Alain Trudel
Conductor & trombonist
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Mozart's Magic done just right Characters easy to relate to, chuckle at
November 11, 2009, 12:00 am
Mozart's Magic done just right
Characters easy to relate to, chuckle at
By ARTHUR KAPTAINIS, The GazetteNovember 9, 2009
After opening the season with a stoutly Italian double bill, the Opéra de Montréal stepped back a century on Saturday night to present Mozart's The Magic Flute, a work as far away from the verismo concept as can be imagined. Yet what came across in Place des Arts was a fable of appealing simplicity, made of characters and situations that were easy to relate to and chuckle at.
Eye-popping sets are expected from this fanciful opera, and the colourful Never Never Land created by David Hockney for the San Francisco Opera did not disappoint. Temples and doorways were pleasing in their geometry and the animals summoned by the title instrument (think of exotic variants of pantomime horses) were true to the naivete of the presentation.
Indeed, Canadian director Kelly Robinson, uninfected by the postmodern swine flu, understood that telling the story clearly was the best way of liberating its deeper messages concerning courage, honour and love. Papageno's comedy was sweetly underlined but we never lost sight of the journey of Tamino from evil to redemption as the fundamental trajectory of the story.
Casting was up to what we can now confidently call OdM standards. Soprano Karina Gauvin as Pamina was in golden voice and projected an unerring sense of line. The aria Ach, ich fuhl's can slow down the narrative if dully done. Here it was an oasis of melancholy.
Tenor John Tessier, a little restrained in the first act, was a dignified Tamino. Aaron St. Clair Nicholson, with a firm rather than rich baritone, played Papageno with the requisite athleticism and a gift for comic timing. His halfhearted threats to hang himself were particularly amusing. Give him a medal also for best vocal performance with his head upside down.
Coloratura Aline Kutan wielded a brilliant technique as The Queen of the Night and the German bass-baritone Reinhard Hagen (the sole non-Canadian among the majors) was grand and authoritative as Sarastro. Given the current unpopularity of the patriarchal views this High Priest espouses, a sympathetic stage presence is mandatory.
The Orchestre métropolitain sounded muted in the great overture, but the focus from the pit improved by the second act. Alain Trudel, making his company debut, cut the singers plenty of slack. Tempos were never pushed.
Nor was anything overstated. The climactic trial of fire and water, disarmingly straightforward, got a chuckle from the crowd. If only the difficulties of real life were so easily overcome!
Well, maybe they can be. Anyone seeking layers of meanings in The Magic Flute are welcome to seek them in this balanced and agreeable presentation.
The Magic Flute repeats Wednesday, Saturday, and on Nov. 16 and 19 at 8 p.m. There is also a matinée Nov. 21 at 2 p.m.
akaptainis@sympatico.ca
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