The Magic Flute

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Grand opera in two acts [1791]
Libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder
Co-production with the Deutsche Oper am Rhein

Tamino in the belly of the dragon, the Queen of the Night as a giant spider, dancing constellations and flying butterfly boys – the fascination The Magic Flute exerts over both young and old audience members at the Komische Oper Berlin seems endless.

 

And not only in Berlin: over 450,000 people around the world have seen this critically and commercially acclaimed production by the British theatre group »1927« and Barrie Kosky, with its »deliciously absurd blend of silent movie and cartoon« [Berliner Morgenpost]. After performances in Los Angeles, Madrid, Helsinki, Paris, Peking, Tokyo, Adelaide, Auckland, New York and many other cities around the world, this season it can also be enjoyed in Houston and Montreal – and in its home city Berlin, of course! »A dazzling live-action cartoon far too adorable to offend.« [Los Angeles Times]

 

The Magic Flute appears to give rise to more questions and mysteries rather than provide answers. At the end the immense fantasy of this magical opera defies all logic and reason. Its secret lies in deeper layers of fundamental human experiences for which the fairytale appears simply to be the most adequate form of expression and only music finds the appropriate language. It is with good reason that the "eponymous hero" of the opera is an instrument, or quite simply: music.

 

In the repertoire since 25 Nov 2012