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- Staatsoper Unter den Linden
Die Zauberflöte (Sharon)
Grand opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
This work, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s most famous opera by far, is also his most enigmatic. Prince Tamino falls in love with Pamina after only having seen a picture of her. But as her mother, the Queen of the Night, reports, Pamina is being held captive by Sarastro. At the queen’s behest, Tamino and his companion Papageno set off to free Pamina from Sarastro’s temple. But as soon as they arrive there, the question of which characters are good and which are evil arises. The only thing that seems clear is that Pamina returns Tamino’s affections, and in the end the two of them are united after difficult trials.
For 25 years, August Everding’s production of »The Magic Flute« has enchanted Staatsoper audiences of all ages. But now the time has come for Mozart’s complex masterpiece to be examined anew. And so American director Yuval Sharon carries away audiences to new worlds of images that are no less imaginative, yet aesthetically quite different from the previous production. At the heart of the production is the idea of a collage, analogous to that of Mozart’s music itself, oscillating constantly between the stylistic levels of the Singspiel and the opera seria. Sharon, together with stage designer Mimi Lien and Belgian fashion designer Walter Van Beirendonck, takes this variety as an occasion to approach Mozart’s opera in a creatively playful and above all colourful way.
The usual practice for operatic repertoires is to replace an older production with a new one. But alongside the new production of »The Magic Flute«, the Everding production – which is so important in sustaining the repertoire – is to remain on the programme, offering two different perspectives on the world’s most-performed German-language opera.
- Duration
- approx. 3:00 hrs including one interval after act 1
- Web
- www.staatsoper-berlin.de/en/veranstaltungen/die-zauberfloete-sharon.2765 https://www.staatsoper-berlin.de/en/veranstaltungen/die-zauberfloete-sharon.2765/
Cast
- musical director
- Alondra de la Parra
- Director
- Yuval Sharon
- Set Designer
- Mimi Lien
- Set Design Assistance
- Marc Löhrer
- Costumes
- Walter Van Beirendonck
- Light
- Reinhard Traub
- Videodesign
- Hannah Wasileski
- Sound design
- Markus Böhm
- Chorus Master
- Anna Milukova
- Dramaturgy
- Krystian Lada
- Benjamin Wäntig
- Zweiter Geharnischter
- Erik Rosenius
- Pamina
- Serena Sáenz Molinero
- Papagena
- Sarah Aristidou
- Sarastro
- Kwangchul Youn
- Tamino
- Julian Prégardien
- Papageno
- Florian Teichtmeister
- Königin der Nacht
- Tuuli Takala
- Sprecher
- Lauri Vasar
- Monostatos
- Florian Hoffmann
- Erste Dame
- Adriane Queiroz
- Zweite Dame
- Cristina Damian
- Dritte Dame
- Anja Schlosser
- Erster Geharnischter
- Stephan Rügamer
- Erster Priester
- Linard Vrielink
- Zweiter Priester
- Lauri Vasar
- Drei Knaben
- Solisten des Tölzer Knabenchors
- STAATSOPERNCHOR
- STAATSKAPELLE BERLIN
Presented by

Contents
BACKGROUND
In a mythical past, a king and queen ruled together over a kingdom of day and night. Their daughter was called Pamina. When the king died, he gave his power – symbolized by the mighty circle of the sun – not to the queen, but to the Brotherhood headed by Sarastro, thereby dividing the realm of light and shadow in two. After the king’s death, however, his wife attempted to win back the power she had lost as the Queen of the Night. In order to remove Pamina from her mother’s negative influence, Sarastro has had her kidnapped.
ACT ONE
While hunting, the young prince Tamino is lured into the realm controlled by the Queen of the Night and threatened by a monster. Fearing for his life, he loses consciousness. The Three Ladies who attend the Queen of the Night quarrel over the unconscious young man. When the prince awakes, the bird catcher Papageno tells him where he is. On the queen’s orders, the Three Ladies give Tamino a portrait of the princess Pamina, and he falls instantly and deeply in love. The queen attempts to use this love to recover Pamina and, with her, the powerful circle of the sun from Sarastro. Tamino is determined to free Pamina from Sarastro. Papageno is told to accompany him, and both are equipped with magic instruments, a flute and a set of bells. Three Boys are to guide them as good spirits. In the meantime, Pamina attempts to flee Sarastro’s control in order to escape the cruel slave overseer Monostatos. Papageno, however, finds her and tells her that Tamino loves her, and they flee together. When Tamino meets the Speaker of the Brotherhood at the gates of the temple, he begins to doubt what he has heard of Sarastro’s evil intentions. In his uncertainty, he turns to the invisible higher powers and, for the first time, discovers his flute’s magic powers. Pamina and Papageno’s attempt to flee is thwarted by the arrival of Sarastro, but Pamina decides to tell Sarastro the truth. She and Tamino meet. Sarastro has Tamino and Papageno brought to the Temple of Wisdom. As a woman, Pamina cannot accompany them.
ACT TWO
Sarastro asks the members of the Order to let Tamino face the trials that will initiate him into the Brotherhood and, at the same time, announces that he intends for Pamina and Tamino to wed. As their first trial, Tamino and Papageno are forbidden to speak, an utter impossibility for Papageno. The Queen of the Night sees that her plans are being foiled by Sarastro. She forces her way into the temple and calls on Pamina to kill Sarastro. Sarastro, however, uses humanity and forgiveness to fight the queen’s desire for vengeance. The Three Boys return to Tamino and Papageno the magic instruments that were taken from them before their admission to the temple. Pamina cannot understand Tamino’s silence and doubts his love. She decides to kill herself and is stopped by the Three Boys at the last moment. In the end, the two lovers pass the final, decisive test in the temple of fire and water together. In the meantime, Papageno, too, decides to kill himself because the Papagena he had found at last has been taken from him. Here, too, the Three Boys arrive to save him. Monostatos allies himself with the Queen of the Night, but their attack is thwarted and the sun banishes the darkness. Together with the Queen of the Night, Sarastro is able to turn over the mighty circle of the sun to the new king and queen, Tamino and Pamina.
Press text
»Sharon’s ‚Flute‘ is a hit.«
(Los Angeles Times)
»If opera is to have a future, this ‚Flute‘ – love it or hate it – is where to begin.«
(Los Angeles Times)
»[…] the house was full and the audience included the young and stylish. Parents had children in tow. Most – young and old – demonstrated a fascinated enthusiasm, even wild enthusiasm. The children were downright enthralled.«
(Los Angeles Times)
»One final thought about this ‚Flute’: Mozart not only infuses comic-book androids with life but also turns on young people in the audience to the music.«
(Los Angeles Times)
»It was an interesting, wild take on a cherished masterpiece, visually colourful and busy […], but engaging and original, with a well-defined vision and intent.«
(Bachtrack)
»The result was a bold but refreshingly non-preachy production, modern and entertaining, which refrained from forcing societal issues into the story.«
(Bachtrack)
»Tamino was Julian Prégardien, his tenor heroic and elegant at the same time. His ‚Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön’ was beautiful and exciting, his high notes well placed, his phrasing remarkable.«
(Bachtrack)
Remarks
In German language with German and English surtitles