Went to see The Magic Flute last night. It was my first time seeing and hearing it performed, and boy was it a unique experience!
The Magic Flute was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and apparently premiered only two months before he died at the young age of 35.
The Magic Flute has been adapted many times, in many different ways. This adaptation was inspired (almost ironically) by silent film.
The opera was fascinating to watch and listen to, as the cast used a series of revolving doors and platforms to perform upon a screen surrounded by surreal projections of bizarre characters and landscapes.
Papagano (the man in yellow) was my favorite. Man knows himself and what he wants. He doesn't care about enlightenment, he just wants women, wine, and eventually true love. I get that bro.
In this version, Papagano is followed by a little shadow cat, and the cat's antics absolute won the crowd 😁
The Queen of the Night was presented as a malevolent skeletal spider, and not only were her performances fascinating to watch, but it was amazing to hear her aria performed live by someone who could actually pull it off. It's one of the hardest songs to sing, and a real example of raw talent and skill.
The entire performance was an audio and visual spectacle, and if you've never seen, I highly encourage you to!
(Note - All pics nicked from either the Seattle Opera facebook page, or Google. I didn't take any of these.)
ferkixlll:
Looks like an interesting staging. I'm starting to go back to the Sat. METHD in cinema again. Stopped because of COVID and then the cinemas that showed it near my were closed. Got to see their new staging of Aida, which was very good. As to the Flute. Still partial to Ingmar Bergman's movie version.
chadiousxvi:
@ferkixlll This is the only adaptation I've seen performed, at least in full, though I'm certainly curious now to see the versions that proceeded it. There was a Q&A with some of the cast afterwards, and the different directions they talked about, as to what the story allows in terms of visual performance, was certainly fascinating to imagine.