Where to start when discussing Simon McBurney's 2012 production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, now on its second Dutch National Opera revival after travelling all to the Met to great acclaim. Is the production really as good as everyone says? Has it managed to retain the freshness of delivery? Well, the ever-evolving production, revived by Rachael Hewer, is an absolute delight. One could even argue that it transcends the operatic form and turns this Mozartian masterpiece into a piece of theatre, with even a hint of Shakespeare.
At the centre of it all, magic, and never more so than in the interactive set, where the magic flute magically floats before our very eyes. 3D projections of ancient books and turning pages by video artist, Finn Ross, provide endless wonder as words literally fall from the pages like scales falling from our eyes before pictures of walking elephants and flying parrots fill the screen. The monolithic floating set, at times reaches an incredible incline, representing everything from a table to a prison. At one point as Papageno and Tamino desperately try to stay atop, tormented by menacing, fluttering paper birds while thunder crashes all around, it becomes a metaphor for the struggles of the world.
The strength of this production, however, lies not just in the set, the direction, or the music itself, but in the outstanding cast who without exception, were on fine form. Rainelle Krause's Queen of the Night looked deliberately old and unattractive, yet she displayed immense physical strength delivering the much anticipated “Der Hölle Rache” from a wheelchair. Her menace and immense power when calling upon the gods of vengeance, almost as if her life depended on it, was amazing.
Mingjie Lei showed amazing resolve as Tamino, battling both the elements and his elders to rid himself of despair. Equally impressive was Ying Fang’s breathtaking portrayal of Pamina. After first appearing in casual jogging bottoms and a baseball cap, she grew into a character full of radiance and maturity. Her ability to combine vocal agility with richness, tenderness and vulnerability was stunning, each note a new emotion. Her aria “Ach, ich fühl's”, the highlight of the evening, felt so real. The audience was in the palm of her hand. In complete contrast, the depraved figure of Monostatos, brilliantly played by Lucas van Lierop, earned spontaneous applause for dancing “the floss” while under the spell of Papageno's magic glockenspiel.
The evening without question belonged to Dutch baritone Thomas Oliemans, who has made the role of Papageno his own. And it is here perhaps that similarities can best be drawn with characters from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, a play thought to have influenced Mozart's librettist, Emanuel Schikaneder. Caliban and Papageno, both subjects of torture and ridicule, have many similarities and the use of a ladder as something of a crutch was inspired. From the meticulously timed crashing, to his banishment atop the ladder, either as a form of punishment or an escape from the horrors of the world, Oliemans managed to bring an infectious sense of comedy to proceedings.
The juxtaposition of a wild looking Papageno escaping the rain with his coat pulled high over his head alongside the unflustered and ravishing Pamina, complete with an immaculate Chinese umbrella, was visually striking. As was the utter glee exhibited when at last Papageno found the beautiful Papagena and they both run wild through the audience. In a moment of comic genius, his Papageno plays his wine bottles with two long leeks, expressing his frustration with the missing leading note, before coming up with a most inventive solution, was accompanied by sound effects created by the amazing Foley artist, Ruth Sullivan. This is a production which will be talked about with great affection for many years to come.
