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The eternal struggle between sunlight and darkness, between day and night - how utterly appropriate for this time of year...
And so it was that, with great anticipation, Hils, History Boy, Madam Arcati and I swished into the opulent grandeur of The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden for its latest revival of Sir David McVicar's classic [first staged in 2003] production of The Magic Flute [or, more properly, as it's sung in its native German, Die Zauberflote] (in its last weekend before it closes on Monday).
Mozart's last opera before his untimely death aged just 35, he deliberately chose to do it in Singspiel style - basically a "fairy tale" with spoken, as well as sung segments - with a bit of comedy, a bit of panto villainy, a smattering of satire, and a nod to his interest in secret societies thrown in.
As a sum of its parts, however, it's a work of genius...
"[It makes a] special claim on one's affections, because its libretto is high camp. It's a peerlessly silly masterpiece: sublimely lucid music arising out of a parodistic fairy tale that celebrates in all seriousness the exalted brotherhood of the Freemasons." - Pauline Kael
Speaking of camp, there are a couple of rather wonderful highlights amongst the beautifully-sung "heroic prince gets quest (with the "magic flute" of the title) to rescue beloved princess, prince loses princess, prince has to pass several trials, prince gets princess back, sunshine triumphs, everyone lives happily ever after except the villainess" plot - not least the comic sidekick Papageno's joy at the end of all the trials and tribulations to finally get his ideal (and similarly-named) girl [here in rehearsal (NB Huw played the role last night, but Stephanie Edwards played "Papagena")]:
Of course, there is one spine-chilling moment that everyone's waiting for in this particular opera - and that's when the nastiest-of-nasty queens really shows what she's all about...
[Annie Fassea played the role last night - and was wonderful - but there's sadly no footage of her in the role, so this is the classic rendition - lyrics explained here]:
Special mention must go the "star-crossed lovers" around whom the story revolves, Mingjie Lei as "Prince Tamino" and [the particularly good] Chelsea Zurflüh as "Princess Pamina", and to the much-maligned high priest "Sarastro", sung with booming magnificence by Timo Riihonen, as well as the camp-as-old tits "Three Ladies" Hannah Edmunds, Ellen Pearson and Emma Carrington.
Operas of this magnitude - this one's three hours' duration (with a 20-minute break) - are not for the faint-hearted or the weak-bladdered, however this production was so engaging and so brilliantly done, time passed really quickly. It really was a superb evening!
