Die Zauberflote Terminal 1, Budapest International Airport,
April 22nd 2018
Well, here’s a title that I did not expect to write – and suspect that there will not be many more unusual than this (although in Washington DC ‘the Austrian Embassy’ and ‘Market Hall, Eastern Market’ could both have appeared as I saw opera performances by the wonderful DC Public opera a site-specific opera group in Washington DC. Find them here: http://www.dcpublicopera.org/
This was the closing concert of the Spring festival and provided a marvellously enervating end to the festival. The building LOOKED like a terminal with the orchestra at one end and a small stage at seated players head height beg=hind them with two large screens oat the back. Either side were two wide staircases which were simply and effectively used for entrances and massed chorus scenes.
Acoustics were good with a decent balance and there was some creative lighting used, particularly at the start, to suggest the snake and night storms for the Queen of the Night. As a production it was pretty traditional with excellent costumes – Q of the N and her Ladies were very effective with lacy black costumes and headdresses with a ram’s horn look to them. Tamino wore a most elegant mid-length coat with a wide coloured band at the middle, which effectively gave him a somewhat exotic appearance that was distinct but did not recall any particular time or place – quite appropriate for this strange work.
Chorus was very fine – resonant with good articulation and balance and the minor parts –Armed Men, Three Boys (particularly good) and Monastatos – were all excellently cast. No stars but super quality. Papageno and Papagena were traditionally but very well played and their voices were perfectly suited to the role
Andras Palerdi was a very sound Sarastro with a degree of natural gravitas and presence but he did not quite have the resonant bottom notes that the role ideally requires – it tended to get a little thin and quiet there. Q of the N, Viktoria Varga, was pretty good – in an ideal world her voice would have a slightly richer tone but the flexibility was there and the top f’s were MORE than respectable. Pamina was the very fine Orsolya Safar. She had a rich warm and flexible voice with enough body to fill out the phrases (which she did very beautifully and musically) and the voice, after a slightly dry and uncertain start, warmed up beautifully.
However if there was a star vocalist of the evening then it would be Gergely Biri as Tamino. He had a perfect Mozart voice – rich, flexible, sweet and unforced with wonderful phrasing – the sort of phrasing needed for Mozart where all that he did sounded just utterly natural and right. A marvellous and gripping performance. He had some stage presence as well and this, combined with the voice made this a performance to remember.
All in all, a marvellous evening – and its always such fun to see opera in a different space