Royal Opera
January 31st 2007
This was the first of two casts performing Die Zauberflote by Mozart. The A cast did this performance, which means they’re supposed to be the best ones. Didn’t see the B cast so can’t comment on that, but there were things about this one I didn’t think were great. Could be wrong, though.
I’ve been told I should write about the orchestra more so paid extra attention at this performance and to my surprise I do have something to write. Roland Boer was the conductor. Don’t know how to explain it but the music sounded sort of jerky. Thought Mozart should have more of a flow somehow.
David McVicar’s production starts off with Tamino coming into the stalls, climbing over the front part onto the stage and then going through a hole in the curtain. Problem was, I didn’t know he was Tamino till he got on the stage, so I thought it was a member of the audience coming in late. They’ve got rules against letting people in late, so I thought maybe he’d sneaked past the ushers somehow, which distracted me for a bit. If someone walks in from the audience and they’re already singing, you kind of know straight away who they are, but if they’re just walking through it’s not so clear unless they’re really obviously wearing a costume.
Christoph Strehl was Tamino, and to be totally honest, I didn’t think he was that good. Loved the opening with the snake when he was all scared, but his voice seemed worn out after that and he was a bit strained. One thing I don’t like about this production is the way Tamino gets really impatient with Papageno and hits him. Tamino didn’t seem very nice in this production.
Papageno was Simon Keenlyside. Everyone says he’s great because he’s so clever and funny, but I’m not sure about him. He’s very inventive, and he did make me laugh, but maybe he needs to tone it down a bit. There is a story we’re supposed to be following, and there were whole sections where the story stopped so SK can do his funny stuff, one joke after another. Would have preferred the jokes in moderation.
Pamina was Genia Kuhmeier, and I liked her a lot. Pamina can be a bit boring and goody-goody, but GK gave her lots of personality. Really liked her aria too. Kishani Jayasinghe seemed to enjoy being Papagena, but not sure if I enjoyed watching her. Isn’t the point that she’s supposed to be Papageno’s perfect girl? Papageno seems like quite an innocent character, so why he’d want a little trollop I don’t know.
The Queen of the Night was Erika Miklosa. High notes were brilliant, very good at being evil too. The Three Ladies all had nice voices, but they sounded really different, which seemed a bit odd as they seemed to have the same personality.
Stephen Milling was Sarastro and he was very good. Really big deep bass voice. Heard all his low notes as well. John Graham-Hall was really funny as Monostatos. Shouldn’t really like him, but couldn’t help it. JGH is a great dancer too. Really liked Thomas Allen as the Speaker. Great actor, really strong stage presence.
Hairy asked me to mention the two Scottish priests so I will, Harry Nicoll and Donald Maxwell. Seem to remember at least one of them was very funny, but have to argue that mother and daughter team Erika Miklosa and Genia Kuhmeier were probably the real stars of the show.
Madam Caterpillar
pimi-divi at hotmail.co.uk