Stream: The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute has very special memories for me; over 50 years ago a friend gave me two tickets for the stalls at Covent Garden for the Magic Flute, one for me and one for a girlfriend. Although I'd grown up listening to opera with my parents, like other teenagers I was more into skiffle and rock and roll. However, after my visit to Covent Garden I was hooked: great music, 17 scene changes and great singing. I immediately became a Friend of Covent Garden and have been one on and off for over 50 years. Of course, I can't afford the stalls, but I'm very happy in the Upper Slips where you can still see the best opera in the world for £10. I suspect our seats in the stalls were a lot more even in 1966! Incidentally the 1966 Covent Garden production was by Peter Hall and designed by John Bury, both from the Royal Shakespeare Company. It was sung in English (translated by the poet Adrian Mitchell), with a very British cast. The star was the great Welsh baritone Geraint Evans as Papageno. Very synchronostic, as the star of the 2019 production is Roderick Williams, another great Welsh baritone, also singing Papageno but singing in German.
The 2019 Magic Flute from Covent Garden (broadcast this year on Friday the 19th June and available on YouTube till July 3) is produced by David McVicar and designed by John Macfarlane, so in contrast to 1966's English production you could say it's a Scottish production! It's one of Covent Garden's most successful productions and this 2019 performance was its sixth revival since its original production in 2003 under the direction of Thomas Guthrie. It was unusually conducted by a woman conductor, Julia Jones, who has spent much of her musical life in German opera houses and was clearly very familiar with this great work and the Covent Garden Orchestra responded to her splendidly.
The cast, apart from Roderick Williams, were not very well known, but on the whole sang very well and with the great lighting by Paul Constable made this a Magic Flute well worth seeing again. Firstly, let me highlight the excellent Three Ladies who really dominate the opening scene killing Covent Garden's puppet dragon (we also had a puppet bird for Papageno!). Rebecca Evans, Angela Simkin and Susan Platts sang and acted really well and are a very important part of the production overall. Women are generally a very important part of the Magic Flute, with major roles for Pamina, the Queen of the Night and Papagena, but they can't overcome the misogyny which is part of the opera and reflects the period. David McVicar avoids its inherent racism by casting Monostatos, the sinister figure who is usually black, as a rather weird wizard-like figure, thus avoiding the issues raised by the Black Lives Matter campaign. Of course, although the Magic Flute appears at times philosophical with its Masonic rituals and moral messages, it's also important to remember it was seen as an entertainment at the time and still entertains today.
Tamino was sung by Mauro Peter, a young Swiss tenor with a very sweet voice, but not very convincing dramatically, Pamina was very well sung by young Australian soprano Siobhan Stagg, who is now based in Salzburg. Papageno, as we mentioned earlier, was sung by Roderick Williams and it wasn't just his fine baritone but his great comic acting which made him the star of the evening, Sarastro was very decently sung by Finnish bass Mika Kares, and the Queen of the Night superbly sung and well-acted by French soprano Sabine Devielhe. Lastly, Monostatos well sung by English tenor Peter Bronder, who has been around almost as long as me!
Good singing, great music and arias and yes great design and lighting made this another night at the opera to remember, and I'm sure the Magic Flute will retain its magic for another 200 years!
