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Family friendly 'Flute' debuts at Met
2006-12-31
Judging by the masses of smiling children who streamed out onto Lincoln Center Plaza after a family-friendly, shortened version of Mozart's "The Magic Flute," opera may have just gotten an influx of younger fans. Starting Friday, the Metropolitan Opera began presenting an English-language performance of "The Magic Flute," trimmed to about 100 minutes, aimed at attracting families. Saturday's performance was beamed from Lincoln Center in high-definition simulcast to about 100 movie theaters around the world. The debut of the cut-down version of Julie Taymor's colorful 2004 production was so popular it sold out. But for all its planning, the Met appeared to be somewhat unprepared for its shorter audience -- it ran out of booster seats in the orchestra 20 minutes before the start. Given the breadth of the simulcast venture, there was no way to judge the success. The Met said it was encouraged by sales, final figures won't be available for several days. The quality of picture and audio was high, although technical problems prevented the simulcast from being seen at theaters in Burbank, Calif., and Jacksonville, Fla. To adapt and pare down "Die Zauberfloete," the German-language original that runs slightly more than 3 hours, including intermission, the Met hired poet J.D. McClatchy. His English version emphasizes rhyme, meter and fun over exact word-for-word translation. For Papageno's duet with Papagena, McClatchy rhymed "lovey" with "turtle-dovey." Purists may quibble with the many cuts -- which range from entire scenes to verses within arias -- but the full German version is being staged at night for those who want the complete production. Taymor said some cuts still were being debated in the final week, and the final version came in at about 105 minutes, 15 over the original projection. She and McClatchy kept true to their vow of not "dumbing down" the opera, which appeals to all age levels. With oversized bear puppets and dancing pink flamingos wowing the audience as much as the sublime music, Taymor's staging has been popular. Music director James Levine, who led his usual polished performance, had a top cast to conduct. Nathan Gunn, in Papageno's green bird suit, was a frenetic delight. Matthew Polenzani brought a bright tenor and dignity to Tamino, the prince who is destined to marry Pamina. Soprano Ying Huang gave an endearing account of Pamina, whose role is perhaps cut the most in the English version. Erika Miklosa, in her imposing headdress, easily tossed off the Queen of the Nights Fs -- her two arias weren't cut at all. Morris Robinson sang Sarastro on Friday, and the American bass sounded far more comfortable in the English version than he did in the German last season. Rene Pape sang Sarastro at the Met for the first time in Thursday night's German performance, then sang it in English on Saturday. He added a gravitas to the role, and while a German accent was evident, he brings a greatness to every role he performs. The family version was conceived in the final years of Joseph Volpe's run as Met general manager and Peter Gelb, who took over in August, said a new production of Humperdinck's "Hansel and Gretel" will be next season's holiday offering. While Gelb plans to rotate "The Magic Flute" and "Hansel and Gretel" as holiday offerings, he should consider broadening the project. Many children no doubt would love to hear cut-down English versions of other favorites, such as "The Barber of Seville" and "Carmen." On Saturday, Taymor and Gelb watched the high-definition simulcast from the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center before hustling across the street during the final scene so Taymor could make it on stage for the curtain calls. There were some glitches at the start of the simulcast, with the timing of the subtitles slightly off, but the sharpness of the subtitles got better as the opera went on. The performances were the first English-language versions of Mozart's masterpiece staged by the company at the Met since 1977. Five additional operas are scheduled for Saturday afternoon simulcasts, with Bellini's "I Puritani" (Jan. 6) and Tan Dun's "The First Emperor" (Jan. 13) up next. In addition, there will be an encore of "The Magic Flute" in theaters on Jan. 23, a day before it is televised by PBS. ___ On the Net: http://www.metopera.org
Scholar: New Mozart portrait identified (2008-03-16)Concert fetes Toscanini immortal spirit (2007-01-18)Family friendly 'Flute' debuts at Met (2006-12-31)Under Mehta's baton, Israel Philharmonic marks 70 years (2006-12-18)'Headless opera' puts police on alert (2006-12-17)
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