REVIEW: The Magic Flute, Opera North, Newcastle Theatre Royal
Opera North brought the curtain down on their all too brief visit to Newcastle with the Mozart favourite, sung in English thanks to Jeremy Sams’s translation from the original German.
They were on safe territory. People have loved The Magic Flute since it premiered just before Mozart’s death in 1791 and this production has been here before, in 2019.
Director James Brining – who, I read, ran a theatre company in Newcastle after studying English at university - has had time to finesse what probably didn’t need much finessing.
(Brining, incidentally, is off to run Edinburgh’s Lyceum Theatre in April after a long spell in charge of Leeds Playhouse.)
His production is a showcase of all the talents with an impressive shape-shifting set and a wonderful array of voices, from the rich bass of South African Msimelelo Mbali as Sarastro to the thrilling vocal fireworks of Anna Dennis as the Queen of the Night.
Click on the link to see her performing her most extraordinary aria in a Leeds shopping centre, to the delight of passers-by.
Then there’s the warmth of Welsh baritone Emyr Wyn Jones as Papageno whose job is to catch birds for the Queen of the Night, thereby holding back the dawn when her powers wane.
He’s the relatable one, daft looking but with simple appetites that contrast with the earnestness of young lovers Tamino and Pamina, beautifully sung by Egor Zhuravskii and Claire Lees.
The plot, though evidently rich in material for scholars, is also pretty daft.
Tamino is attacked by a monster, rescued and then shown a picture of Pamino, daughter of the Queen of the Night, who has been kidnapped by her enemy, Sarastro, Priest of the Sun.
Instantly smitten, Tamino, with Papageno tagging along, embarks on a rescue mission that runs into all kinds of trouble.
Is all this just a dream?
The action begins in a small way with a young girl putting on a record before climbing into bed. As it turns scratchily, the orchestra strikes up and we’re off, with a very smart dinner party now visible beyond the rear wall and – suddenly – the monster’s ghastly clawed tentacles invading the space.
The little girl is the first person we see and the last, cleverly bookending all the magnificent madness in between.
The story, as written, tells us that the Queen of the Night is not, after all, the goody of the piece, not just the bereft and grieving mum you’d expect. Nor is Sarastro simply a baddie.
She, who has birds silenced, gives Pamino a dagger to kill her captor. He is supposed to represent enlightenment.
But who could not love Anna Dennis’s fabulous Queen? And Sarastro, it seems clear, presides over a cult, its regimented followers clad in robes echoing the TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
Those who enter this weird realm are also subjected to a cruel initiation. Very sinister.
But throw all this into a giant operatic pot and what emerges is an evening of unbridled joy that underlines Opera North’s strength in depth (terrific supporting performances by Chorus members and by some very talented youngsters).
And you have another chance to see it. Although Saturday’s matinee (November 9) was this year’s last performance, The Magic Flute returns next March. Tickets are on sale now from the Theatre Royal website.