The Magic Flute by Mozart, søn. 20 nov. 2016, Fra (2016/2017), Instrueret af Alain Maratrat,, Dirigent Anton Torbeev, Valery Gergiev, Pavel Smelkov, Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, Vladivostok, Russia

Die Zauberflöte (1791) is the last and favourite Mozart’s creation for a musical theatre. Written as a singspiel, i.e. a piece with singing, in which vocal numbers are alternated with spoken dialogues, it was meant for the Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden and was commissioned by the director of that theatre and the composer’s old friend Emanuel Schikaneder. The premiere was a tremendous success and after being performed at its first stage a record number of times (223), the opera started its triumphant march across musical theatres of Europe, and then — the world. What is the secret of Die Zauberflöte’ s never fading popularity? This wonderful and kind fairy-tale is intended for both children and adults. Its elevated philosophy sings the ideals of equality and fraternity, the faith in moral improvement and the final triumph of love, light and reason, although the happy reunion of two couples of lovers was not without involvement of magic forces. At the same time, fairy-tale characters acquire features of real people, performed with humour, screwed observations and vivid strokes, depicting everyday life. The enduring success of performances by renowned French director, who has also staged Prokofiev’s opera The Love for Three Oranges at the Primorsky Stage, is described as the “Maratrat effect”: his works are invariably liked by both the audience and the artists. Die Zauberflöte is an incredibly cheerful, dynamic and ingenious performance. One of its principal merits is interactivity: the performers communicate with the spectators and keep them engaged in the production throughout the whole evening. Among other reasons, making it ideal for introducing kids to opera, is the fact that it is sung in Russian. The children will surely appreciate funny tricks of the bird-catcher Papageno and the charming sound of bells ringing, the picturesque scene of appearance of the Queen of the Night with its famous aria and colourful dolls of the oriental characters. “I want my performance to become a special occasion for the audience” — that is the director’s artistic creed. All these, combined with Mozart’s virtuoso music, guarantee both a good mood and a lot of pleasurable moments! Nadezhda Koulygina