Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Garsington Opera
An overbearing mother, a birdcatcher in search of a mate and a pair of young lovers sing their way through trials and tribulations
The Three Ladies comes to the rescue at Garsington. Photo: Johan Persson
Summer is not complete without a trip to Garsington Opera, and Mozart's beguiling opera Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) feels like the perfect way to launch 2018 at the summer opera house set in gardens overflowing with colour.
BBC Cardiff Singer of the World audience favourite, the superlative soprano Louise Alder, singing Pamina, leads a very strong cast. This also includes the impressive British tenor Benjamin Hulett, making his Garsington debut as Tamino, and Jonathan McGovern as the bird-catcher Papageno, whose happiness rests in finding a Papagena of his own.
Humorous but also profound in its big subjects, lightly treated – love, duty, belief – Die Zauberflöte never fails to entrance. Weaving her own magic over this production is the director and designer Netia Jones, whose particular gift for refreshing classics in the repertoire was recently seen at work in A Midsummer Night's Dream at Aldeburgh. Conducting is early music specialist Christian Curnyn.
The story opens with the young hero Tamino struggling with a monster: it takes the intervention of three mysterious ladies to free him. One look at the portrait of Pamina they show him, and he is in love and on a quest. She has been abducted, and it takes all his courage (and a bit more supernatural help) to liberate her.
With some of the loveliest and best known music in Mozart's huge operatic output, Die Zauberflöte manages to combine knockabout comedy with tenderness and reverence.
Die Zauberflöte is sung in German with English supertitles. There are 11 performances, each with a long dinner interval. Public booking opens 10am, Tues 20 March. Advertised prices include a voluntary development donation of £70. There is a pre-performance talk at 5pm on Mon 18 June.
BBC Cardiff Singer of the World audience favourite, the superlative soprano Louise Alder, singing Pamina, leads a very strong cast. This also includes the impressive British tenor Benjamin Hulett, making his Garsington debut as Tamino, and Jonathan McGovern as the bird-catcher Papageno, whose happiness rests in finding a Papagena of his own.
Humorous but also profound in its big subjects, lightly treated – love, duty, belief – Die Zauberflöte never fails to entrance. Weaving her own magic over this production is the director and designer Netia Jones, whose particular gift for refreshing classics in the repertoire was recently seen at work in A Midsummer Night's Dream at Aldeburgh. Conducting is early music specialist Christian Curnyn.
The story opens with the young hero Tamino struggling with a monster: it takes the intervention of three mysterious ladies to free him. One look at the portrait of Pamina they show him, and he is in love and on a quest. She has been abducted, and it takes all his courage (and a bit more supernatural help) to liberate her.
With some of the loveliest and best known music in Mozart's huge operatic output, Die Zauberflöte manages to combine knockabout comedy with tenderness and reverence.
Die Zauberflöte is sung in German with English supertitles. There are 11 performances, each with a long dinner interval. Public booking opens 10am, Tues 20 March. Advertised prices include a voluntary development donation of £70. There is a pre-performance talk at 5pm on Mon 18 June.
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| What | Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Garsington Opera |
| Where | Garsington Opera, Wormsley Estate , Stokenchurch, HP14 3YG | MAP |
| Nearest tube | Marylebone (underground) |
| When |
31 May 18 – 21 Jul 18, 6:00 PM – 10:15 PM |
| Price | £110 - £215 |
| Website | Click here for more information and booking |