The Magic Flute, Opera North review - a fresh vision of Mozart’s masterpiece

In an autumn season of three revivals, Opera North begin by inviting James Brining, artistic director of Leeds Playhouse, to oversee his own production from five years ago of Mozart and Emanual Schikaneder’s extraordinary musical play. It’s the mainstay of the season, returning in 2025 (with some cast changes) as well as dominating the next two months.

The fifth version of The Magic Flute I’ve seen from the company, and one of the best, it’s performed in English, with side-titles in use to ensure that no one misses the progress of the story.

Technology has changed, and a creation that always relies on some kind of stage effects has benefitted from imaginative video projection and a few light sabers. How else do you show ordeals by fire and water – and even the monster at the start (though that was reassuringly physical, too)? Design by Colin Richmond and video design by Douglas O’Connell are brilliantly conceived and executed.

Brining sees it through a child’s eyes – a little girl being put to bed, in a silent prologue acted out during the overture, and then (presumably) dreaming the rest. In the room behind are her father’s grown-up friends, gathered around the dinner table, and a number of them are reincarnated as characters in the story. That’s not a new idea (it’s been used a few times for Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet, for instance), but it’s a good one.

And there’s more to it than a happy family gathering – because this girl’s estranged mum arrives unexpectedly, expecting access rights. Who is the daughter to side with: the mother who bore her or the father who has power over her? That becomes the underlying interpretation of the story … her nanny morphs into Pamina, the daughter of the Queen of the Night, held captive by Sarastro and his seemingly impregnable company of high-minded disciples. Will her Prince (Tamino) come to find her, and will love conquer all?

Sarastro and his community do not come out of things very well in this version. Virtue and stedfastness (not to mention feistiness, as exemplified by the blood-spattered Three Ladies) are qualities of the female characters, and the men of the brotherhood appear to be a grim-faced lot whose declarations of male superiority are hardly borne out by their behaviour. Who is really on the wrong end of an argument between warring parents? It’s an ambiguity that’s present throughout the work, and Brining leaves it unresolved as the little girl is left alone to question Sarastro with the eyes of innocence.

The rich human resources of Opera North’s chorus are employed in the many subsidiary roles, and outstanding among the principal ones are Emyr Wyn Jones as a Papageno with a Welsh lilt in his voice (pictured right) Anna Dennis as the Queen of the Night, Egor Zhuravskii as Tamino and Claire Lees as Pamina. Jones has a wonderful comic gift, Dennis brings a voice of rich resource and mastery of the ultra-high notes (deservedly applauded for her Act Two aria), Zhuravskii is a tenor of pure tone and intonation and his princely demeanour has no problems, and Lees shines like a good deed in a naughty world.

Musical qualities are very high indeed, as of course we expect from Opera North. Christoph Koncz conducts with confident authority and energetic life, enjoying the richness of the score as well as its liveliness. (Oliver Rundell takes charge for one upcoming performance in Newcastle and both in Salford).

Casting in the first outing of this production seemed to avoid presenting either the Speaker or Sarastro as figures of great resonant authority, as has so often been the case in the past, and this time the effect is not dissimilar. Andri Björn Róbertsson and Msimelelo Mbali both sing their roles very well, but in terms of portrayal they are figures who seem to embody male presumption rather than integrity. I think that’s probably all intentional, and Monostatos (Colin Judson), as a creepy elderly guy armed with a syringe, is perhaps meant more as a figment of the little girl’s imagination than anything else.

James Brining has re-thought the scenario of the piece in a way that’s suitable for all ages (Opera North are presenting and touring “The Magic Flute Lite” next year alongside the full version, with family and schools audiences in mind), and my impression is that one or two aspects of the first version have been toned down slightly with that variety of audience in mind. It makes for a production that has a lot to offer and is a strategic success for the company at a time of extreme pressure on the function of our major opera companies. 

• Further performances on 28 September, 5 and 11 October, then 12, 13, 15 and 22 February in Leeds; 8 and 9 November then 6 and 7 March at Newcastle Theatre Royal; 15 and 16 November then 13 and 14 March at The Lowry, Salford; 22 and 23 November then 20 and 21 March at Nottingham Theatre Royal; and 27 and 29 March at the New Theatre, Hull
  
• More opera reviews on theartsdesk