Theatre Royal, York – until 6th November 2021
Reviewed by Katie Goldsbrough
3***
York Opera’s production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute is a good introduction for those who have never seen opera before. It is one of Mozart’s more light-hearted and easier to follow operas.
The Magic Flute tells the story of Tamino (Hamish Brown) a young prince who finds himself on a quest to prove himself worthy of the affection of Pamina (Alexandra Mather), a young princess who is being held captive. He is given a magic flute to aid him on his quest and most complete 3 challenges to prove his worth. Tamino is assisted on his journey by Papageno (David Valsamidis) who provide light-hearted comedy throughout and who only wants to find someone to love him. Evil must be vanquished to ensure Tamino and Pamina can be together.
Some members of the cast stood out as having strong voices easily making themselves heard over the impressive orchestra, particularly Heather Watts as the Queen of the Night. Others were a little lost and it was difficult to make out what was being sung over the music.
Traditionally those coming to opera’s would know the story to help them follow what was going on, I would recommend doing this for this production and would at least ready the synopsis if you are unfamiliar with the story.
The orchestra lead by Claire Jowett’s violin was fantastic throughout, always in time and an asset to the production.
Despite a couple of minor mistakes, the production was good and is a nice introduction to those who want to give opera a go.