Die Zauberflöte

Mozart’s fairy-tale German opera has always had great appeal for children, and Lydia Steier’s production for the 2018 Salzburg Festival builds on that fact, recasting the good-vs.-evil tale of Prince Tamino’s attempts to free the lovely Pamina from the control of High Priest Sarastro at the urging of her mother the Queen of the Night—along with the simultaneous efforts of bird-man Papageno to find a wife—as a lesson-filled bedtime story told to three boys by their elderly grandfather, played by veteran actor Klaus Maria Brandauer. This results in a good deal of newly-written dialogue for Brandauer's granddad, and the insertion of his grandsons (played by members of the Vienna Boys Choir) into the action as the three spirits who help guide Tamino and Papageno—and Pamina as well—to a happy ending. The framing device might remind viewers of The Princess Bride, but while it does require some tinkering with Emanuel Schikaneder’s libretto, it also works surprisingly well in this fetching production that features sumptuous sets and costumes—including some with a circus theme. The orchestral work by the Vienna Philharmonic under Constantinos Carydis is vital, while the singing by Matthias Goerne (Sarastro), Mauro Peter (Tamino), Christiane Karg (Pamina), Albina Shagimuratova (Queen of the Night), Adam Plachetka (Papageno), and Michael Porter (Sarastro’s minion Monostatos) is uniformly fine, even if it does not efface memories of past greats in those roles. Presented in DTS 5.0 (DTS-HD 5.0 on the Blu-ray release) and PCM stereo, this is an imaginative version of Mozart’s masterpiece and an intriguing alternative to more traditional productions. Recommended. (F. Swietek)