Last Updated on February 29, 2024
A magic Magic Flute
Mozart’s Magic Flute should need no introduction. One of the most performed pieces of musical theatre, a piece so sacrosanct that fascist governments were scared to tamper with it. In The Queen Of the Night’s Der Hölle Rache it has the defining coloratura aria, written to show off Mozart’s sister-in-law’s high F and foxing sopranos ever since. ENO’s 2013 staging of this repertoire workhorse has been revived again.
Referencing the plot is a dead end, partly because it’s so well-known and partly because it’s nonsense. The plot is not the point, it’s never been the point! The point is to have a wildly entertaining madcap ride on the Mature Mozart’s musical rollercoaster.
Director Simon McBurney’s staging made the most of every available facet of the theatre. I could be an extraordinarily lazy reviewer and fill 1000 words by simply listing the fascinating and entertaining aspects of this show. While the stage itself seemed relatively bare, the animated backgrounds, sound effects, and even the orchestra were all vital aspects of the work. Visible performers sat adjacent to the raised orchestra where they drew, filmed and fluttered paper birds and produced the sounds live. It felt like what the librettist, impresario and original Papageno Emanuel Schikaneder originally intended the work to be. An opportunity to show off all the new machines and stage techniques his theatre could produce. Without falling into the easy pitfall of over-intellectualising, the act of live performance itself became the staging, became the designs and it was so damn good. Somehow seeing the magician explain his tricks made the whole thing better.
The spoken parts of The Magic Flute usually have a habit of dragging. Not so here, the combination of Stephen Jeffreys’ English translation and the relentlessly hilarious comedy elevated them to equal footing with the music. Erina Yashima conducted a polite but effective version of Magic Flute. Even though the orchestra was lifted to the stage, the staging came first over the orchestra.
Phenomenal performances throughout with particularly masterful work from David Stout as a guano-spattered Papageno. Stout never failed to be entertaining throughout his lengthy spoken parts, and sang with a wonderfully rich baritone which seemed to come effortlessly from nowhere after seeing his clowning on stage. At one point Stout’s Papageno gave his number to an audience member and if there was anyone inside who didn’t want to ring it I’d be shocked.
The aforementioned Queen of the Night Aria can make or break a production and Rainelle Krause made this one with hers. Krause didn’t sing with as large a voice as some but the quality, depth, technical skill and just overall beauty of her coloratura are remarkable and tear-jerking to hear.
John Relyea was a formidable Sarastro, continuing the theme of the performance by being as notable in his spoken role as his sung parts. His impossibly deep and luxuriant voice seems summoned from the abyssal depths of somewhere but whichever abyss it is sounds goooood.
Norman Reinhardt and Sarah Tynan as Tamino and Pamina respectively got the short end of the stick in terms of characterisations. Often described as “universal” both characters are a little bland and their plain white costumes and unadorned stagings do nothing to help. Faced then with the hardest challenges to shine they did exactly that. Reinhardt’s powerful tenor and Tynan’s clear vibrato needed no assistance to steal the stage.
The vile slaver Monostatos was played by Peter Hoare. Hoare focussed more on the dramatic parts of the role than the sung but that works far better than the reverse! His Monostatosser was a hoary old pervert with no flies about popping off to the back of the stage to play the skin flute for Pamina.
This is living interactive, vital opera at its finest. Anyone labouring under the misconception that opera is a stuffy old art form ought to see it to be proved wrong. An unmitigated masterpiece from start to finish.
The Magic Flute runs until 30 March
The Magic Flute
English National Opera
London Coliseum
St Martin’s Lane
London WC2N 4ES
For more opera, check our review of The Barber of Seville, currently running at the Royal Opera House
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