On February 1st, I went to see UBC Opera’s production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, or “The Magic Flute”, at the Chan Centre. Backed by the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, this production was sure to be a spectacular one. Despite having listened to recordings of this opera long before going, I had no idea what the plot was and didn’t have time to read the program synopsis because I was running late (thanks Translink). This opera, however, proved very easy to follow.
In TheMagic Flute, we can see the beginnings of a modern musical theatre genre. The Flute weaves spoken dialogue, characteristic of singspiel, into the mix of arias, recitatives and ensembles, as well as borrows components from various music drama genres. It is an opera that is difficult to imagine being performed in a monarch’s court, appealing much more to a rowdy, flirtatious, vaudevillean audience. The colourful, lavish costumes and props, including a beautifully crafted cardboard serpent, contrasted the relatively bare set design of white staircases, ramps, and Neoclassical columns. The production seemed like a child’s colourful crayon sketch of fairy-tale characters on a white page, which is fitting for a fantastical opera composed in an era of simplicity in art and architecture.
The story begins with our tenor hero, Tamino, stumbling into a hidden kingdom after being chased by a snake-like creature. He is taken to the Queen of the Night, who sends him on a mission, accompanied by the comical Papageno, to rescue Pamina from Sarastro. Once there, Tamino and Pamina fall in love and discover that Sarastro and his community of priests are actually the good guys, with superior ideals and morals. Tamino, Pamina and Papageno go through a series of trials in order to join Sarastro and his temple.
At the end of Act 1 a chorus comes out to join the priests and Sarastro, producing a wall of sound that comes at and surrounds the audience. This piece, sung by the chorus as priests of the temple, uses homophonic texture to enhance the idea of a religious experience while singing praise to Sarastro, their leader.
As a long-time lover of opera, I was beyond excited to see The Flute. Having listened to the opera before, I knew it had so many well-known pieces that even those most skeptical of classical music would enjoy. One of these pieces is “Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen”, also known as the Queen of the Night’s Aria. As someone who has listened to countless versions of this aria, I was beyond impressed with soprano Sydney Frelick’s rendition. She performed the aria with great confidence and accuracy. It never felt like she was glossing over any notes to get to the more important ones. Each note was given the emphasis it deserved, without sacrificing emotion by sounding overly technical.
Every time I see a production put on by UBC Opera I am blown away by the talent of these students, many of whom I know through my participation in UBC Choirs. I am so excited to see what is to come for these talented young singers and hope to see them performing at major opera companies in the future.