They were everywhere this year. The Royal Opera, Glyndebourne on Tour, Welsh National Opera, Opera Holland Park and even at the Duke of York’s Theatre from Isango/Portobello. English National Opera only just miss out, having performances in late 2007 and early 2009, while British Youth Opera’s production came only just over a year ago, and English Touring Opera’s will return in spring 2009. With Don Giovanni (Royal Opera and English Touring Opera), Le nozze di Figaro (Royal Opera), Idomeneo (Birmingham City Opera and the Barbican) and even La finta giardiniera (Royal College of Music) also making an appearance, you could be forgiven for thinking this was Mozart Year.
So what is it that makes the Flute so magical? Well, it probably isn’t the plot. While the idea of Tamino’s and Papageno’s coming of age, then getting the girl is certainly a familiar one, some of the other events are a bit mad. Why do Tamino and Papageno split up before entering Sarastro’s realm? Why is it the ‘cowardly’ Papageno who is entrusted with the rescuing of Pamina? How does Papageno manage to get in easily, whilst Tamino is stopped by the priests? Where are those Three Boys the Ladies said would guide them? And why does Sarastro ask Monostatos, of all people, to look after Pamina? At best, the guy is sex-starved and desperate.
And then, of course, there’s all the Masonic rituals. What’s all that all about? And why does Tamino swap sides so quickly? All he really knows about Sarastro is that he takes people prisoner (not just Pamina, but also Tamino, Papageno and possibly Papagena) and whips people, or at least claims to (Monostatos).
But people still love it. Most opera plots have holes, after all. And you can forgive Mozart almost anything – I’d put up with a much weaker plot than that in order to hear his music. The details aren’t really all that important. The basic story is a familiar one, with its serious upper class lovers, its comic servant pair, its goodies and baddies. Good triumphs over evil, with a lot of beautiful singing along the way. This is probably reason enough for its considerable success. Most people aren’t that fussy, and even the fussy people will often make an exception for Die Zauberflote.
It would be impossible to go through every production in detail, so here are just a few highlights, which not everyone is going to agree with, but that’s opera for you. Conductor Douglas Boyd (Glyndebourne on Tour) showed some original touches to Mozart’s score, and Jane Glover at Opera Holland Park immediately brought me out of my sense of ‘not another Zauberflote’. But Mandisi Dyantis at the Duke of York’s showed you don’t even need an orchestra – a few xylophones and marimbas are enough!
The opera begins with Tamino trying to run for his life, pursued variously by a snake, dragon, lion or… prawn. Well, I don’t know what else it could be. Welsh National Opera’s sushi monster has to be seen to be believed. It was mad in theory, but actually a lot more disturbing than most of the model dragons designers have come up with. And there weren’t people visibly moving it around either.
Tamino can be a bit of a prig (this isn’t always the fault of the performer – often it’s the director, although the libretto doesn’t always help), so Lothar Odinius’ very likeable performance for Glyndebourne on Tour made a really nice change. Mhlekazi Andy Mosiea for Isango/Portobello was also fantastic – and probably one of the most realistic. This Tamino is not only lost and pursued by snakes/dragons/lions/prawns, he can’t speak Papageno’s language either. But Andrew Staples of Opera Holland Park probably takes the vocal honours for his very idiomatically Mozartian performance.
Pamina can be quite boring too – even some sopranos who have sung the role have said this. But 2008 has shown the character’s great potential. WNO’s Rebecca Evans gave one of the most typical performances, a wonderful mixture of charm and spirit, every note beautifully sung. Her Welsh accent was really lovely too – the Welsh accent nearly always sounds musical, whether Welsh or English is being spoken, so it suits the spoken passages in opera rather well. Nobulumko Mngxekeza offered a tough Pamina with feminist leanings for Isango/Portobello, and was surprisingly funny – not that you’d dare laugh at this Pamina. For GoT. Ana James went in the opposite direction and made her Pamina exceptionally sweet, kind and vulnerable, but without being the least bit dull. And she offered a beautiful reading of Pamina’s music too. James’ performance was definitely one of the highlights not only of my 2008 Flute experience, but of my opera experiences in general.
Everyone loves Papageno, and one who is always admired by his audience is the highly inventive Simon Keenlyside, returning to the ROH production for which he created the role. Keenlyside is always full of energy, and brings new tricks to every performance, but some will prefer the much simpler but perhaps consequently more touching performance of ROH’s Cast B Papageno, Christopher Maltman. Opera Holland Park’s Papageno was indisposed at the performance I attended, but understudy Jonathan Gunthorpe was very loveable, and surely has a great future in Mozart’s baritone roles. For Isango/Portobello, Zamile Gantana offered a much older Papageno than usual – not an interpretation I’d ever considered before, but one that suits the character perfectly. Gantana is another great comedian who developed a very natural rapport with the audience.
Papagena is a bit of a problem character. I’ve always wanted to know more about her back story. Is she just messing around? Is she trying to win a husband with her personality rather than just her looks? Or is she just doing as Sarastro told her? Papageno is the character people tend to identify with, but he ends up with a girl who is barely onstage, and spends half the time pretending to be someone else. The ROH idea of making her into a tart doesn’t appeal to me at all – for one thing, Papagena is supposed to be a female version of Papageno - although Kishani Jayasinghe did her best to make the character seem more appealing. GoT’s Eliana Pretorian will probably (most unfairly) be remembered more for her splits and flips than her gorgeous singing. Thozamo Mdliva as Isango/Portobello’s Papagena was also lovely, and probably the closest to being a female version of Papageno.
For GoT, Katherine Broderick, Julia Riley and Louise Poole were an attractive truo of Ladies and were also extremely funny. In a strong production, they managed to be three of the stars. Natasha Joul, Carolyn Dobbin and Alexandra Sherman at Holland Park were perfectly-matched vocally – you almost forgot about the plot because you were too busy listening to how well the voices blended together.
GoT’s Alasdair Elliott was a very amusing Monostatos who revels in the pantomime aspects of the character. This interpretation works very well, especially in the run-up to Christmas. John Graham-Hall, who sang the role for the ROH, is another great comedian, and he can dance too. Mzwandile C. Kambule’s more serious Monostatos for Isango/Portobello was one you could really feel for. It was just a shame his aria was cut, as he’s a great singer.
The Speaker can be a nothing-part, but the ROH ensured we wouldn’t be bored by putting Thomas Allen and Robert Lloyd onto the stage. WNO’s David Stout could be just like them one day – he makes the Speaker’s recitative sound almost like an aria, and he’s already sings the role with a fair amount of gravitas. The ROH also offered two fine Sarastros in Stephen Milling (a surprising choice, as he’s more of a Wagner singer, but it worked) and Hans-Peter Konig.
But the Queen of the Night is the reason why many people go and the ROH’s Erika Miklosa was my favourite of the year. Not only did she hit every top F with aplomb, there was never any need to worry she might not get there. Pauline Malefane (Isango/Portobello) and Laure Meloy (WNO) were also very formidable Queens.
There are a number of excellent young trebles who have been singing the roles of the Three Boys all over the country, but Busisiwe Ngejane, Poseletso Sejosingow and Noluthando Boqwana certainly deserve a mention for their more mature Spirits. They sang their music in quite a jazzy style, by often delaying the final note of a phrase, and it worked wonderfully. It was rather cheeky (this is Mozart, after all!) but very effective.
So, in less than a month’s time, I will be sitting through this opera again at English National Opera. And then, in February, I’ll be seeing ENO’s Cast B.
Do I mind? If it’s good, not at all!