What do you think?
On March 10th, I accompanied one of my mom’s classes to see the Magic Flute, by the Boston Lyric Opera.
The singers were full of emotion, whether acting sad, happy, or angry. The only objection that I had to the singing was that Sarastro simply could not reach the very low notes that the music was written with.
One more objection that I had was that the flute or the bells did not actually play, but instead the piano player played the notes while Papageno and Tamino “mock-played” their instruments.
The storyline from the version we saw was somewhat different than the original. This is the storyline from the one that we saw:
The opera begins with a prince named Tamino being hunted by a ravenous dragon. Having only a few arrows, he is convinced that he will die and then faints. After he collapses, the Three Ladies (the servants of the Queen of the Night) appear and kill the dragon with rather large spears. The Three Ladies find Tamino very attractive, and are unwilling to leave him, but they eventually agree that they must go and report to the Queen.
After this, Papageno (The Queen’s birdcatcher, all dressed in feathers!) wanders through the forest, to find Tamino, who then awakens. Papageno introduces himself to Tamino, and explains that he catches birds for the Queen of the Night in exchange for food and drink. Tamino sees the now-dead dragon and asks Papageno if he was the one who killed it. Papageno instantly says yes.
No sooner than Papageno lies, the Three Ladies reappear and upbraid Papageno. They place a padlock on his mouth as well, so he cannot speak. The Three Ladies turn their attention to Tamino and present him with a small portrait of a beautiful young woman. The Three Ladies explain to Tamino that this portrait is of the Queen of the Night’s daughter. The sky suddenly becomes dark and the Queen appears. She turns to Tamino and tells him to rescue her daughter. If he succeeds, he may marry her. Tamino eagerly agrees to find and rescue her. The Three Ladies remove the padlock from Papageno’s mouth, and the Queen informs Papageno that he will be Tamino’s partner. Before the two leave, the Queen presents Tamino with a magic flute and Papageno with some magic bells. The queen says that they will need these magical instruments to succeed in rescuing Pamina.
In the meantime, in a town at the edge of the kingdom, Pamina suffers as a prisoner in Sarastro’s Temple Ground. The Queen suddenly enters Pamina’s quarters and demands Monostatos to leave the room. The Queen then tells her daughter to prove her love for her mother by killing Sarastro with a dagger. Pamina does not want to, but the Queen makes her accept the dagger and leaves.
Meanwhile, Tamino and Papageno approach Sarastro's Temple. During this time, the two become separated and Papageno finds Pamina, recognizing her from the portrait. Papageno tells Pamina that she will soon be rescued by Prince Tamino, who loves her. Pamina, who is terribly lonely, is relieved. Papageno tells her that he feels lonely and wishes that someone loved him, too.
Tamino approaches the Temple from another side and is confronted by Sarastro. Sarastro explains that he is not evil, but a wise leader; even sayin that Pamina is not a prisoner, but rather he stole her to keep her safe from her evil mother. Sarastro also says that Tamino must wait until he learns more of the real story. Furthermore, before Tamino can proceed, he must undergo trials to prove his courage and commitment.
Confused and lonely, Tamino pauses from conversation and plays a tune on his flute, which makes the beasts in the forest dance. In response, he hears Papageno’s bells from another part of the Temple. Hearing the flute, Papageno and Pamina walk towards the sound, but are confronted by Monostatos. He threatens them, but Papageno plays his magic bells, which puts a spell on Monostatos, who helplessly starts dancing away from them.
Finally, Tamino finds Pamina and Papageno, and joins them/ However, Monostatos reenters with Sarastro and reveals to Sarastro both Pamina’s attempt to escape and her mother’s plot to assassinate Sarastro. Sarastro wisely sees through Monostatos’s scheme and banishes him from the temple forever.
Pamina pleads Sarastro to believe that she would never have killed him. She begs forgiveness for her mother’s plotting, and not to seek revenge. Sarastro replies that revenge has no place in his realm, and he shall not seek it.
Sarastro explains that there are still several trials that Tamino and Papageno must undergo if Tamino and Pamina wish to be together; the challenges of silence, fire, and water.
During the trial of silence, Pamina comes upon Tamino. Though she talks to him, he does not reply. Pamina sings of desperate sadness and wanders away.
Papageno utterly fails his test of silence. An old crone wanders in and persuades him that she could be his faithful wife, and Papageno thinks about life married to an old crone. The “old crone” throws off her disguise and reveals herself to be Papagena, the perfect wife for Papageno. Before they become united, Sarastro whisks Papagena away, leaving Papageno sad and distraught.
Meanwhile, Tamino completes his test of silence and is reunited with Pamina. The two complete the last two terrifying tests together. Papageno, in the meantime, grows desperate to find Papagena again. He decided to hang himself, but counts to three beforehand, blowing on his pipe each time he says a number. Before he is prepared to hang himself, Papagena appears. They plan their life together with lots of little Papagenas and Papagenos.
Near the end of the opera, Monostatos now sides with the Queen of the Night and her Ladies. The five enter the Temple with the ambitious hope of destroying Sarastro, However, Sarastro has the ancient power of his Sevenfold Circle of the Sun on his side, and sends Monostatos, the Queen of the Night, and the Three Ladies into the dark abyss, As the opera ends, the lovers are all reunited, and the Queen and her ladies, along with Monostatos, have all vanished forever.
