![]() ![]() The message, more or less, is that women are weak/evil creatures who will lead men astray unless closely supervised under the tenets of the brotherhood of Masonry. When you can understand what is being said and sung - which was more than half the time on opening night - it tends to grate. The English version was chosen for this production, which probably was a mistake. It's all Mozart's fault, because he couldn't make up his mind either: the thing was written for the popular theater but is heavily larded with a Masonic message, with the result that the plot is even sillier than most operas'. Mozart's last work is almost as hard on the audience as it is on the cast, because it's a mixture of solemnity and slapstick that often leaves one wondering whether to laugh or cry. He has created magic out of gauze, and it makes for magnificent staging even when, as happened a number of times opening night, the scrims hang up or the Montgolfier hot-air balloon that occasionally wafts characters on or off stage doesn't go when or where it's supposed to. The Opera has adopted the Houston Grand Opera production, featuring the inspired scenery and costumes of the incomparable Maurice Sendak, who is so good even children believe in him. ![]() Mozart's "The Magic Flute" is wonderfully creaky, and so is the Washington Opera's current production of the work at the Kennedy Center. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |