Melodrama becomes madness: a sensational Magic Flute

By Dominic Lowe, 23 October 2016

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“revelatory... tapping into the huge contemporary issues of mental health and abuse of power”

Reviewed at Hackney Empire, London on 21 October 2016

Mozart, Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) (Hackney Empire and Armel Opera Festival present)

Szeged National Theatre

Gergely Vajda, Conductor

Róbert Alföldi, Director

Ildikó Tihanyi, Set Designer

Marlène Assayag, Queen of the Night

György Hanczár, Tamino

István Kovács, Sarastro

Eva Kovács, Pamina

Szilveszter Szélpál, Papageno

Zoltán Megyesi, Monostatos

Szeged Symphony Orchestra

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George Jahn, 6th May

Cast and orchestra excel in a sensitive linking of Gluck’s music and drama in Róbert Alföldi's simple, direct production at the Hungarian State Opera.

****1

Tainted Love: a passionate Hungarian double bill in Hackney

Chris Garlick, 19th September

A double bill of operas that were literally made for each other, Péter Eötvös wrote his one act masterpiece Senza sangue in 2015 to act as a partner piece for Bartók's Duke Bluebeard’s Castle.

*****

Antonia Bembo’s Ercole amante wins hearts at the Opéra de Paris

David Karlin, 2nd June

Leonardo García-Alarcón's exhumation of Bembo's work proves a winner, in a hyper-quirky staging by Netia Jones with Julie Fuchs as the pick of the fine singers.

****1

Chasing the American Dream: UK premiere for Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up

Mark Pullinger, 1st June

Amy Lane directs an intimate staging of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s 2018 chamber opera in the compact Milton Court Theatre.

****1

Longborough Festival Opera season starts slow with Orlando

Eleanor Knight, 30th May

Beth Taylor gives the lows and highs of Handel's heroics an almighty, whole-body shakedown in Sinéad O'Neill’s new staging of Handel's Orlando.

***11

Viennese splendour in Garsington’s Rosenkavalier revival

Roy Westbrook, 28th May

Bruno Ravella's splendid 2021 production of Strauss' opera of Viennese manners returns with a fine cast.

****1

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Dominic Lowe

Dominic Lowe recently completed a degree in Classics, and one of his great interests is the reception of Greece and Rome in opera. A regular opera-goer since his very early teens, he is particularly keen on the hidden operatic gems of the 19th century. He is largely based in the South of England.

Melodrama becomes madness: a sensational Magic Flute in Hackney