The Magic Flute - Mozart
Nov. 11th, 2013 12:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
motodraconisAaaah! The Magic Flute. The first "proper" opera* I ever went to see, as a 6th former, dragged along by a school chum. Aaaah! The amazing Gothic Queen of the Night!
The gorgeous 18th century stylee costumes...the live doves fluttering onto the stage, one after another, after another, after another...
Beautiful, elegant, refined... well you can forget all that shit!
Our kid Tamino wears a tracksuit. And the Ladies who rescue him from the giant snake are dressed like squaddies with attitude to match.
Their first act after their victory, is to take photos of him for their facebook pages.
Which. Actually. Is rather hilarious.
Papageno is covered in birdshit; old, fat and filthy.
And also rather awesome.
Entirely stealing the show...
There was a moment when he breaks the 4th wall, addressing the audience and asking if there was no woman out there, no one at all, who'd have him. I was so tempted to yell out at this point. It would have been both hilarious and spoiling - uuuugh, so hard to resist, but by then Papageno had amused you so much you might forgive him the crusted guano look.
Alas, the Queen of the Night was not in good form vocally.
Kudos to her for attempting to sing while wheeling herself about in a wheelchair - but I've tried that sort of thing myself. It's bloody hard work, it can't have helped her singing.
The thee spirit guide "boys" on the other hand, were in top form...
Ok, so most of the costumes were less than glamorous...
WHUT!!!!
But the whole thing was rather imaginative, combining light projections and live artworks, projected by a stage animator.
I'd seen the old "classic" ENO version twice, and for me, it was hard to let go of that old version. But. But. This is remarkably well done, extremely funny, with dramatic and visually arresting projections, the snake at the beginning in particular - if you are in any way snake phobic, you'll have to keep your eyes shut for that entire scene or freak out.
This was the first proper opera I ever saw, and it got me hooked. If you've never been to an opera before, this production could be the one to hook you too.
Guardian review.
Telegraph review.
Independant review.
Photos taken from the ENO's Facebook page. Previous production images found via google.
* Gilbert and Sullivan doesn't count apparently.
The gorgeous 18th century stylee costumes...the live doves fluttering onto the stage, one after another, after another, after another...
Beautiful, elegant, refined... well you can forget all that shit!
Our kid Tamino wears a tracksuit. And the Ladies who rescue him from the giant snake are dressed like squaddies with attitude to match.
Their first act after their victory, is to take photos of him for their facebook pages.
Which. Actually. Is rather hilarious.
Papageno is covered in birdshit; old, fat and filthy.
And also rather awesome.
Entirely stealing the show...
There was a moment when he breaks the 4th wall, addressing the audience and asking if there was no woman out there, no one at all, who'd have him. I was so tempted to yell out at this point. It would have been both hilarious and spoiling - uuuugh, so hard to resist, but by then Papageno had amused you so much you might forgive him the crusted guano look.
Alas, the Queen of the Night was not in good form vocally.
Kudos to her for attempting to sing while wheeling herself about in a wheelchair - but I've tried that sort of thing myself. It's bloody hard work, it can't have helped her singing.
The thee spirit guide "boys" on the other hand, were in top form...
Ok, so most of the costumes were less than glamorous...
WHUT!!!!
But the whole thing was rather imaginative, combining light projections and live artworks, projected by a stage animator.
I'd seen the old "classic" ENO version twice, and for me, it was hard to let go of that old version. But. But. This is remarkably well done, extremely funny, with dramatic and visually arresting projections, the snake at the beginning in particular - if you are in any way snake phobic, you'll have to keep your eyes shut for that entire scene or freak out.
This was the first proper opera I ever saw, and it got me hooked. If you've never been to an opera before, this production could be the one to hook you too.
Guardian review.
Telegraph review.
Independant review.
Photos taken from the ENO's Facebook page. Previous production images found via google.
* Gilbert and Sullivan doesn't count apparently.
