December 16, 2006
“…one of the most original and strangely beautiful opera productions of our time—an artwork in itself that never overshadowed the musical element of this endlessly enigmatic piece.” —OPERA MAGAZINE
BY WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
CONDUCTED BY PIERS MAXIM
DIRECTED BY WILLIAM KENTRIDGE
Created at the peak of the Enlightenment, The Magic Flute, Mozart’s glorious expression of the epic struggle between good and evil, undergoes a bold interpretation by the renowned South African visual artist and theater director William Kentridge.
A lifelong resident of Johannesburg, Kentridge witnessed apartheid’s rise and fall. His work explores peril as well as hope through inventive charcoal and pastel drawings and low-tech, animated movies created by a fascinating tactile process that involves drawing, filming, erasing, and re-drawing. He brings his profoundly humanistic sensibility to his Magic Flute, a mesmerizing production originally staged at Belgium’s acclaimed Royal Opera House, La Monnaie. Singers, dressed in 19th-century attire, enact a fairy tale set in an ancient Egypt populated by a high priest, a spiteful queen, a carefree bird catcher, and a heroic prince hoping to win the heart of a vulnerable princess.
Inspired by the brilliant libretto and Mozart’s resplendent music (conducted here by Piers Maxim), Kentridge fills his panoramic projections with all manner of fanciful creatures, classical temples, and swirling celestial bodies, conjuring a magical and dangerous place where wisdom and love—and more than a little pluck—triumph over malice.
For schedule details http://www.bam.org/events/07MAGI/07MAGI.aspx
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