On Sunday, February 17th, I had the pleasure of attending the UBC Opera’s production of The Magic Flute, an opera I later found out to be composed by Mozart. The show for that morning (10am), was at the Old Auditorium, which seemed a bold and detailed site to display music in, as witnessing performances in that space adds to the authenticity of the show. The UBC Opera program put on the production as a Kid’s Takeover version, which was family friendly. Attending this performance also meant a lot to myself, as my friend is in the program, and was in this performance as one of the three ladies (alto- lower range typically for women).
The piano accompanist for the event was Richard Epp, who played the instrumental lines for the entire show. As mentioned above, this interpretation was a kid’s matinee event, so what should be a three-hour long opera, was condensed down to just over an hour. I believe this to be beneficial to a listener such as myself, as I am not too familiar with opera’s, and a longer production would have slowly lost my focus. What was also helpful, was that the English text was projected overhead the stage, as the entire opera is in German. As such, I was able to authentically listen to the original text, while following the story of fantasy, magic, and comedy.
The artistry of the student performers was phenomenal, as I was never previously aware of the breath and talent this program consisted of. From my former understanding, most opera singers reach their peak maturation of the voice in adulthood, and while that may remain true, the voices of these students were quite professional, yet seemingly effortless at the same time. I learned and witnessed a lot of the techniques in voice through this one show and how the voice can be trained to be a vessel for so many powerful and sweet notes. My favourite character and interpretation, was of Papageno and the oddness, yet childlike theme he represents. The Pamina and Papageno duet was my favourite as the lightheartedness and technique of the performers was intricate, as well.
It is quite telling how much of an impact the fantasy of genre has had in the modern world, with works such as Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones etc. This experience was truly interesting as it provided me with a perspective where I could appreciate even deeper this opera by Mozart, as it was part of the foundation of works which inspired and grew into what many people in the world enjoy, including myself.