London Coliseum
|
The story is an intriguing composition of unbelievable events, making a magical and fairytale-esque, albeit somewhat unintelligible, opera. The grandeur and lavishness that is suggested by the opera's story is all stripped back; the imposing Queen of the Night is in fact a crippled old lady in a wheel chair, and Sarastro's mighty palace is reduced to a conference table. It was an interesting take on things which somehow felt more inclusive for the audience than if it had been presented in the pantomime like way I imagine it could have been.
The magic of the opera emerged not in the set, costumes or even from the story. Instead it came from extra additions that you would never have thought of. The backdrop for the scenes was a chalk drawing that was being illustrated on the side of the stage throughout the opera and then live projected onto the back wall. It was an exciting idea and fun to watch, especially at the beginning when we could watch the image being drawn in time with the music. I wish that the concept had been used more frequently because it added an extra dimension to the opera, enhancing the magical experience.
As well as this visual stimulus, there was clever sound design. A woman stood inside a glass box and created the noises that matched the actions we were seeing on stage. For example, when Papageno was rummaging in his bag, she created the sound of the rustling sweet wrappers. The best part of the sound effects, in my opinion, was when Papageno stumbled across a series of wine bottles and discovered that he could hit them to make a tune. As he hit the bottles, we could see the woman in the glass box making sounds by actually hitting glass bottles
However, for me, the highlight of the performance was the way in which the orchestra as so involved in the action. For the first time in my (admittedly limited) experience in watching operas, was as much a part of the performance as the singers on stage. They were completely exposed and almost level with the stage, at points they even worked as puppeteers for Papageno's birds. Given that the opera is called 'The Magic Flute', it was so nice to see the musician behind the magic flute (the amazing Claire Wickes) music actually standing on stage for us all to see. For me, all the golden moments of the opera came from the orchestra.
This is an interesting take on a weirdly complex story and there were indeed many magical moments, including the wonderous Queen of the Night aria, and Lucy Crowe's singing throughout.
There are lots of ways to save when going to the opera, and there is a really handy summary of all the different methods of saving here: https://www.eno.org/your-visit/ways-to-save-offers/ . There is also the brilliant Opera Undressed scheme where you can get £20 tickets to see one of a selection of performances, (for this season The Magic Flute or The Merry Widow) and they include amazing seats, a free drink, and a pre-show performance talk. More information can be found here: https://www.eno.org/your-visit/ways-to-save-offers/opera-undressed/. Under 18's go free on Saturdays! - check the ENO website for more details.