Die Zauberflote, (Magic Flute) Mozart, StaatsOper Berlin – Review
Mozart finished his last opera “Magic Flute”, in 1791. It was a unique opera masterpiece in German-Austrian music culture for many years.
We took our seats at the StaatsOper Berlin opera at 19:00 on Sunday, March 3, 2019. The opera was about a beautiful love story in two acts, until today always came out in front of the audience with the classic staging.
This time we are faced with a different staging by American stage director Yuvan Sharon. There are characters in puppets on stage. They’re moving with visible ropes through the ceiling. They’re walking in three-dimensional space. There are inspirations from the Japanese performing.
One of the main male characters is being cast by a theater actor, whereas another opera singer singing in the background. The opera is in German.
Female Mexican Conductor, was Alondra de la Parra. Permanent conductor Daniel Barenbaum, for some reason, gave up the orchestra at the last minute, and the next chief had to have an emergency operation from his knee.They finally found the new Mexican woman chef Alondra de la Parra.
The conductor showed a wonderful work who dominated the orchestra. The choir was located behind the orchestra pit below, we hear the voices throughout the play, we did not see themselves.
Ehwn the first curtain was over, we heard a “boo” sound from the top third balcony. He was protesting and he disliked the staging. It was his freedom of expression and expressed his reaction. We didn’t see him in the second act, he just left.
For those who don’t like the new staging of the opera, the opera management kept the old classical staging in their repertoire. Three weeks after the new staging, they will perform the old classical staging.
The first construction of the StaatsOper building was completed in 1745. It saw fire in 1820 and was renovated. It was rebuilt in the 1920s. It was damaged in the war in 1944, rebuilt in 1955 after the WW2 and worked as an opera house in East Germany. The wall was refurbished again after the wall was demolished. The three floor balcony has a wonderful acoustics. Especially the view from the top of the upper balconies and the sound acoustics are very nice.
There was a public conference in the great hall before the opera. Then there was refreshments in the lounge. There was an intermittent refreshments again, everyone took a glass of beverage and put a conversation on it. We watched a surprisingly different staging. I scanned the internet, a large number of German newspapers have been critical about this opera.
The New York Times and the Financial Times have commented separately. They explained this different three-dimensional new interpretation.In the last scene, children played the puppets. Your writer liked this modern new interpretation. When the stage of the opera was finished, all the audience all standing together in the applause.
Mustafa Kemal Pasha In December 1918, he stayed at the Adlon Hotel in Berlin. He probably saw an opera performance in the StaatsOper building at a distance of 200-300 meters, perhaps he had the chance to see Mozart’s “magic flute” opera in the same environment.
