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The Magic Flute |
Mozart’s magic again takes flight
REVIEW: THE MAGIC FLUTE
Coliseum
“NEVER work with children or animals,” as the old saying goes.
Well, the ENO’s revival of Ian Rutherford’s production of The Magic Flute has both, and though the three boy “spirits” were as charmingly well-behaved as they were exemplary young singers, the animals, unfortunately, were less so.
In his opening scene Roderick Williams, returning as the birdcatcher Papageno, calls live doves on to the stage with a well-timed series of whistles.
The doves obediently perched on his cage, drawing appreciative “oooohs” and “aaaaahs” from the audience.
When it came to getting the doves into the cage, however, the birds were not so co-operative – it took Papageno (and an incongruous stage hand) several moments to regain control of the scene, with the audience (and Williams) in fits of giggles throughout.
Williams thus won over his audience, and held on to them for the whole night. His singing was stellar, and his performance is marvellously comic without ever overdoing it and becoming a distraction.
Emily Hindrichs’ Queen of the Night was a little uneven, building up a hysterical head of steam in her famous aria that was more menacing than it was musically accurate. Her three attendants sang well, and gave a measured performance that added to the fairytale elements of Mozart’s piece.
Bob Crowley’s set design is superb – simple yet versatile, it never imposes on the action but manages to create a strong sense of time and place without resorting to West End bombast.
Erik Nielsen, conducting in his ENO debut, held it together nicely but needs to work harder if his orchestra is to make more of an impact on proceedings.
But, quibbles aside, this is a triumph, and if you ever needed proof that opera doesn’t have to be hard work, this is it. The panto-style boos that greeted Monostatos at the curtain call were a credit both to his performance and the overall poise of this revival.
The Magic Flute, as performed here, is light-hearted, uplifting, technically brilliant and easily the most accessible production I’ve seen.
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