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The Magic Flute (Sharon)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s most famous opera by far, is also his most enigmatic. American director Yuval Sharon carries away audiences to new worlds of images that are no less imaginative, yet aesthetically quite different from the previous production.

  • Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

    Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

  • Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

    Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

  • Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

    Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

  • Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

    Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

  • Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

    Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

  • Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

    Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

  • Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

    Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

  • Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

    Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

  • Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

    Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

  • Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

    Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

  • Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

    Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

  • Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

    Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

  • Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

    Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

  • Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

    Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

  • Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

    Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

  • Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

    Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)

Prince Tamino falls in love with Pamina after only having seen a picture of her. But as her mother, the Queen of the Night, reports, Pamina is being held captive by Sarastro. At the queen’s behest, Tamino and his companion Papageno set off to free Pamina from Sarastro’s temple. But as soon as they arrive there, the question of which characters are good and which are evil arises. The only thing that seems clear is that Pamina returns Tamino’s affections, and in the end the two of them are united after difficult trials.

For 25 years, August Everding’s production of »The Magic Flute« has enchanted Staatsoper audiences of all ages. But now the time has come for Mozart’s complex masterpiece to be examined anew. And so American director Yuval Sharon carries away audiences to new worlds of images that are no less imaginative, yet aesthetically quite different from the previous production. At the heart of the production is the idea of a collage, analogous to that of Mozart’s music itself, oscillating constantly between the stylistic levels of the Singspiel and the opera seria. Sharon, together with stage designer Mimi Lien and Belgian fashion designer Walter Van Beirendonck, takes this variety as an occasion to approach Mozart’s opera in a creatively playful and above all colourful way.

The usual practice for operatic repertoires is to replace an older production with a new one. But alongside the new production of »The Magic Flute«, the Everding production – which is so important in sustaining the repertoire – is to remain on the programme, offering two different perspectives on the world’s most-performed German-language opera.

approx. 3:00 hrs including one interval after act 1

Artists/Collaborators: Emanuel Schikaneder (Autor/in), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Komponist/in)

Runtime: Sat, 04/11/2023 to Sat, 11/05/2024

BACKGROUND

In a mythical past, a king and queen ruled together over a kingdom of day and night. Their daughter was called Pamina. When the king died, he gave his power – symbolized by the mighty circle of the sun – not to the queen, but to the Brotherhood headed by Sarastro, thereby dividing the realm of light and shadow in two. After the king’s death, however, his wife attempted to win back the power she had lost as the Queen of the Night. In order to remove Pamina from her mother’s negative influence, Sarastro has had her kidnapped.

ACT ONE

While hunting, the young prince Tamino is lured into the realm controlled by the Queen of the Night and threatened by a monster. Fearing for his life, he loses consciousness. The Three Ladies who attend the Queen of the Night quarrel over the unconscious young man. When the prince awakes, the bird catcher Papageno tells him where he is. On the queen’s orders, the Three Ladies give Tamino a portrait of the princess Pamina, and he falls instantly and deeply in love. The queen attempts to use this love to recover Pamina and, with her, the powerful circle of the sun from Sarastro. Tamino is determined to free Pamina from Sarastro. Papageno is told to accompany him, and both are equipped with magic instruments, a flute and a set of bells. Three Boys are to guide them as good spirits. In the meantime, Pamina attempts to flee Sarastro’s control in order to escape the cruel slave overseer Monostatos. Papageno, however, finds her and tells her that Tamino loves her, and they flee together. When Tamino meets the Speaker of the Brotherhood at the gates of the temple, he begins to doubt what he has heard of Sarastro’s evil intentions. In his uncertainty, he turns to the invisible higher powers and, for the first time, discovers his flute’s magic powers. Pamina and Papageno’s attempt to flee is thwarted by the arrival of Sarastro, but Pamina decides to tell Sarastro the truth. She and Tamino meet. Sarastro has Tamino and Papageno brought to the Temple of Wisdom. As a woman, Pamina cannot accompany them.

ACT TWO

Sarastro asks the members of the Order to let Tamino face the trials that will initiate him into the Brotherhood and, at the same time, announces that he intends for Pamina and Tamino to wed. As their first trial, Tamino and Papageno are forbidden to speak, an utter impossibility for Papageno. The Queen of the Night sees that her plans are being foiled by Sarastro. She forces her way into the temple and calls on Pamina to kill Sarastro. Sarastro, however, uses humanity and forgiveness to fight the queen’s desire for vengeance. The Three Boys return to Tamino and Papageno the magic instruments that were taken from them before their admission to the temple. Pamina cannot understand Tamino’s silence and doubts his love. She decides to kill herself and is stopped by the Three Boys at the last moment. In the end, the two lovers pass the final, decisive test in the temple of fire and water together. In the meantime, Papageno, too, decides to kill himself because the Papagena he had found at last has been taken from him. Here, too, the Three Boys arrive to save him. Monostatos allies himself with the Queen of the Night, but their attack is thwarted and the sun banishes the darkness. Together with the Queen of the Night, Sarastro is able to turn over the mighty circle of the sun to the new king and queen, Tamino and Pamina.

Pre-performance lecture, 45 minutes prior to each performance (in German), Speaker: Benjamin Wäntig

Vorwort 45 Minuten vor Vorstellungsbeginn, Referent: Benjamin Wäntig

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