Die Zauberflöte

Tonight, we saw the Magic Flute, and it was, well, nothing short of magical. We had an interesting experience attending the opera as well; we got back so late from Eisenstadt, the place of Haydn's mausoleum and church, that we had no time to change AND get something to eat before going to the opera. Most of us decided to accept the embarrassment and get something to eat rather than change quickly and possibly be late. I showed up in dirty boots, jeans, and a loose sweatshirt. Obviously, it was not ideal, however the experience is what I will remember, not what I was wearing!

The production had somewhat of a modernized take on it. The main characters all had traditional opera costume on; elaborate and fantasy-styled dress. Tamino was wearing what I can only describe as a pirate costume, Pamina wearing pretty normal a calf-length dress, Papageno wearing an old yellow suit but with feathers poking out in places, and the Queen of the Night wearing a beautiful red floor-length dress. Those apart of Sarastro's Order were all wearing business clothes: pants suits and skirts, including Sarastro himself. That was how you knew that they were initiated in that cult-like order. 

I knew very little of the story going in. I knew much more of the music. I went in thinking that Sarastro was indeed the villain of the story, when it turns out that the Queen of the Night was in fact the one deceiving everyone. Finding that out was very interesting, esoecially how Sarastro and his cult were displayed. We are taught to shy away from that, and go toward the individuality displayed on the Queen of the Night's side (something that reminds me distinctly of American philosophy).

The singing was of course absolutely amazing. The Queen of the Night absolutely destroyed the famous aria. Taming and Pamino complimented each other extremely well. And the three boys we figured had to be apart of the Vienna Boy's Choir School. They were no more than 10 or 12, but they sang and acted so very well. It was extremely impressive. 

Something I loved also were the use of special effects. Throughout the opera, the use of special effects were subtle, and not to flashy. That made it so that when something flashy did in fact happen, it was awe-inducing. For example, at the end of the Queen of the Night's aria, she angrily stormed off. At the time, a row of chairs were on stage and a white crescent moon was floating atop. When she strode offstage, she raised her hand, and the chairs all dispersed randomly, knocking over everywhere, and the moon caught on fire. 

Overalls, this was a performance I will never forget. To see such a classic Mozart opera performed in such a musical city in their beautiful State Opera House was amazing!