A quick look at audience reaction to The Magic Flute:
And what the critics are saying about The Magic Flute:
"...funny and charming while retaining its bite and a proper sense of mystery, a balance one longs for in the Flute but rarely finds." - Opera Now, Robert Thicknesse, 30/03/2012
"this Flute is a decided triumph, and one I’d certainly be queuing to see again at a revival." - Opera Britannia, Terry Blain, 15/02/2012
"marvellously inventive... The singing was excellent, as was the orchestral accompaniment, directed by Brenda Hurley. The imaginative sets and costumes contributed to the production's zaniness... Papageno's duet with Papagena was deliciously done." - Irish Examiner, 04/02/2012
"While there was plenty of drama and tension, it was still an uplifting show, a perfect tonic for a chill winter evening... Thanks to an energetic cast, both acts fizzled along with joy and enthusiasm... a huge hit with the capacity audience." - The Evening Echo, Mary Smithwick, 01/02/2012
"It’s an interesting question how much Mozart bought into the misogyny that peppers the libretto of his great panto-opera... It’s left to Annilese Miskimmon, artistic director of what is now Ireland’s major company, Opera Theatre Company, to take it on. And she does it very entertainingly in this touring production, with nothing spurious and no hint of hectoring, by spinning the characters and action in a way that actually makes you think new things, a rare and welcome feeling in the opera house. Miskimmon manages to make the show funny and charming while retaining its bite and a proper sense of mystery, a balance one longs for in the Flute but rarely finds. It’s energetically performed in Nicky Shaw’s clever trapdoors-and-ladders design, with smart visual larks on top of the slapstick and character-comedy. ...this Flute plays some sweetly profound tunes." - The Tablet, Robert Thicknesse 14/01/2012
In January 2012, The Magic Flute received an Irish Times Theatre Award nomination for Best Opera production.
"ingeniously reduced instrumentation by Cameron Sinclair... worked marvellously, evoking the musical world of Mozart's sublime Piano and Wind Quintet, and revealing details of the original woodwind scoring that are often subsumed beneath a plush string underlay in the full orchestration ... Owen Gilhooly's bumptious bird-man is hugely engaging and strongly sung, while Mary O'Sullivan is a plump and pleasing Papagena ... Nathan Morrison (ed's note: OTC Young Associate Artist)'s mellifluous Speaker... a beautiful, technically assured voice. Best of all was a radiant Pamina from Emma Morwood, a Belfast-born soprano with star potential and one of several Irish singers worth nurturing in her native land. This lively, well-sung Flute tours Ireland this week, then again from January 26 to February 18, including one date in the north, at the Down Arts Centre, in Downpatrick." - Hugh Canning 04/12/2011 Full review behind The Sunday Times pay wall
Comments