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Flute played with plenty of smiles
The Magic Flute Welsh National Opera Birmingham Hippodrome ***** THERE was no mistaking the star of this
rollocking romp through Mozart's final opera - David Stout in his first
night in the role in this particular run. He appears as a sort of cross between Harpo Marx
and Peter Ustinov and along with a fine baritone full of power and depth
he displays immaculate comic timing. His delivery, body language and expressions were
faultless, milking every possible laugh from the role of the chattering
bird catcher Papageno and if ever he is at a loose end a career in
panto or comedy is his for the taking. This WNO version in English first saw the light
of day in 2005 and has managed to keep a freshness about it from the
orange coated, bowler hatted brotherhood to the Downton Abbey maids in
waiting. It was written amid Mozart's collaboration with
Emanuel Schikaneder who had his own theatre company in Vienna performing
farces and fairy tale operas. It was a great success but Mozart died soon after it opened in 1791. The Magic Flute tells the tale of Tamino, (Peter Wedd in fine voice) who is attacked in a forest by what appears to be a giant prawn which is seen off by the three maids (Camilla Roberts, Carolyn Dobbin and Joanne Thomas) who provide not only clear voices but plenty of humour reminiscent of Gilbert and Sullivan. When Tamino recovers he is set up by the Queen of
the Night (Laure Meloy) to rescue her daughter Pamina ho has been
kidnapped by her enemy Sarastro (Paul Hodges). The tale gets a bit hazy from that point on. We
know Tamino is given a magic flute to protect him and Papageno is
ordered to go along as his faithful sidekick with a box of magical
bells as an added defence.
Form there it gets a bit hazy - fun, very
colourful, amusing and interesting- but hazy. We have a group of magical animals, the
aforementioned brotherhood, three boy guides on flying bicycles an evil
Monostatos (Howard Kirk) determined to have his wicked way with our
sweet princess, Pamina, as well as the perfect woman for our birdcatcher,
the ancient old crone from somewhere around Bacup, Papagena, (Claire
Hampton) who needless to say turns into a bit of a stunner when Papageno
has passed all the tests of the brotherhood, sort of, give or take a few
dozen lapses. Amid all WNO produced some excellent singing and
acting as much of the flute is spoken. For the excellent Laure Meloy and Paul Hodges
there was an extra challenge. In her aria The vengeance of Hell boils
in my heart Laure has to reach a top F which is the sort of pitch
that attracts inquisitive dogs while Hodges deep velvety bass lurks
around bottom F quite a few times, which is the sort of sound level that
attracts whales. Both managed it with aplomb. Visually the opera is a delight with a clever
set, all doors and trap doors from designer Julian Crouch with some
stunning costumes from Kevin Pollard. The original was directed by Dominic Cooke
with Benjamin Davis directing the revival. Finally a word about James Southall, the
28-year-old conductor. The orchestra was lively with plenty of colour
and zest about it. The played as if they meant it. The pit may have
found itself a new star.
Roger Clarke
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