Nice Opera presents the magic of Mozart’s La flûte enchantée
Nice Opera presents a new production of what is regarded as one of the most popular works in the history of opera – Mozart’s La flûte enchantée (The Magic Flute). With stage direction by Cédric Klapisch (who also designed the sets) and directed by Laurent Delvert, the production is led by Jean-Christophe Spinosi.
This coproduction between the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Atelier Lyrique de Tourcoing, Théâtre Impérial-Opéra de Compiègne and Opéra Nice Côte d’Azur, stars Joel Prieto as Tamino, the prince who sets out to surmount various challenges so that he can be united with Pamina, a role taken by Sydney Mancasola. Joan Martin-Royo takes the role of the bird-catcher Papageno, Antonio di Matteo sings Sarastro, leader of a brotherhood that values wisdom above all, and Tetiana Zhuravel is the Queen of the Night who enlists Tamino to rescue her daughter.
Mozart wrote La flûte enchantée, K 620, to a German libretto by Austrian actor and theatrical producer Emanuel Schikaneder, who created the role of Papageno. The work is in the form of a singspiel, a popular form at the time it was written, which included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on September 30th, 1791, at Schikaneder’s theatre, the Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna, just two months before the composer died. The two-act opera was a huge success.
La flûte enchantée appears to be a simple fairy tale about a damsel in distress who is rescued by a handsome prince, but it’s actually a story of the search for wisdom and enlightenment, and is frequently performed around the world.
As Tamino, versatile Spanish tenor Joel Prieto has a wide repertoire and has appeared as Alfred in Johann Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus at Teatro Lirico di Cagliari and as Ferrando in Mozart’s Così fan tutte at the New National Theatre in Tokyo. Future performances this season include Ernesto in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale at Opéra national de Lorraine and Fenton in Verdi’s Falstaff at Teatro Calderon in Spain.
American soprano Sydney Mancasola – who sings Pamina – is, according to Seen and Heard International, “…. a marvel, extracting every scintilla of possibility from her soprano voice, from euphoria to misery via delirium”. Following these performances in Nice , she will appear as Norina in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale at the Opera Theatre of St Louis and at the Staatsoper Hamburg.
Spanish baritone Joan Martin-Royo recently sang the bass role in Handel’s Messiah at Orquesta Cuidad in Granada and the title role in Tomáz Marco’s Tenorio at Teatro Real Madrid. Among the highlights of this season are an appearance in a semi-staged new production at Gran Teatre del Liceu of Ros-Marbà’s Benjamin a Portbous. He sings Papageno in this production.
Italian bass Antonio di Matteo (Sarastro) has most recently appeared in Monte-Carlo Opera’s semi-staged performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni and will be seen as Jacopo Loredano in Verdi’s I due Foscari at Teatro Comunale di Modena, and as Oreo in Rossini’s Semiramide at Rouen Normandy Opera House.
Ukrainian soprano Tetiana Zhuravel, Queen of the Night, will repeat this role at Komische Oper Berlin and will also star as Cunegonde in Bernstein’s Candide at Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste, the venue at which she recently sang the soprano role in Orff’s Carmina Burina.
Also in the cast are Veronika Seghers, Barnaby Rea, Marc Laho, Judith Van Wanroij, Valentine Lemercier, Ahlima Mhamdi, Frédéric Diquero and Matthieu Toulouse.
The opera will be performed in German, with French and English surtitles (dialogues adapted into French by Cédric Klapisch).
Jean-Christophe Spinosi leads the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra and Nice Opera Chorus in four performances of Mozart’s La flûte enchantée from January 24th to 30th at Opéra Nice Côte d’Azur. Further information and details of ticket reservations are available on the Nice Opera website.
5 to 10 year olds may accompany their parents on Sunday 26th January and, while they are watching the 3.00pm performance, can discover the Opera by taking part in an original cultural activity for just €5. Go to the box office for bookings, which are subject to availability.
Information sourced from:
Nice Opera programme notes
Encyclopaedia Britannica -The Magic Flute
Opera Base
Photographs courtesy of Théâtre des Champs-Elysées © Vincent Pontet
This article first appeared in Riviera Buzz
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