THE MAGIC FLUTE (2015)
THE MAGIC FLUTE, Opera Australia at the Sydney Opera House, January 2-30 January 2015. Photos by Branco Gaica - above: Taryn Fiebig and Samuel Dundas and right, Emma Matthews.
This production, by my favourite stage genius Julie Taymor, was first staged in 2004 for New York’s Metropolitan Opera, and was bought in and reconfigured in 2012 for the Opera Theatre’s comparatively tiny stage and much enjoyed by many. The review I wrote then is in the archive (type the The Magic Flute into the “search something” box, top right of the stagenoise.com homepage) and aside from cast changes, I wouldn’t revise what I wrote back then.
The gloriously well thought out visual inventiveness is all there; the wide-ranging mind and ideas behind the production are all there; the colour and movement and wit are all there and the essence of Mozart is all there too. What is also there is the customarily taut and terrific Opera And Ballet Orchestra under conductor Anthony Legge and the equally taut and terrific Opera Australia Chorus (chorus master Anthony Hunt). Although it would be hard to swear to, some of the fluidity and ease of the original movement-based production is not quite as easy or fluid, in the absence of the over-arching and utterly demanding Taymor eye, but - frankly - who’s to know?
What is evident is a cast of principals led by - roughly in order of appearance - the trio of excellent and busy moon goddesses: First, Second and Third Ladies Jane Ede, Sian Pendry and Dominica Matthews; a gloriously goofy, able and charming bird-catching Papageno (Samuel Dundas); and his unwilling and unwitting chum Tamino - true and bright-voiced John Longmuir is what a princely leading man should be.
Tamino’s love Pamina is given genuine heart and soul by Taryn Fiebig while her (understandably) fury-fuelled mother, the Queen of the Night, allows Emma Matthews to reveal a whole new persona and raison d’etre for the fabled aria of rage and revenge as she channels an icily crazy Gloria Swanson circa Sunset Boulevard.
And then there’s Kanen Breen. He played the loathsome but weirdly loveable Monostatos in 2012 and is even better now. What this man can do with a fat suit and prosthetic body parts is spectacular. He is also a fine singer and comic actor too - a triple threat without a vain bone in his body. And Daniel Sumegi as high priest Sarastro brings gravitas and a bass voice that has developed into a remarkable instrument.
Mention must be made, too, of the three Spirits - peculiar white-clad and bearded little chaps who sing like angels and are… First: Kiri Jenssen or Briony Campbell; Second: Justin Chen or Kittu Hoyne and, Third: Omar Rhiani or Ben Johnston. On opening night the trio of Jenssen, Chen and Rhiani were exceedingly cute and talented, singing beautifully and managing their facial hair with aplomb.
If you want to know more about the story and the reasoning behind the production - please do go back to the 2012 review as there’s a lot there I’d forgotten all about and it’s interesting and useful, especially for Julie Taymor’s thoughts. Meanwhile, this gloriously stripped back version of The Magic Flute is summery and lovely. Particularly good as an introduction for kids and non-opera types, but unless you’re a miserable type, you should enjoy it too.
