I vowed years ago never to see Mozart's penultimate opera, "The Magic Flute," ever again. It's a German comedy, which is an oxymoron, the second act's Masonic rituals seem to go on forever, Papageno's schtick gets tiring really fast, and fill in your own complaints. However, being inside of a "Magic Flute" production is an entirely different matter. Playing both a supernumerary slave (above) and a priest in a production that opened on Saturday night at the San Francisco Opera has been some of the most fun I've had in my life. The music may be the best that Mozart ever wrote, which is saying something, and the cast that sang it in a witty and colorful Gerald Scarfe (the London illustrator) production tonight is as good as any Mozart cast I've heard in this house.
If you can bear to sit through another "Magic Flute" performance, it's highly recommended.
I discovered The Magic Flute when a former boyfriend sang the role of Papageno in a local production (Sonoma opera back in the 80s). I haven't heard enough productions to be sick of it yet. How I wish I were in SF now to see this one. These are costumes are fab!
ReplyDeleteYOU DIVAAAAAA!
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Buntastic
ReplyDeleteHow perfectly wonderful. Do I point the football crowd to this before you visit? :-)
ReplyDeleteThe dancing to Glockenspiel during Act I Scene 17 was most entertaining.
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