Opera North's visually satisfying and aurally superb production of Mozart's "Die Zauberflöte", or as was the case this evening, "The Magic Flute" (sung in clear and distinct, beautifully articulated English - rendering the side titling obsolete), was a sheer delight to listen to. Visually however, it was perhaps not quite as satisfying as perhaps it could have been.
I hold my hands up right now and say that I have never seen a production of this opera before - despite it receiving its premiere in 1791! But I did know the music and the basic premise of the storyline. Which, in a nutshell, is a fantasy fairy story about a Queen who rules a world of women wishing to use a young man who she enchants, making him fall in love with her daughter, to rescue said daughter from the evil clutches of a male-dominated cult who have kidnapped her. In so doing, he enlists the unwitting help of a poor bird-seller, and the battle between good and evil - represented in this opera by male and female - begins. It is not grand opera, since no-one actually dies (despite the many threats!), and there is a happy ending; even if the ending, at least in this evening's production, seemed rushed and unsatisfactory.
Trystan Llyr Griffiths portrayed the young man Tamino, with typical operatic bravado, which was matched beautifully by the sweet soprano of Pamina (Soraya Mafe). The three Ladies injected comedy into their roles, giving enlivening performances working well as a trio. (Charlie Drummond, Katie Sharpe and Hazel Croft). Whilst on the other end of the scale completely we heard the coffee-coloured bass tones of an upright and quasi-regal Sarastro (Justin Hopkins). However, this evening's outstanding performance must come from a young Welsh baritone, Emyr Wyn Jones, who, as Papageno managed skilfully to break the fourth wall without it seeming contrived, engage us with his fully-rounded and sympathetic characterisation, and enchant us with his beautiful mellifluous voice. In a much smaller role, but just as engaging, was his surprise love-interest, in the form of Papagena (Pasquale Orchard). Much credit must also be given to the youngsters who peopled this show too. The show starts in a young girl's bedroom, and the story unfolds as her dream, and although she never speaks or sings, she does have a lot of stage time, and, in the second act especially, is joined by other children, members of the religious cult headed by Sarastro. But it is the three young Boys, Isla Jones, Harry Ndawula, and Hector Wainman, who deserve a special mention, as indeed, despite their young ages were an integral part of the production, singing and leading the action with the principals. Bravo. The male chorus was lush and their dulcet harmonies washed over me, just lovely.
The opera was directed by James Brining. On the face of it, the opera was completely understandable and the signposting of the narrative clear; however, I have to confess to finding the different ideas thrown at the show a little obfuscating and contradictory. First is the idea that the whole story is a young girl's dream / nightmare. This, had it been continued throughout and brought back to the bedroom at the end, would have been a satisfying idea, however it was not carried through and the whole idea of this (despite the girl still being dressed in her pyjamas) was lost half way through. The second idea was the Disney / Grimm's fairytale idea, (Queen of the Night and Papageno especially), which again, had more been made of this and everyone had been costumed and charactered in this vein, would have worked superbly. But then came three Victorian-costumed nurses carrying sci-fi light sabres. This was funny, but it was out-of-place, and since there were no other elements of sci-fi in the opera (except perhaps for the magic flute itself), again, it felt crow-barred in somehow. Then there were the projections, large enough to be visually stunning perhaps in the rear centre of the auditorium, but a little unclear and out of focus towards the edges of the stalls where I was seated. And finally, the idea of costuming and characterising the Sarastro followers in the style of 'A Handmaid's Tale', was again, not carried through to its logical conclusion and although it did emphasise the score's misogynistic text, it completely failed to convey any aura of evil power, in fact, it seemed more like a Utopia, and one which the children, and even the women were happy to be a part of, as the finale of this production attested. In summation then, I think perhaps there were too many ideas being brought to this production which did not necessarily cohere and none were allowed to completely blossom.
The orchestra, under the baton of Patrick Lange, sounded lovely the whole evening, and the lightness and delicacy of Mozart's genius was omnipresent. Whilst on stage, two BSL interpreters (Sarah Cox and Craig Painting) worked incredibly hard with their skilled signing (in character) of both spoken word and music. All told, a very enjoyable production and a lovely induction for my first time watching this particular opera.
Reviewer: Alastair Zyggu
Reviewed: 13.3.25
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