Unique staging, faithful to the work, but a little dry
Die Zauberflöte still represents a challenge that has perhaps been neglected in recent times by the major modern revisionist directors in favour of finding new ways to explore the Mozart/Da Ponte trilogy of works - The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così Fan Tutte - so a fresh approach is always welcome. William Kentridge, the stage director for this production of Die Zauberflöte at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan may not have any new ideas about the opera's central theme of light versus darkness being that of man seeking to rise above their baser natures and impulses, seeking enlightenment over obscurantism, or rationalism over superstition, but as an artist, illustrator and animator the South African director does at least approach these themes with a very distinct style of his own.
The period setting chosen appears to be late 19th century, the beginning of the age of technological advancement, the characters dressed to looking like figures from a...
Interesting Magic Flute!
My past experience with this opera has been somewhat mixed. I usually come away feeling as if it is somewhat disjointed, although I love the music very much. This particular production, however, sits very well with me. From the opening, there is a visual metaphor of the film negative, and the feeling that the operatic action is being viewed inside a camera. This interesting idea is leveraged by animations that show the characters actions and thoughts, and provide graphical referents that help tie the various loose strands of the operatic action together.
As for the music, it is performed extremely well by the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala. It is delightful, lively, and very complimentary to the vocal talents (which are exceptional) of the principal characters. Albina Shagimuratova's Queen of the Night is just excellent, and Papageno (played by Alex Esposito) is a delight to watch. And Genia Kuhmeier's (Pamina) performance of "Ach, ich fuhl's" is just...
Well sung but for me the camera idea did not work
I found the camera idea a bit too clever and it made the production too dark. Yes it is well sung and acted but the Flute is an opera that thrives on magic, colour and costume. There are other productions about, notably by Opera Australia, that bring this most wonderful of operas to life even better and I hope they will soon get a Blu-ray recording. In the meantime I found this better than the Covent Garden production but not by a lot and neither quite meet my aspirations.
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