Stream: ‘The Magic Flute’
The Royal College of Music’s November production of ‘The Magic Flute’ was made available in January on ‘Operavision’. Set in parallel worlds, a secondary school and a fantasy world of adolescent dreams, Polly Graham’s direction is ideally suited to her young cast. The performance takes place in the 400-seat Britten Theatre, with the Royal College Orchestra, conducted in a reduced orchestration by Michael Rosewell.
Polly Graham sees the characters as young people on the cusp of adulthood. Their dreams and interests are sexual, and young women are initially seen as the stuff of adolescent male fantasy – the three chainmail-clad Ladies who rescue Tamino from the multi headed serpent, and the three mini-skirted schoolgirls who replace the three boys. The fantasy world is soft-focused with a lilac-coloured quilted backcloth, and rounded stage furnishings like the large egg. The school set is more angular, with a black board and practical desks. The teenagers are sometimes gauche, sometimes tough. The gum-chewing girls who yawn and scowl throughout. Sarastro’s solemn aria is a witty example. You can read more about Graham’s concept on the ‘Operavision’ website, though it too may seem rather preachy. In practice this is a good-humoured, perceptive and always watchable performance.
What matters in her direction is the committed performances she obtains from the young singers, who all identify strongly with their characters. Papageno’s (Edward Jowle) interests are, of course, “birds” of the female not the feathered variety. He’s an inept schoolboy who consults his phone for images of how his sex life might be, while repelling his female classmates with inappropriate advances. Yet his warm heart and common-sense see him through, and his suicidal pleas to the audience are a highlight of the show. In a lovely touch, even when he meets Papagena – not an old crone but a shy school-girl with glasses - he can’t admit to his interest, and then regrets his stupidity. When she reappears, and takes the initiative, he gains courage, but in a wonderful break from the stereotype, doesn’t remove her spectacles before the clinch!
Pamina (Charlotte Bowden) is sexually adventurous. Monostratos – here a brash schoolboy - knows what he wants and she’s happy to oblige. The Harry Potterish Tamino (Michael Bell) appeals to her because he’s the opposite, although his swottish adherence to Sarastro’s rules mean that it’s hard for her even to have a conversation with him. There’s much to admire in a confident Pamina, although the drastic alteration in Monostatos’ character takes away the important element of threat underlying Sarastro’s domain.
Whatever your views of the concept, the musical values of the production are the key to its success. The reduced orchestra in the small theatre help the cast to sing without straining their voices, and the singing is excellent. The second act pivots round the contrast in the voices of Sarastro and the Queen of the Night. Jamie Woollard and Clara Barbier have all the notes and the stage presence for their roles. Charlotte Bowden’s warm and ringing soprano and Michael Bell’s mellifluous tenor are ideally suited to their solo arias and duets. The two trios, both in this production sung by women, are delightfully well-balanced, as well as wittily acted.
Specialist opera postgraduate courses, as we know well in Scotland, produce this high standard of work, and several of these singers have already begun promising careers. We will undoubtedly hear more of them in the future, but for now, this production entertains and enlightens, as Mozart and Schikaneder intended. Available free online or on YouTube below until July.
If, like me, you haven’t looked at ‘Operavision’ before, you’ll find recent performances from the UK and the rest of Europe. The next British production, available from mid-February, is Opera North’s new ‘Alcina’, starring Maire Flavin.
