Prom 51: The Magic Flute - 27.08.19

[gurnemanz]

On air, it sounded just a bit thin and grey, sort of lost in space i.e. lots of clumping about, echoey, and surprisingly little amusement signalled from audience - maybe many had fainted in the heat?

Was RAH a bit too huge for such a piece? Or at least for these singers?

I was really puzzled. This is one of my all-time favourite Mozart operas, but...but.... Oh dear.

We've only attended one of these Prom semi-staged Glyndebourne Mozart shows - Haitink/Don Giovanni in 1977. Long time ago but I remember it working very well.

Although reviews of the staged Magic Flute had been very mixed, some scathing, I tuned in and stuck with most of it. It was enjoyable but I was not totally riveted.
Did they have some sort of surtitles? There was quite a lot of laughter at the not that hilarious spoken German dialogue, of which they included quite a lot.

[Darkbloom]

Did they have some sort of surtitles? There was quite a lot of laughter at the not that hilarious spoken German dialogue, of which they included quite a lot.

There must have been at least 5 surtitle screens dotted around the hall. It might have been better if they didn't have them, we could have enjoyed the regular breeze as the prommers turned the pages of the libretto instead.

[garyc]

The Flute was very well sung. I particularly enjoyed Brindley Sherratt and Caroline Wettergreen. But the whole cast was excellent. And it is always a delight to hear the OAE in a Mozart opera. From the front of the Arena the whole thing sounded terrific.

About the production, on the other hand, the less said the better. The womens' costumes were exceedingly unbecoming - and some of the mens' were bizarre. At least we had the advantage that some of the production was left behind at Glyndebourne. "Mozart’s final opera is a beguiling mix of enchantment and Enlightenment politics." Really? In this production there was no beguiling, zero enchantment, not a hint of the Enlightenment, and the only politics was the crass waving of completely irrelevant "Votes for Women" signs, which my female friend found offensive in this context. Much of the "comedy" was not very funny, and sometimes completely crass. Of the serious aspects of the Flute, there was not a sign. Books have been written on the meaning of the "Flute" - but in this production, there was no meaning whatsoever. To play serious aspects of an opera for cheap laughs which have nothing to do with the opera, and nothing to do with the music, is a characteristic which this production shares with the Glyndebourne "Rinaldo". If you don't engage seriously with an opera, why bother to perform it at all? I expect better of Glyndebourne, and when considered in conjunction with their catastrophic "Damnation de Faust" this summer, I begin to have serious concerns about their artistic management.

However, if you are considering listening to it on iplayer (as I still tend to call "Sounds"), then forget all that. Musically it is a delight.

I agree with pretty much all of this, although I am only a recently deflowered opera virgin (2 months ago I had never been to one, then I saw La Traviata in Verona in July and, coincidentally, Rinaldo in Glyndebourne in August). With Rinaldo I couldn't get past men in beards with high pitched voices, but it was compensated by the dominatrix in PVC. With this it was the big chef with the tiny hat on the back row, he obviously drew the costume short straw and looked very embarrassed half the time. Whipping the babies out of the oven was funny, especially when one of their heads fell off. I've yet to listen to the iPlayer recording, I'm sure it will be very good, bar the clumping and thumping.

BTW: those suffering the heat in the arena should try Verona Arena in mid-July, still 35C at 9pm in a cramped and uncomfortable seat (even with a €3 cushion) for 3 hours was torture.

Gary

[jayne lee wilson]

What a wonderfully entertaining & informative post! Thanks Gary...