After a whole day of drizzle in London, in the evening, we came to the Temple of the Moon in Covent Garden to immerse our eyes and ears in a magical world of ultimate sound. The opera "The Magic Flute" was born more than 200 years ago and embodies the last and best peak state of a talented and absurd young musician.
When I got off the subway at Covent Garden Station, I heard the subway coordinator, a fat black uncle, singing "the platform is clear" with a ethereal high voice similar to Sarah Brightman's. , passengers during peak hours couldn’t help but smile knowingly when they heard it, and could already feel the atmosphere of an opera.
Passing by the Sunken Square, in the open-air teahouse, a string quartet street band was playing the melody of the cancan dance, and it seemed like I had arrived at the glamorous Moulin Rouge. Two violinists, one male and one female, kicked their legs high while playing, performing a lap dance to the cheerful rhythm.
The main entrance of the Royal Opera House was under maintenance, and bags had to be checked. People watching the performance filled the whole street. An elegant silver-haired old lady wearing a sea-green silk suit embellished with exquisite pearl jewelry, an old grandfather meticulously revealing a corner of a folded handkerchief in his suit pocket, and young people carrying large canvas backpacks and wearing plaid shirts and jeans gathered together. Standing in the drizzle waiting to enter. Ten minutes before the show started, I finally entered the door, stepped on the thick wine-red carpet, walked through the hall illuminated by countless gorgeous crystal lamps, and came to my seat.
As soon as the lights go out, starting from the first solemn chord of the overture, you can forget about the real world and immerse yourself wholeheartedly in the magical world created by the genius Mozart. This is a wonderful world where musical instruments and voices are intertwined. In the sonata-style overture, the violin plays the theme briskly, and different instruments repeatedly perform, argue and dialogue.
The whole play has Mozart's consistent cynicism. Some people believe that the bird catcher Papageno is the incarnation of the musician himself. He called Papagina "dear little wife, little dove" which is exactly what Mozart called his wife Constance in his letter. The most interesting part is the servant Mostero and a group of little devils, all of them are like jumping dolls. They think they are super evil, but they are actually very funny.
The design of the Royal Opera House is great, and there are no pillars blocking half of the seats. During the 25-minute intermission of the performance, I overheard the very British conversation between my neighbors: "Where is the bar?" In addition to buying a glass of champagne, you can also buy ice cream. Maybe because it was very hot in the theater, I also bought a box of vanilla ice cream to cool down.
The genius Mozart was always unserious. Although "The Magic Flute" is a comedy, it is already a rare serious style. Just because it was the 18th century, opera inevitably discriminated against black people and demeaned women. When her husband died, the Queen of the Night believed that both the Queen and the princess must be guided by a man, namely Sarastro. The Queen of the Night did not agree with this view. Sarastro believed that the Queen of the Night was too proud, so he kidnapped the princess Pamina to keep her away from the "proud" woman. But he sent a servant with evil intentions to look after the princess. The bad servant here is also set to be a Moor, that is, a black man. This is no longer mentioned in modern performances, only that he is ugly. In the play, the suitability of a wife is judged many times by whether she is "young" and "beautiful". The first test that the prince needs to pass turns out to be to "resist the temptation of women and remain silent towards women." The audience took these views as a joke, and every time there were similar statements, such as "women must be guided by men" everyone would burst into laughter. The bird catcher caught the bird, flicked it and stepped on its neck. Although it was fake, it was so cruel to the animal that the audience gasped.
That’s it for writing my thoughts here. Let’s talk about “The Magic Flute” and the cast of this performance.
September 14, 2017, 7:30-10:30
First half: 65 minutes, half-time: 25 minutes.
Second half: 90 minutes
The stage pictures in this article are all photos of the Royal Opera House version, from the official website
Opera background:
Opera style:
Theme of the opera:
Highlights of the opera:
Key pieces:
2. Watch the full play on bilibili (Die Zauberfl?te Colin· Sir Davis conducts)
3. Stage effects
Stage scenery: The scene is an Egyptian temple and the theme of enlightenment. The background is the stone pillar in the picture below, moving left and right. There is also a stunning moon, a large sun disk, a model of the solar system, a large blackboard filled with content similar to Beautiful Mind, and a huge eye. There is a scene where a tall window is opened in the wall, and rain is dripping behind the window. The overall color contrast is also very obvious. The Night Queen side is blue, black, and silver, and the Sarasto side is red and gold.
Orochi: It feels like I have learned the Chinese dragon dance technique. About 10 actors use bamboo poles to support the snake, and every move is quite friendly.
Falcon: When the scene below appeared, Sarasto was holding a live falcon. Although it only had 5 seconds of screen time, it was still quite stunning.
The bird captured by Papageno at the beginning: Just like the musical "The Lion King", an actor holds a model and moves with the sound of the pan flute, which is very comical.
Forest animals: actors wear masks and imitate their movements. The two vultures at the back, standing on stilts, look like the people looking for food in the swamp in "Mad Max 4."
Flying Car: Fairchild repeatedly drives a car with wings and a tail, slowly flying across the stage.
Costumes: Most of them are from Mozart's era, while Papagina's costumes are very modern. The three fairy children and the bird catcher wear old outdoor clothes.
Cast
The pictures are a little different in size, but the French lady is really beautiful after the night.