Known famously as Mozart’s final opera, debuting a mere 66 days before his death, “The Magic Flute” is a crowning achievement by one of the world’s most beloved composers. For their production of the opera, the LA Opera has teamed up with a cast of creative innovators to bring Mozart’s work to the stage in new and exciting ways. Along with the direction of Barrie Kosky, they have worked with Suzanne Andrade and Paul Barritt to bring a multi-medium aspect to the stage. Andrade and Barritt are the founders and artistic directors of the theater company 1927, which specialized in combining animation with live theatrical performances to create a stunning immersive live performance experience. The pair brought their creativity and innovation to the new production of “The Magic Flute,” and the outcome was magical.
The opera is a singspiel, a form of German opera that included spoken dialogue along with the singing. They reinterpreted this aspect of the opera by portraying it as animated text on the background. This gave the look and feel of watching a silent film, which they further emphasized by giving the performers black-and-white film makeup and outfits. Moments of “dialogue” became charming representations of silent-film title cards, which were backed by the sound of the piano as the letters appeared on the wall.
Bogdan Volkov as Tamino in LA Opera’s 2019 production of “The Magic Flute.” Photographed by Cory Weaver.
The merging of animation and live performance has worked exceptionally well with this opera due to the vast amount of interpretation the libretto allows. Many moments within the work are laden with rich imagery, and co-directors Kosky and Andrade, along with Barritt, the head of animation design, have used that as a stepping point towards their rich reimaginings. They showcase one of the best examples of this conjoining of animation with opera with the first scene in which we see the prince Tamino, portrayed by Bogdan Volkov, running from a monster. As he sings the first piece of the opera “Zu Hilfe! Zu Hilfe!” we see a giant animated serpent chasing him, whilst we also see his animated legs running him. Volkov performs the aria with ease, showcasing good projection and vocal control. The fast-pace of the instrumentals, the rich melodic lines, and the desperate tone within Volkov’s delivery created an amalgamation of comedy and drama would be upheld throughout the rest of the opera.
So Young Park (top) as the Queen of the Night and Bogdan Volkov (below) as Tamino in LA Opera’s 2019 production of “The Magic Flute.” Photographed by Cory Weaver.
One of the most memorable performances of the night was that of the Queen of the Night herself, portrayed by So Young Park. Through the remarkable animation, she was cast as a humongous spider set at the top of the stage, taking up the entire background with the sheer size of her spider legs. Her first aria “O zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn” comes as she meets Tamino and asks him to rescue her daughter, Pamina. Although her words are innocent and pained, the animation emphasizes the visible tensions between the two characters as we see a few of her spider legs steer close to him, making him uncomfortable. Park is an excellent coloratura as she bounces off each fast and technical vocal challenge with ease. We see this level of performance again in her second aria “Der Hölle Rache,” which is one of the most famous arias due to its unmatched level of technical difficulty, thus demanding a well-trained coloratura soprano to brave the sheer size of those intervals and speed of the staccatos. Park maneuvers her way through the piece with a swiftness that enraptures both Pamina, towards whom the second aria is directed, and the audience at large.
Zuzana Marková as Pamina in LA Opera’s 2019 production of “The Magic Flute.” Photographed by Cory Weaver.
The performance that truly stole the show in my opinion was that of Zuzana Marková who portrayed Pamina. When she believes Tamino no longer loves her, Pamina sings “Ach, ich fühl’s, es ist ventschwunden” an aria encompassing her heartbreak. She is surrounded by the spotlight, a figure of a dead tree, and falling black dots, altogether making up the picture of Pamina in a snow globe. It is not a moment of flashy animation portraying the physical imaginings of fantastical imagery within the opera. Here, the actual animation is minimal, only present through the falling “snow,” and yet it all portrays Pamina’s pain vividly. As she sings the slow and pain-ridden aria, her entire world is reduced into nothing but pain and heartbreak, full of only the reminder of love lost, a lifeless tree and herself. Marková’s performance here is strong and vulnerable at the same time, belting out the high notes in a soft piano full of such pain that turns her figure into the definition of heartbreak. It is one of the best performances of the night, showcasing a part of the immense talents that worked to bring this story to life.
Bogdan Volkov as Tamino in LA Opera’s 2019 production of “The Magic Flute.” Photographed by Cory Weaver.
For this production, through the medium of animation, the directors transformed Tamino’s magic flute into a character in itself. We see it as a fairy-type creature, whose face and hair resembles Pamina, flying around and leaving a trail of music notes wherever it goes. Towards the end of the opera, when Tamino and Pamina are in danger, it is this figure of the “flute” that saves them by turning whatever means of violence is concerning them—whether it be the flames coming out of a monster’s mouth, or the chains tying them down in the sea—into music. This is another instance that showcases the interpretive levels which this addition of animation has brought to the opera. What we see is a celebration of love, but also of music and imagination, which is the apex of the creative mind, and a stunning portrayal of what new terrains opera can explore.
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Upcoming shows:
Thursday, [November 21 at 7:30pm](https://tickets.laopera.org/syos/performance/5071)
Saturday, [November 23 at 7:30pm](https://tickets.laopera.org/syos/performance/5072)
Sunday, [December 1 at 2pm](https://tickets.laopera.org/syos/performance/5073)
Thursday, [December 12 at 7:30pm](https://tickets.laopera.org/syos/performance/5074)
Sunday, [December 15 at 2pm](https://tickets.laopera.org/syos/performance/5074)
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