{"id":71439,"date":"2014-04-18T15:02:48","date_gmt":"2014-04-18T13:02:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gbopera.it\/?p=71439"},"modified":"2014-04-18T15:02:48","modified_gmt":"2014-04-18T13:02:48","slug":"dresden-semperoperthe-magic-flutedie-zauberflote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/dresden-semperoperthe-magic-flutedie-zauberflote\/","title":{"rendered":"Dresden, Semperoper:”The Magic Flute”(Die Zauberfl\u00f6te)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dresden. Semperoper. Opera Season 2013-2014. <\/em>
\n“THE MAGIC FLUTE”(Die Zauberfl\u00f6te)
\n<\/b>Opera in 2 acts, words by Emanuel Schikaneder
\nMusic by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart\u00a0 <\/b>
\nSarastro <\/i>MICHAEL ELDER
\nTamino\u00a0 <\/i>ANDREJ\u00a0 DUNAEV
\nOrator <\/i>\u00a0ZACHARY NELSON
\n1st<\/sup> Priest\u00a0 <\/i>ALEXANDER HAJEK
\n2nd<\/sup> Priest\u00a0 <\/i>CHRISTOPHER KAPLAN
\nQueen of the Night\u00a0 <\/i>CHRISTINA POULITSI
\nPamina\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/i>ELIZABETH ZHAROFF
\n1st Lady\u00a0\u00a0 <\/i>BIRGIT FANDREY
\n2nd<\/sup> Lady\u00a0\u00a0 <\/i>ANGELA LIEBOLD
\n3rd<\/sup> Lady\u00a0\u00a0 <\/i>SOFI LORENTZEN
\nPapageno\u00a0 <\/i>CHRISTOPH POHL
\nPapagena<\/i>\u00a0 CHRISTIANE\u00a0 HOSSFELD
\n1st<\/sup> Man in Armour <\/i>\u00a0J\u00dcRGEN M\u00dcLLER
\n2nd<\/sup> Man in Armour\u00a0 <\/i>TOMISLAV\u00a0 LUCIC
\nMonostatos <\/i>\u00a0TIMOTHY OLIVER
\n1st<\/sup> Genius\u00a0 <\/i>\u00a0NIKOLAI SKODA
\n2nd<\/sup> Genius\u00a0\u00a0 <\/i>SAMUEL MASCHKE
\n3rd<\/sup> Genius\u00a0\u00a0 <\/i>GEORG LESCH
\nDresden Staatskapelle Orchestra of Saxony
\nDresden State Opera Chorus of\u00a0 Saxony
\nConductor Julia Jones <\/b>
\nChorus Master Pablo Assante<\/strong>
\nDirector, set and costume designer Achim Freyer <\/b>
\nLighting\u00a0 Gerd Budschigk\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b>
\nDresden. 10th<\/sup> April, 2014.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

The current production of The Magic Flute<\/em> at the Semperoper Dresden, by the director\/producer Achim Freyer<\/strong>, whole-heartedly and unashamedly presented as a fairy-tale for children, is an illustrator’s delight.\u00a0 The scenery, on a reduced stage area, delimited most of the time by three oversized and irregularly drawn doorways, comes straight out of a children’s book, as do the naif and colourful costumes and props.\u00a0 Perhaps too light-hearted and clownesque for those who favour a\u00a0 more esoteric and erudite reading of the deeper, intrinsic, Enlightenment concerns incorporated in the opera, this production privileges the\u00a0 combined magical fairy tale and popular comedy elements over the\u00a0 other possible perspectives, the religious mystery, philosophical parable or masonic opera.\u00a0 Not that references to them are lacking, as seen\u00a0 by the masonic trowels held by the priests during the\u00a0 procession. In fact, this illustrated version, by being wholly removed from any attempt to portray the world realistically,\u00a0 manages to move fluidly, as is the prerogative of fairy tales, between the real and the unreal, the comic and the serious, the logical and the illogical. There is liberal use of pantomime effects, some mildly bawdy. There are three teletubbies, alias the three genii, playing (oversized)dice down-stage, even before the curtain goes up, to decide the outcome of Tamino’s fate. Stardust is showered at entrances and exits, and there is the use of trapdoor for immediate disappearances, revolving doors,\u00a0 and clown make-up. There are also a great variety of visual references besides the aforementioned,- Sarastro accompanied by lions straight out of the Tales of Narni, the chorus in mock colonial outfits, white pierrot\/Noh make-up for Tamino e Pamina, – which help to kindle audience involvement in this magical and supernatural world. The company of singers in the performance on 10th<\/sup> April was well-balanced.\u00a0 Christoph Pohl<\/strong>‘s Papageno matched an engaging stage-presence and shtick with a well-honed and expressive vocality.\u00a0 Christiane Hossfeld<\/strong> was a pleasing\u00a0 though light-weight Papagena.\u00a0 As Queen of the Night\u00a0 Christina Poulitsi<\/strong>‘s first entrance recitative, ‘O zittre nicht’, and the following larghetto, seemed a little muffled. But as soon as she arrived at the allegro, ‘Du, du, du’, her voice opened out in clear, ringing tones.\u00a0 Her runs were fluid and effortless and the coloratura precise, in tune and full bodied. In the second act her aria ‘Der H\u00f6lle Rache’, she demonstrated the same technical ease and an added dramatic thrust.\u00a0 The warm, glowing tone of Michael Eder<\/strong>‘s voice, and his technical assurance and fluid delivery throughout the entire and extensive range of Sarastro’s music, gave the part\u00a0 a heartfelt and convincingly\u00a0 authoritative\u00a0 presence.\u00a0 Andrej Dunaev<\/strong> performed the role of Tamino with freshness and sincerity. His clear resonant tenor and sustained legato line reflected effectively the strength and courage of his character.\u00a0 Elizabeth Zharoff<\/strong> as Pamina, tended to sing at full throttle, missing the opportunities for nuance and shading. In particular, in the exquisitely moving aria, ‘Ach ich f\u00fchl’s’, with its sobbing rhythmic figure\u00a0 in the bZachaeautifully written orchestral part, the vocal line was sung strongly and in a direct manner,\u00a0 without any sign of obeisance for the aria’s inherent expression and pathos.\u00a0 The three genii, Nicolai Skoda, Samuel Maschke<\/strong> and Georg Lesch<\/strong>, members of the renowned Dresden Kreuzchor sang with firm, clear voices and beautifully balanced ensemble singing. They were also convincing and endearing mimes. Timothy Oliver as Monostatas gave an energetic and persuasive performance. The orator, Zachary Nelson<\/strong>, the two men in armour, J\u00fcrgen M\u00fcller<\/strong> and Tomislav Lucic,<\/strong> and the priests, Alexander Hajek<\/strong> and Christopher Kaplan<\/strong>, both from the Semperoper’s Young Artists’ s Programme, gave valid and appropriate contributions. The three Ladies, Birgit Fandrey, Angela Liebhold<\/strong> and Sofi Lorentzen<\/strong> moved vigorously on stage but vocally, the difference in their vibratos and the\u00a0 inconsistencies in articulation detracted from their ensemble singing. The orchestra played with its usual precision and beautiful tonal colour, with noteworthy solos from the basset horns. However, under the rather straightforward conducting of Julia Jones<\/strong> the orchestra resulted loud and heavy in relation to the stage. The chorus too, probably due to the fact that it was mostly placed off stage, came across as loud and forceful. Photo Matthias Creutziger<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dresden. Semperoper. Opera Season 2013-2014. “THE MAGIC FLUTE”(Die Zauberfl\u00f6te) Opera in 2 acts, words by Emanuel Schikaneder Music […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":71443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10327,10337,3472,10340,10339,10330,9590,10329,10338,361,10326,3635,10332,9354,10328,10335,10331,10333,145,10334,10341,9216,10336,253,10288],"class_list":["post-71439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-senza-categoria","tag-achim-freyer","tag-alexander-hajek","tag-andrej-dunaev","tag-angela-liebhold","tag-birgit-fandrey","tag-christiane-hossfeld","tag-christina-poulitsi","tag-christoph-pohl","tag-christopher-kaplan","tag-die-zauberflote","tag-dreden-semperoper","tag-elizabeth-connell","tag-elizabeth-zharoff","tag-foreign-readers","tag-julia-jones","tag-jurgen-muller","tag-michael-eder","tag-nicolai-skoda","tag-opera-lirica","tag-samuel-maschke","tag-sofi-lorentzen","tag-the-magic-flute-it","tag-tomislav-lucic","tag-wolfgang-amadeus-mozart","tag-zachary-nelson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/105"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}