Mozart’s magical “Magic Flute”

Where “dazzling” pretty much sums it up

“The Magic Flute” at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

by Bondo Wyszpolski

I’m a latecomer, but from today a convert, to the Suzanne Andrade, Paul Barritt, and Barrie Kosky-inspired production of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” which has now circled back for the fourth or fifth time to LA Opera. Well, it’s easy to see why: It’s both a moneymaker and a crowdpleaser.

With a libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder, this was Mozart’s penultimate opera. I don’t think it’s ever sat on the back shelf, and I imagine it’s been reconfigured for the stage in countless ways since its premiere in 1791. My own experiences with it were never inspiring, but this one is simply mesmerizing, and I’ll go so far as to say it’s a very good introduction to opera for someone who’s young or who has previously shied from the medium.

That’s because this production uses animated projections throughout, casting what is already something of a fairy tale into what seems like a 1920s silent movie by way of (let’s say) Henry Darger, Edward Gorey, Felix the Cat cartoons, and Karel Zeman’s “Baron Munchhausen.” These may or may not have had any influence on animation designer Paul Barritt, but the result is in that vein. It’s also been pointed out that the current conception has aligned most of the characters to suggest cultural figures or icons. For example, Pamina and Betty Boop, Pagageno and Buster Keaton, Monostatos and Max Schreck’s Nosferatu.

The set is essentially a stagewide blank wall with several cutaways that periodically revolve to reveal one or another singer on a small platform, strapped into place like on a vertical gurney, who then delivers his or her lines before the door revolves back and out of view. Like opening up the little windows in a pop-up book to see what’s underneath and then closing it.

The story begins with a dragon that’s chasing an Egyptian prince named Tamino (Miles Mykkanen) who passes out at about the same time that the Three Ladies (Diana Newman, Katie Trigg, and Meridian Prall) slay the beast. When Tamino awakes he sees the birdcatcher Papageno (Kyle Miller), and assumes that it was Papageno who came to the rescue. Of course it was me, the birdcatcher says. No it wasn’t! say the Three Ladies, and they zip up Papageno’s mouth. The women then show Tamino a picture of Pamina (Sydney Mancasola), and Tamino instantly falls in love with her.

Pamina is a princess, the daughter of the Queen of the Night (Aigul Khismatullina), who must have been modeled (for this version) on the Evil Queen in “Snow White,” but with the body of an enormous spider. The other principal character, Sarastro (Kwangchul Youn), is a sorcerer, thought to be bad but later thought to be good. The flip of the switch, so to speak, also applies to the Queen of the Night. We’re led to think that she’s okay, but nah, she isn’t.

There’s a lot of dramatic action in the story, with Pamina in the clutches of Sarastro’s henchman Monostatos and then Papageno and Tamino having to undergo various tests and temptations. Tamino, as befits a prince, sails through them; Pagageno, as somewhat of the loveable fool, quakes and quivers (ah, it’s the old straight guy and funny man routine).

Does that tell you what the story’s about? Probably not. Well, it’s quite likely cut from the same fabric as those fairy tales by Tieck and Novalis and even Goethe that were all the rage in the late 18th century, except that this one seems to have been patched together from various sources. I’ve never been able to really figure it out, and apparently no one else has either. In other words, it’s kind of like High Vaudeville, to coin a term, where one act follows another with little or no relevance to the ones before or after. As if in the 11th hour the whole thing was shuffled around a bit, the old too many cooks in a kitchen analogy. Maybe, or maybe not.

Skipping over the details, stage director Barrie Kosky says of “The Magic Flute” that it’s about “the search for love, and about the different forms that this search can take.” And, of course, “Finally, it is about the power of music, music that can move mountains and nature.”

That’s true, and cuts to the chase, but it still doesn’t tell us what the thing’s actually about.

But in this case it doesn’t really matter, because the production is funny and clever and entertaining throughout. If anybody gets a raw deal, it could be the singers themselves, because it’s easy to get distracted just looking at all the cartoon stuff that floats across the stage.

In earlier productions, the flow of the piece was interrupted by the recitative (sing-speech) that may have advanced the narrative, but at the same time was more of an intrusion. In keeping with the 1920s silent film tilt, this rendition inserts intertitles (or title cards) accompanied by reduced instrumentation, which actually works quite well.

As for the singing, all of the principals are a joy to listen to, and I know that each reviewer always singles out one or two performers for praise above and beyond. This time it’s a new cast, the only person we’ve seen before on the Chandler stage was Sydney Mancasola when she appeared in “Pelléas and Mélisande” a couple of seasons back. I enjoyed her in that role, but this time around I was especially, and highly, impressed by Aigul Khismatullina as the Queen of the Night. Have I already used the word dazzling? Well, no matter, I’ll use it again right here.

On a concluding note, this is conductor James Conlon’s swan song as LA Opera’s music director, after a 20-year run that’s included 70 different operas and 500-plus performances. He will, however, as Conductor Laureate, return on occasion with his baton, and in fact we’ll see him in the spring when he’s at the helm of “The Marriage of Figaro.”

He’ll be remembered fondly for many of the works he’s brought to life, but I think his legacy lies with Wagner’s “Ring Cycle” from 2010 and especially his Recovered Voices series, which consisted of several neglected or suppressed operas, mostly by German-Jewish composers, during the Nazi era in the 1930s and ‘40s. These included works by Alexander Zemlinsky, Walter Braunfels, Franz Schreker, and others. This initiative needs to be continued.

So there you have it. Go and see and hear Mozart. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

The Magic Flute is onstage at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown Los Angeles in the Music Center. Additional performances: Saturday, June 6, at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, June 11, at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, June 14, at 2 p.m.; Wednesday, June 17, at 7:30 p.m. (Pride Night); and Sunday, June 21, at 2 p.m. Tickets begin at $49, available at the box office, by calling (213) 972-8001, or visiting LAOpera.org. ER