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Atle Antonsen as Papageno Silvia Moi as Papagena Photo: Erik Berg, Den Norske Opera |
I have railed in the past against updating or "re-imagining" operas, for several quite good reasons. Perhaps I'm softening. Or maybe I am finally seeing some productions where it works better than I expect it to. In this case, we have a Star Wars-like set-up, and Tamino crash-lands his space ship on an exotic, unknown planet that curiously has just the right atmosphere for humans to sing and, well, you know, live. From there the story, with libretto and dialogue in Norwegian, keeps close to what we know. In fact, the re-imagined story and stage direction by Alexander Mørk-Eidsen brought out some points worth considering in any production. For instance, Tamino's apparent about-face in attitude upon entering Sarastro's temple is explained by making the suggestion he is bewitched by the Queen and her Ladies when given the charge to rescue Pamina. All in all, I found the production charming.
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Marius Roth Christensen Photo: Erik Berg, Den Norske Opera |
Tamino is the handsome, brave, true young lad we require. This Tamino was performed by Marius Roth Christensen, a former Norwegian rock star who has been singing opera successfully for about ten years. Although Wikipedia gives his age as 43, he can play the 20-something prince convincingly if the camera man is careful with his close-ups. We certainly did enjoy his singing--sweet and beautiful throughout, with very few signs of strain, even in Tamino's most difficult passages--and we believed in his love for the beautiful Pamina.
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The Queen really is atop Pamina's little hut, one of many places she is suspended during that scene Eir Inderhaug as Queen of the Night Mari Eriksmoen as Pamina Photo: Erik Berg, Den Norske Opera |
The Queen of the Night was sung quite well by Eir Inderhaug. Technically spot on, with every note solid, accurate, and beautiful. She was also convincingly angry. Or mad, rather. One begins to see a pattern here. The Queen is surrounded by the oddest group of Ladies I have ever seen--they seem to be half amphibian, half nymphomaniac. But they're all good singers, and we enjoyed their scenes. Poor Monostatos was sung and acted quite well by Nils Harald Sødal, but I wouldn't wish that costume on my worst enemy--believe me, it's better imagined than described. And we can't forget the sonorous tones of Sarastro, sung by Henning von Schulman.
I must admit as Act II progressed I was growing more and more uncomfortable with some of the narrative--the emphasis on man's superiority over woman, how a woman needs a man to guide her, the disdain for any trait not considered manly in that worldview. It all built up to a climax at the end of the quintet in the Act II finale, when the Queen, the Ladies, and Monostatos are caught trying to sneak into the temple to kidnap Pamina. Just as it looks like we'll see a brawl that would not be unusual on a rugby pitch, Papageno and Papagena interrupt to remind us of the true message of the story: hate and revenge are bad things, and love and forgiveness are good. Take away what remains of the sexist message of the temple and the trials, and I'm good with that.
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Photo: Erik Berg, Den Norske Opera |
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