The Magic Flute

My experience of opera is pretty limited. A few years ago, I saw La Boheme. The music was undoubtedly beautiful, and the acting surprisingly passable, but I wasnt sufficiently taken by it to rush back. That said, I acquired a few bits and pieces of opera - a greatest hits sampler, something or other by Mozart (I can't be bothered to check what it was), and Turandot. This, though was my second foray into live opera:

The Magic Flute, Duke of York Theatre

Opera has an image problem. It is generally seen as staid, mannered and difficult. This production of Mozart’s final opera sets out to correct that stereotype. Brimming with energy, colour and humour, it borders on what advertising executives like to call an ‘extravaganza’.

That is not to say that this is a faultless production. The translation from German, in its quest for accessibility, has more than a few rather trite rhymes, and opera always loses some of its mystique in English. Some of the performances, too, are a little weak. Although Pauline Malefane is magnificent, imperious in both voice and acting, as the Queen of the Night, and her daughter Pamina (Nobulumko Mngxekeza) is a touching actress, both of the lead male performers – Mhlekazi Andy Mosiea as Tamino and Khanyiso Gwenxane as Papageno – lack the stage presence to fill what is not a particularly big theatre; their voices haven’t quite the power, and their acting is a little obvious.

The best scenes, therefore, are the ensemble ones, when the enthusiasm and energy of the chorus results in a joyous overlay to the tinkling marimbas (a type of xylophone which replaces the orchestra in this production). It is all one can do to prevent oneself joining in, and conductor Mandisi Dyantyis is clearly itching to do the same, leading the musicians with as much energy as any of the performers.

Directed by Mark Dornford-May and produced by Eric Abraham, both adoptive South Africans themselves, this show is a fascinating experiment. The result is a qualified success. At the moment, the company is searching for the funding and the audience to support it in its native South Africa; tonight demonstrated that they overwhelmingly deserve that chance to develop.