W. A. MOZART's DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE (The Magic Flute)

This is a live DVD recording of a performance from the Royal Opera House - Covent Garden in London of Mozart's 'Freemason' opera. It's full of symbolism and hard to make sense of (and since I'm not a Freemason I'm not quite up to deciphering all the hidden messages).

Synopsis
Basically there is an ongoing power struggle between the Queen of the Night and the priest Sarastro. The Queen is bitter that her husband gave this 7 Circles of Star magical thingy to Sarastro instead of to his beloved wife when he died, claiming that women are supposed to follow men's lead. Sarastro then 'rescued' (or kidnapped... depending on who's telling the story) the Queen's daughter Pamina to his temple to 'protect her from her mom's influence ' (once you've seen Diana Damrau's 'Queen' this won't sound so 'Huh?'-inducing).

The opera starts with Prince Tamino being attacked by a snake and rescued by the Queen's 3 Ladies in waiting (things occur in triplets in this opera). They give Tamino a portrait of Pamina, who is so beautiful that Tamino falls in love with her instantly... (hey, if it's believable then it wouldn't be opera now, would it?). The Queen then appears and commands him to go with Papageno the bird-catcher to rescue her daughter, giving Tamino the Magic Flute that puts everyone who hears it in a merry mood (operatic Ectasy, if you will) and Papageno the magic...song box(?) for protection.

So off they go and once the 2 heroes get to talk to Sarastro a bit they figure he isn't such a baddie after all and resolve to join his temple. Three initiation/purification adventure rituals are observed and with the help of 3 little boys and Pamina (who has by now survived multiple suicide attempts), they pass the tests. Papageno even finds a bird-brained Papagena (his equal in terms of childishness) for a mate. The Queen, smelling some miscalculations in the air, invades Sarastro's temple and is vanquished without much fuss (she usually dies, but in this version she just stalks off unhappily). And all hails the new and more enlightened age (according to the Freemason tenet).

See video clips from this performance at:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mO-h1sPcsKQ (Pamina/Papageno duet: Bei Mannern)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=DvuKxL4LOqc (Queen of the Night's Act II Der Hölle Rache)


Performance Review
Whew! That's probably not even half of all the motifs embedded in this loaded opera. Anyhow, it's the music that needs no interpretation. Beautiful from start to finish with something for everyone (from the classical old heads to the 'hum-along' catchy tunes). All beautifully sung too (perhaps with the exception of the bass Franz-Josef Selig's Sarasto... who seems to have quite a struggle on the low notes). He acts well; however, as a kind and gentle priest.

The stars of the show are the German dramatic coloratura soprano Diana Damrau's very dramatic and menacing Queen of the Night, the wonderful German soprano Dorothea Röschmann's utterly convincing Pamina, and the English baritone of the day Simon Keenlyside's acrobatic Papageno.

The Queen of the Night is only on stage for 10 minutes or less for the entire show, but Frau Damrau's Queen makes a lasting impression from her 1st entrance on. It's great to see someone actually act in that role. Her voice is more dramatic (heavier... more like Maria Callas' or Joan Sutherland's) than the typical light coloratura voices that have defined this role (a la Natalie Dessay's or Edita Gruberova's). And she has no problem hitting all the 5 high F's (1 in the first aria and 4 in the second... the famous 'Der Hölle Rache) even when on her knees and bending down during the last run!

Frau Röschmann is a heck of an actress aside from being one of the best young lyric soprano today. She darkens and lightens her radiantly expressive voice at will to suite various musical moods. Her act II aria, 'Ach, ich fühl,' is spell-bindingly heart breaking. I'm afraid it is Mr Keenlyside who stole this show tho. He is so hilarious and amazingly acrobatic in Papageno's introductory aria 'Der Vogelfänger bin ich, ja! (The Bird-catcher, I am, yup!)' and his duet with Papagena that the few strains in singing really don't matter.

Sir Colin Davis conducts this production from the Royal Opera House Covent Garden very finely. I've been disappointed with his disconnected ways with 'La clemenza di Tito' and 'Don Giovanni' before, but this performance reminds me of why he is considered one of the foremost Mozart conductors today.

The staging is quite simple and the show relies heavily on the performers rather than the set (definitely not like a Zeffiretti). I like the choreography of the prologue showing for once, how Tamino happens upon the snake that threatens to have him for lunch.

The snake is HUGE... it's like those Chinese New Year dragon thing, there are stage-hands underneath it hoisting it up with sticks. Same with the bird that Papageno catches during his introduction aria 'Der Vogelfänger bin ich, ja!). If you ignore the guys handling these prop, it's quite believable (easier said than done with the bird... but it helps that Keenlyside is very stage-dominating as an actor). And I love that Monostatos (the Moor baddie in Sarastro's temple) isn't a black faced dude for once. A minimalistic set that isn't a Eurotrash! Very highly recommended for great story-telling and singing all around.

1 DVD. Sung in German with subtitles in; English and Spanish. Extras include an interview with Sir Colin Davis about the opera, and cast gallery.

My reviews of other Mozart operas:
Apollo et Hyacinthus (Salzburg 2006), Ascanio in Alba (Salzburg 2006), Bastien und Bastienne/Der Schauspieldirektor (Salzburg 2006), La clemenza di Tito (Salzburg 2003), La clemenza di Tito (Zürich 2005), La clemenza di Tito (Munich 2006), La clemenza di Tito (JE Gardiner), Cosi fan tutte (Ponnelle film), Don Giovanni (Met 2000), Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Salzburg 1998), La finta giardiniera (Salzburg 2006), La finta semplice (Salzburg 2006), Idomeneo (Salzburg 2006), Idomeneo (Met 1982), Lucio Silla (Salzburg 2006), Mitridate (Salzburg 1997), Mitridate (Rousset), Le nozze di Figaro (live performance- SDO 2007), Die Zauberflöte (ROH 2001), Die Zauberflöte (Modena 2005), Die Zauberflöte (Zürich 1999)

Solo CD: Vesselina Kasarova: Mozart Arias, Edita Gruberova: Mozart Arias

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8