Review: DIE ZAUBERFLOTE at Winter Opera

Winter Opera rounds out its 18th season with a splendid production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute).   

This is perhaps the most popular opera in the world, and it is an all-round challenge for any company—vocally and technically.  The libretto calls for impossibilities: an immense serpent, a volcano, a waterfall, a chariot drawn by six lions, a flying gondola.  It requires one central character to sing with his lips padlocked shut, and it imposes on one soprano what is probably the most terrifyingly difficult coloratura aria in the entire operatic canon.  Die Zauberflöte is also an impenetrable maze of Masonic symbolism.

But, God bless her, Artistic Director Gina Galati doesn’t even bat an eye at that!  She’s gathered remarkable musical and artistic talents well up to the challenge.  This production, in the lovely and comfortable Kirkwood Performing Arts Center, gives the audience a sense of intimacy and clarity. 

In Mozart’s day Zauberflöte was termed a “singspiel”—an opera with a lot of spoken dialogue.  Winter Opera happily chose to use English for the spoken dialogue while retaining German for the sung lyrics.  (Music written for lyrics in one language never quite fits lyrics that are translated.)  This, together with supertitles for the lyrics and with extraordinarily fine diction on all parts, lets us follow the tale with utter ease.

After a lovely, busy overture we find Prince Tamino in a mountain forest, fleeing a great serpent.  He swoons.  It looks like he’s going to be a serpent supper.  But three magic ladies arrive and quickly slay the monster with their silver spears.  They each fall instantly in love with the beautiful young man.  Unwilling to leave each other alone with Tamino, the three whisk off to tell their mistress, the Queen of the Night, about his arrival.

Alexander Scheuermann is quite perfect in the role of Tamino.  He is young, handsome, with a wonderfully smooth tenor voice and superb diction.  He is believably innocent, and his carriage is that of a natural prince. 

The three queen’s ladies are sung by Karen Kanakis, Brittany Moleski, and Emily Moore  (begowned and bewigged in red, indigo, and green respectively).  All are blessed with marvelous voices.  They are beautifully balanced and are quite charming in their playful jealousy over Tamino.          

Papageno, the bird-catcher, is the comic side-kick to our hero.  Steve Valenzuela brings a  hearty baritone to this boastful, cowardly, lazy, hungry, and irreverent half-man/half-bird.  (He wears the green feathers of a parrot and his feet and calves are a bright birdish yellow.)  He so yearns to find a sweet little wife.

The Queen of the Night!  This poor lady’s daughter, Pamina, has been abducted by Sarastro, the evil master of a mysterious cult.  The Queen arrives to recruit Tamino for a rescue mission.  Well, he had fallen instantly in love with Pamina when he first saw her portrait, so Tamino is gung ho.  Since every hero on a quest must have a comic side-kick (viz. Sancho Panza, Gabby Hayes, etc.) the Queen drafts the decidedly unenthusiastic Papageno to go with Tamino.  She gives them a magic flute and a set of magic bells to help them along the way.

It is the Queen of the Night who (later in the show) bears the burden of THE VENGEANCE ARIA—(that really difficult one).  Maggie Kinabrew displays astonishing agility in all that coloratura fillagree.  Her voice is capable of great passion, and with laser-like precision it dances on stars up there in the heights.  Brava!

Our heroes finally reach the Temple of Isis and Osiris where Sarastro reigns and where Pamina is held captive. 

Pamina is in the clutches of Monostatos, a true villain.  Elena Galván sings Pamina, and her voice is effortlessly elegant, sweet and silvery.  Another big “brava!” 

Marc Schapman gives Monostatos both menace and delightful comic fecklessness.  Monostatos is, of course, foiled in his evil intentions.

Now as to Sarastro:  We are surprised to learn that he is not evil;  he is virtue and wisdom incarnate.  He stole Pamina only to save her from the influence of her evil mother the Queen!   So this whole story is a kind of custody battle.  Both the forces of Darkness and the forces of Light want the lovely Pamina.

Sarastro is sung by a very powerful basso, Bert Johnson.  He so easily fills the hall.  And in one spoken scene (a lodge meeting of the brotherhood) Johnson’s speaking voice is perhaps even more commanding than his singing voice.  He makes a very fitting powerful prophet. 

Joel Rogier is a familiar favorite on opera stages in our region.  Here he sings the Spokesman of the Temple.  It’s a powerful and dignified performance.

The lovers pass all the tests to enter into this brotherhood of light, love, and reason.  They are happily united.

When Papageno’s wish comes true it is in the person of Leann Schuering.  She makes a delightful Papagena—sprightly and comic (and with feathers and feet that just match Papageno’s).  In a spirited comic duet they dream of life together raising many little duplicates of themselves.  (In the curtain-call we meet two lovely small children—Gianna Lydon and Phillip Sanders.  They have bright yellow feet just like Mommy and Daddy.)

Excellent work is done by Anna Edwards, Calista Goldwasser, and Chloe Haynes as three young spirits who advise Tamino on his quest.  Thomas M. Taylor IV and Javi Ojeda as Armored Men, and Evan Babel as a Brother bring fine voices to these smaller roles.

Stage Director John Stephens is an old master at this.  He manages this large cast simply and gracefully.

Conductor Mark Ferrell draws a spirited and nuanced performance from his excellent musicians.  I was captivated from the very beginning—from those charming exchanges between flute and bassoon.

The design team are Winter Opera regulars:

• Scott Loebl’s scene design supports the complexity of the libretto with handsome  straightforward, simplified sets.
• Lighting designer Michael Sullivan fills the stage with just what the mood requires—day, night, threat, joy, mystery.  There are impressive lightning storms.  I love what Sullivan does when Tamino and Pamina, in their initiation trials, go through the Fire and Water tests:  they move as black silhouettes against a lit circle of red or blue.  Quite lovely.
• Costumer Jan Blum-Tatara gives lovely gowns to the Queen’s ladies and simply glorious, glittering ones to the Queen.  Prince Tamino wears an elegant rococo coat, vest and breeches—the very image of Mozart himself.  The chorus members—the Brotherhood of Light—appear, surprisingly, not as exotic pseudo-Egyptian priests as one might expect, but as solid, respectable Vienese citizens.  This is a very proper choice.  This opera is, after all, only half fairy-tale; the other half is Masonic ritual.  Both Mozart and librettist Emanuel Schikaneder were Masons.  (Schikaneder, by the way, played Papageno in the premiere.)  Freemasonry was a progressive, optimistic fraternal organization.  Its goal was the improvement of man and the elimination of superstition.  So:  solid citizens!
• Property Master Laura Skroska gives us (among all else) a monstrous serpent that dies spectacularly—and comically.
• Wig designer Dennis Milum Bensie decks the ladies (and a gent or two) with fanciful, colorful, elaborate hair.

Zauberflöte is half fairy-tale, half Masonic ritual.  This production is half German and half English.  But overall Zauberflöte is 120% glorious music.  (Well, it’s always been just a bit too long.  But Mozart, like Sondheim, just couldn’t shut off the tap of his talents.)

This production by Winter Opera plays February 30th and March 2nd at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center.

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