Friday, May 18, 2007

The Magic Flute

Saw the Magic Flute last night. This is my wife's favorite opera -- we've both seen our favorite operas this year! -- and she saw it with a friend last week and for a second time with me last night. She loves it and loves this production.

Granted, this opera is filled with lovely music. However, I can never get by the libretto. I've seen it three times and each time I like the opera less.

To be charitable, the libretto is merely didactic and contrived. Less charitable, it is a mess of contradictions and inconsistencies, just damn silly.

But this opera makes a significant point: music matters, not the libretto, in this form. A silly libretto can be rescued by great music, as here. A great libretto, I think, will never rescue poor music.

And here I am, a librettist. Ah, me. To have a great libretto AND great music, of course, is the goal.

I enjoy highlights of this opera on the radio. I just don't want to have to sit through it again.
Posted by at

1 comment:

John said...

Took the opportunity last night to dig out my score and recording...

As for the confusion over the plot, there is an historical reason for this. Something about another ibrettist and composer coming out with a similar story once Act One was finished, so Schickenader and Mozart had to think of a new Act Two. Add to this all the Masonic symbolism...

Interesting that you didn't catch that Hiner's motif in Varmints is an almost obvious parody of Papageno's entrance aria LOL. I had to. :)

Papageno is one of the few operatic roles I want to portray for whom my acting ability and voice is suited.

But all of Mozart's operatic work is interesting to me... At least the fact that as my ear and tastes have changed over the years, all the Mozart works seem pretty... well... tame.

But anyway, do you have access to the third Figaro comedy, Le Mere Coupable. I've wanted to set this for some time...

5/19/2007 2:57 PM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)