is a strong case for performing it as an oratorio (as Klemperer more or less did in his recording) and leaving the spoken word/acting bits out. I think most would agree, they are no great loss, in fact not a loss at all.

I'm not sure about "most" - and certainly I would disagree that pretending that Zauberflote is an Oratorio/Cantata (or anything other than a singspiel) would be an "improvement".

It's too much of a call to ask singers to be 'real' actors.

Certainly on this showing.

And sung in English? Very hard to justify that, I'd say. Give me original German, or nothing.

Me, too - and the idea of dialogue in English and sung material in German appeals to me. (The supposed benefits of translation somewhat lost in the quicker numbers; to be honest, who knows what the words of either of the Queen's arias are as they're being performed. She could suddenly decide to make derogatory comments about the conductor for much of it and nobody would notice!)

**Conchis** · 03-02-19, 00:00

As so singers being called up not act dramatically: in recordings, it's common (in fact, usual) for actors to do the spoken parts. Most of the roles in Zauberflote are not that demanding, except for that of Papageno, where a fair bit of dramatic ability is required. I've seen the part played terribly hammily in the past.

**ferneyhoughgeliebte** · 03-02-19, 00:10

Originally posted by Conchis View Post

As so singers being called up not act dramatically: in recordings, it's common (in fact, usual) for actors to do the spoken parts. Most of the roles in Zauberflote are not that demanding, except for that of Papageno, where a fair bit of dramatic ability is require. I've seen the part played terribly hammily in the past.

Agreed on all points - and with memories of records of yore where the actor called in had a voice that was almost but not quite completely unlike that of the singer he was "doubling".

**ferneyhoughgeliebte** · 03-02-19, 09:53

Fiona Maddocks in The Guardian gave it a 3/5 review:

Was it all a dream in Opera North’s new Magic Flute?

Outwitting narrative convention, Mozart’s The Magic Flute retains its mysteries even for those of us who have seen it, for work and pleasure, tens of times and assume we know every extraordinary note. The plot loops, skips, tangles. A simple fairytale grows more sinister on each encounter. What type of compassion permits the “all-wise” Sarastro to wrench a daughter from her mother, even if she is Queen of the Night? Rescue, revenge and righteousness snarl into one. Add to that a pantomimic subplot and the underlying tensions between Freemasonry and Catholicism – Mozart, typically nifty, had a foot in both – and complexity reigns.

Opera North’s new Flute, staged by James Brining, artistic director of Leeds Playhouse, follows the trend of recent productions (Netia Jones’s for Garsington last summer, Simon McBurney’s for English National Opera’s, returning in March) in confronting, instead of minimising, the enigmas. The habitual light-dark, good-evil dichotomy is no longer adequate. Brining’s take, attractively designed by Colin Richmond (with lighting by Chris Davey), has problems, but there’s plenty to enjoy, not least the warm, Irish Papageno of Gavan Ring. His humour threads its charm throughout, providing a framework for the entire opera, as Mozart’s collaborator and librettist, Emanuel Schikaneder, who created the role of Papageno in Vienna in 1791, must have intended.

Musical standards are rigorous, with period instrument style to the fore under the baton of Robert Howarth. Woodwind playing, notably from bassoons and basset horns, was fruity and prominent on first night. Every word of Jeremy Sams’s evergreen, witty English translation was audible, sung without surtitles. Some of the spoken text, conversely, sounded stiff and needs more projection. It’s never easy. Papageno aside, these characters’ identities depend on the richness of the music they sing. In speech they are little more than archetypes.

In a dumbshow during the overture, a child (Madeleine Barker) puts on a crackly recording of The Magic Flute before bed. I guess such miracles do happen. The grownups are having a distinctly fractious dinner party. Parental dysfunction looms. It all suggests a troubled dream, and it’s some relief that Brining doesn’t hammer that idea too heavily. Sarastro (John Savournin), impeccable in white and gold, with militaristic regalia, and dark glasses reminiscent of the Rev Jim Jones, leads a surreal sect of obedient men and meek, habit-clad handmaidens. The Three Boys (whether for gender equality or global shortage, here sung by two girls and a boy) are cadets in shorts and side caps. One omission fell flat: Papagena (a delightful Amy Freston) is robbed of her chance to transform from old crone (too ageist? Come off it) to sexy babe. Instead, she merely pulls off her veil and reveals, beneath her red robes, a pair of fabulous dancer’s legs.

The Australian-Chinese tenor Kang Wang, a gleaming-voiced Tamino, and his Pamina, South African soprano Vuvu Mpofu, lyrical and sweet-toned, made memorable Opera North debuts. Samantha Hay was a precise, fiery Queen of the Night, John Findon convincingly oafish and malicious as Monostatos. For the challenging trial scene, Douglas O’Connell’s video designs gave a lively impression of fire and water, the torrents gushing from brick tunnels surely filmed in Leeds’s own post-industrial waterways.

... and I agree with her about the absence of "Wife of Bath"-like aspect of Papagena. (But that miserable "precise, fiery" summing-up of Samantha Heys seriously understates what was much more astonishing!)

The week in classical: The Magic Flute; Aurora Orchestra – review

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/27/the-magic-flute-opera-north-review-aurora-orchesta-du-yun-where-we-lost-our-shadows

Was it all a dream in Opera North’s new Magic Flute? And songs from the road with Aurora Orchestra

**ferneyhoughgeliebte** · 03-02-19, 10:27

3/5 from The Stage, too:

James Brining’s ambitious, if occasionally unclear, production of Mozart’s philosophical comedy.

Mozart’s opera contains so many elements – fairytale, quest story, spiritual journey, low comedy and high-minded defence of Freemasonry – that any production is hard put to it to keep them all in play while preserving some semblance of unity. Interviewed in the programme booklet to his Opera North production, James Brining is clearly aware of the magnitude of the task but equally determined to create a show “that has something to say about today”. That’s surely the right goal, and if what he has achieved only partially holds together he and his design team plus a strong cast certainly keep the audience involved.

The show starts with a young girl putting on an LP of the overture which launches the opera while in the background a row kicks off at an upmarket dinner party; she remains present as an observer for much of the action. Exactly where and when the events portrayed are happening is uncertain, but Sarastro – traditionally presented as the wise leader of a spiritual brotherhood – registers here as a misogynistic creep running a sinister cult; there’s more than a hint of The Handmaid’s Tale about proceedings. At the end his followers appear to liberate themselves, and one can only cheer them on.

If the narrative trajectory of the piece feels insecure, the music-making under period-specialist conductor Robert Howarth maintains spirited tempos and energised textures.

Vocally notable are Australian-Chinese tenor Kang Wang, whose vital, brilliant tone is a major asset; South African soprano Vuvu Mpofu, whose Pamina grows ever more expressive as the evening proceeds; John Savournin’s firm, authoritarian Sarastro; Gavan Ring, whose Irish brogue forms an important part of his charm offensive as Papageno; and Samantha Hay, who hits all the high notes as the Queen of the Night.

... and all the low notes, and everything in between!

404

https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2019/the-magic-flute-review-at-grand-theatre-leeds-2/

Theatre news and reviews from London’s West End and across the UK, latest interviews with stars and opinion leaders in the entertainment and performing arts industry, and theatre jobs. The Stage is the world’s longest-running theatre publication.

**french frank** · 03-02-19, 10:33

Not sure I agree with this bit from FM's review: "What type of compassion permits the “all-wise” Sarastro to wrench a daughter from her mother, even if she is Queen of the Night?"

Pamina is Tamino's "intended" - intended by the ' “all-wise” Sarastro'. Tamino is being guided towards her, first of all by the portrait. The whole point of the opera is to bring the two of them together, isn't it? Would an alternative version have had the Queen of the Night luring Tamino and giving her daughter to Tamino? Would that have been more satisfactory?

I think it's a bit prosaic to depict this as 'wrenching a daughter from her mother'. I do find it more comprehensible to see Sarastro as some mysterious (if not always comprehensible) force for good.

**ferneyhoughgeliebte** · 03-02-19, 10:33

And another 3/5 from Tim Ashley in ... The Guardian (they sent two reviewers?!):

The Magic Flute review – dark, eclectic and disquieting

James Brining’s new production of The Magic Flute for Opera North opens with a young girl sitting on her bed, listening to a recording of the opera we are about to watch. Visible beyond the doors of her room, a somewhat tense dinner party is taking place, at which the relationships between some of the guests resemble those of Mozart’s characters. During a pause in the overture, we hear a man saying grace, whom we we will later identify with Sarastro. A loud bang at the door heralds the arrival of an irate woman, possibly the girl’s mother and clearly an unwanted guest, who will become the Queen of the Night. A second woman, who could be Pamina, brings the girl her supper, and settles her for the night. The opera subsequently plays itself out, we are led to assume, in the girl’s imagination. Or does it?

In keeping with a work in which appearances repeatedly prove deceptive, Brining never returns to the scene of the opening, though we glimpse the girl throughout the production, either among the members of Sarastro’s community or as one of Papageno’s children. Instead, Brining embarks upon an eclectic, at times disquieting phantasmagoria that probes the opera’s darker contradictions and ambiguities, in terms, he tells us in a programme note, drawn from William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, with its idea of progress as the product of tension between contrary forces and its vision that “Attraction and Repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate are necessary to Human existence”.

By no means the first director to view Sarastro’s authority as restrictive, Brining contrasts the oppressive sobriety of his community with the greater emotional freedoms of the world beyond. The red-clad nuns who serve Sarastro’s priests and bear their children remind us of Margaret Atwood’s handmaids, and in an insidiously nasty touch we eventually discover that not only John Findon’s repellent Monostatos but also John Savournin’s high-minded Sarastro are controlling Vuvu Mpofu’s rebellious Pamina by means of sedation. Samantha Hay’s vindictive Queen of the Night wants to destroy Sarastro’s world by attacking it from without, but it becomes apparent that transformation can only come from within. Papagena (Amy Freston) is reimagined as a disaffected community member, who finally escapes with Gavan Ring’s endearing Papageno. Pamina’s eventual admission as the consort of Kang Wang’s Tamino ultimately impels the community’s women to tear off their veils and reclaim their identities.

Though at times impressive, the result can be heavy handed. It is often left to the cast to supply the charm and grace that offsets and heightens the work’s profundities. Mpofu and Kang are excellent as the central couple: he sounds entirely at ease in a role that many tenors find exacting; Mpofu, on this showing, is an exemplary Mozartian, with sumptuous tone and exquisite phrasing. Ring makes an attractive Papageno – funny, astute, at times extremely touching. Hay sings with lethal accuracy, her high Fs comfortably in place. Savournin, though lighter-voiced than some Sarastros, exudes a slightly sinister charisma, suited to Brining’s view of his character. Conductor Robert Howarth propels the score forward with great urgency and clarity, though the period-style playing took a while to settle on opening night.

The Magic Flute review – dark, eclectic and disquieting

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/20/the-magic-flute-review-dark-eclectic-and-disquieting

James Brining’s new production with Opera North is a sometimes heavy-handed phantasmagoria that probes the dark heart of Mozart’s work

Opera North: The Magic Flute

Opera North: The Magic Flute

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