Scottish Opera have a sure-fire hit on their hands with their revival of a production of Mozart’s Magic Flute that was last seen in 2012.
Here’s the short version – the set looks glorious, the singing is magnificent, there’s every theatrical trick in the book and the whole thing is laugh-out-loud funny.
Much has been written about the despair and agony of Mozart’s last days. It is perhaps important to remember that as well as working on the Requiem (as seen in Amadeus) he was also basking in the success of the Magic Flute – producing tunes that have been whistled down the centuries and, together with his librettist Emanuel Schikneder, laying the foundations for musical and theatrical jokes that still have the power to make an audience hoot with laughter.
Sir Thomas Allan’s direction is sure footed and sturdy. It is clear from the action during the overture that the storytelling will be strong. Indeed, it needs to be strong with the Magic Flute, which can become completely incomprehensible in the hands of the less able. Allan faces the masonic elements of the plot full on but gives them a strange steampunk vibe.
Although the look was wonderfully peculiar, this was still a familiar battle between superstition and enlightenment. The final scene of Tamino and Pamina reaching across a void to represent Reason and Nature joining hands managed to be both sublime and astute.
Highlights amongst a strong cast were Gemma Summerfield’s Pamina and the superb singing of James Creswell as Sorastro, completely in charge of both voice and stage. Julia Stikovetsky’s Queen of the Night was deliciously malevolent and she conjured up all the right notes in all the right places.
Richard Burkhard’s Papageno was the focus of the comic action, gently tiptoeing around a combination of farce, pantomime and stand-up, greatly aided by Kit Hesketh-Harvey’s witty and clever translation.
Down in the pit, Tobias Ringborg set off at a cracking pace and kept the momentum up all evening. The orchestra were a joy to listen to.
The performance tours to Scottish Opera’s usual venues in Inverness, Aberdeen and Edinburgh and then heads for London and Belfast.
Buy tickets for yourself and for anyone who doubts that opera can be hilarious, beautiful, and profound all at the same time.
They will be enlightened.