Arts & Events

The first article of music criticism I ever wrote was a review of a 1974 Merola Opera production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. (This review appeared in the August 25-29, 1974 issue of the now long defunct Berkeley Barb.) Now, 48 years later, here I am writing a review of another Merola Opera production of The Magic Flute, or, to call it by its original German title, Die Zauberflöte. Happily, by whichever name you call it, this opera never gets old. It is as amazing and delightful today as it ever was and forever will be. 

Musically, Die Zauberflöte contains elements of Singspiel, intermezzo, folksong, dance, oratorio, and religious liturgy. (The latter is present in the initiation music, set to a text reminiscent of Masonic rituals, at Sarastro’s temple.) As W.J. Turner writes in his book Mozart: The Man & His Works, Die Zauberflöte is “a special combination of the whole gamut of opera, comprising the threefold root of poetry, dancing and music in its entirety; no longer as a primitive beginning but, on the contrary, as a culmination in which the widest divergences… are once again recombined.” 

Mozart wrote the music for Die Zauberflöte on commission from his friend Emmanuel Schikaneder, a barnstorming singer-impressario who in 1789 began producing popular works of music theatre at a wooden barn-like outdoor theatre just beyond the city gates of Vienna. 

Schikaneder’s specialty was crude and vulgar spectacles full of trivial melodies. For Mozart, who had long been a court composer and pianist for Viennese high society, it was hardly a dignified commission that Schikaneder offered him. However, Vienna in 1791 was experiencing hard times. Emperor Joseph II had died and the new emperor, Leopold II, had reversed many of Joseph’s progressive policies. Mozart and his music were now out out of courtly favour. It is also true that Mozart had long desired to write another German opera after the lukewarm reception of his earlier Die Entführung aus dem Serail. Further, Mozart needed money; and, finally, not only was Schikaneder an old friend from Salzburg but also he and Mozart were both members of the Viennese Freemason’s Society. As Edward J. Dent writes in his book Mozart’s Operas, “This was very probably the most cogent reason of all” for Mozart’s acceptance of Schikaneder’s offer. 

The current Merola production of Die Zauberflöte, which I attended on Saturday, August 6 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in the Blue Shield Theatre, was sung in German with spoken dialogue in English. It was staged by longtime Metropolitan Opera director Gina Lapinski and featured projections by award-winning designer Ian Winters and lavish costumes by Dame Zandra Rhodes. The San Francisco Opera Center Orchestra was ably conducted by Kelly Kuo. 

Featured in the cast were soprano Chelsea Lehnea, who was an excellent, sweet-voiced Pamina, baritone Scott Lee as the earthy Papageno, soprano Maggie Kinabrew as the Queen of the Night, and tenor Sahel Salam as Tamino. The latter’s voice was, in my opinion, ill-suited to this role, being not a lyric tenor but rather a dramatic tenor. Though Sahel Salam sang well, his performance lacked the usual innocence and sweetness associated with the role of the young prince Tamino. In the notoriously difficult role of the Queen of the Night, Maggie Kinebrew came on strong after a somewhat hushed opening of her First Act aria, though in the latter part of that aria she showed admirable vocal projection. Moreover, her famous Act Two aria was impressively sung. Bass Edwin Jhamaal Davis was impressive as Sarastro; and bass-baritone Le Bu was outstanding as the Speaker at Sarastro’s temple. Tenor Chance Jonas-O’Toole was the malicious Monostatos. Soprano Ashley Marie Robillard was a fine Papagena; and the Three ladies were ably sung by soprano Adia Evans, mezzo-soprano Erin Wagner, and mezzo-soprano Veena Akama Makia. The Three Boys, or as they are identified here as The Three Spirits, were sung by soprano Olivia Prendergast, countertenor Cody Bowers, and mezzo-soprano Maggie Renée. 

In the initiation scene at Sarastro’s temple, tenor Daniel Luis Espinal was the First Priest; baritone Andres Cascante was the Second Priest; tenor Moisés Salazar was the First Armored Man; and bass-baritone Seungyun Kim was the Second Armored Man. It was a bit jarring to hear the misogynist overtones warning against listening to women in the initiation rituals modeled in part on Masonic initiation rituals. In all other respects, however, this was an excellent and most enjoyable production of Mozart’s lovable Die Zauberflöte.