The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
W.A. Mozart
There’s a reasonable chance if you know little about opera or classical music you will leave this Santa Fe Opera performance of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” having been thoroughly entertained. It is a tale which pits virtue against evil in both whimsical and sacred settings. It mixes spoken dialogue and comic shenanigans along with the activities within the halls of a secretive brotherhood.
The plot involves Tamino, who after being given a portrait of Pamina by three messengers of Pamina’s mother, the vengeful “Queen of the Night,” becomes helplessly love struck. The Queen informs him that her daughter has been enslaved by her husband Sarastro, who serves as a kind of cult leader of a divine social order. The Queen directs Tamino to rescue her daughter from the clutches of her evil father. Along the way, he is joined by a simple bird catcher Papageno, who is forced by the messengers to serve as Tamino’s companion. Before they depart, Tamino is given a magic flute while Papageno is handed a set of magic bells. Both instruments, they are told, can be used to extricate themselves from harmful circumstances. Thus, their journey begins.
The German conductor Otto Klemperer once called The Magic Flute “the most incomprehensible cosmic opera ever written.” Indeed, it sometimes appears that you’re viewing two operas at once: Tamino with his zany side-kick Papageno in their earnest but flawed quest to rescue the beautiful Princess Pamina, as opposed to the sacred preachings of Sarastro in the Halls of Virtue and Wisdom. (Bernard Shaw in a critique of the work said that Mozart gave to Sarastro the “voice of God himself.”) It’s easy to see how this contrasting energetic can be a bit baffling. But who cares? It’s all great theater…. and the music is simply divine.
In this production the sets are eye catching, the staging is captivating and inventive, and the comic skits are sure to give you a hearty laugh.
Serious opera buffs will not here voices like Lucia Popp as the Queen of the Night, Fritz Wunderlich as Tamino, Gottlob Frick as Sarastro or the late great Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Papageno; these are voices from the early 1960’s that come along once in a century. However, you will hear polished professional singers throughout. For example, Joelle Harvey singing the part of Pamina is gifted with a delicate voice that produces soft heavenly tones, particularly in the higher registers; while Josh Lovell’s Tamino is solid and harmonious. Will Liverman as Papageno delivers a spirited rendition of the peasant bird-catcher Papageno, although his rhythmic vocal sequences were sometimes a bit muddled. Likewise, I found soprano Jeni Houser’s voice somewhat thin in her role as the Queen of the Night. (This was surprising because she has sung the same role at the Met Opera. I expected to hear a more powerful and commanding voice, but that thinness might have been due to the fact that singers often do not sing “in full voice” at dress rehearsals.)
The orchestra was under the baton of the SFO’s music director, Harry Bicket. Maestro Bicket really knows his business. He conducts with clarity and purpose. Bicket is considered a master of the baroque, so it will be a real treat to see him on the podium in this season’s production of Handel’s Rodelinda.
OPERA: The Magic Flute
COMPOSER: W.A. Mozart
PERFORMANCE DATES: August 4,13,22, 25, 28 at 8:00pm
TICKETS: Santa Fe Opera Box Office: 505-986-5900 / 800-280-4654
REVIEWED BY: Barry D. Cooney for the New Mexico Men’s Wellness Organization (NMMW.org.)
