“Magic Flute”: Gregor Bloéb’s first opera direction with a kick
In his first work as an opera director, Gregor Bloéb staged Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” at the Innsbruck State Theater on Sunday. With the strong use of theatrical elements, a prize slapstick and the shrill set design, Bloéb concretized many of the ambiguities of the Mozart classic and the best entertainment. The audience at the premiere thanked them with partly frenetic expressions of applause.
In doing so, Bloéb took quite a few risks. Papageno, strongly sung and embodied by Philippe Spiegel, has seldom been seen so close to the people, folkloric and above all Tyrolean. In the face of his attractive Papagena, an archaic “Juchezer” abducts him with joy, and his first appearance also shone with allusions to Schuhplattler.
In stark contrast to this is the timeless and, at the same time, contemporary stage design. One searches in vain for fairy-tale transfiguration as well as a reference to the time the opera was written. There were clear references to the present, for example when Johannes Maria Wimmer’s powerful appearance as Sarastro in terms of stage gestures was more reminiscent of a rock concert than an opera. The Queen of the Night, impressively sung by Sophia Theodorides, also had a performance that would have looked good on many a pop star.
The prominent modernist lighting elements used on the stage reinforced the zeitgeist impression with a tendency towards theatricality. Aside from Papageno’s costume, the forest and birds were a long way off, while the opera itself seemed to have arrived in the here and now. Even the three boys worked there, often dying as whisperers on the path of Tamino and Papagen floating across the stage as if they were taking their messages down from the alpine chairlift.
Prince Tamino’s path, who had to perform special tasks for his Pamina, turned into an amusing roller coaster ride in the Bloéb production with a few moments of irritation. Not only the revealing shift of the operatic material to Tyrol and at the same time into a utopian somewhere caused these moments, but also the futuristic depiction of the snakes that Tamino threatens in the opening scene.
But not only these tricks by Bloéb and his team had a great effect. Numerous singers shone on the entire barren stage – in contrast to this are the extremely colorful costumes. Jon Jürgens as Tamino knew how to convince, and Philippe Spiegel as Papageno earned deserved loud applause for his vocal performances. Susanne Langbein also sang terrific in her role as Pamina.
In addition, the Tyrolean Symphony Orchestra Innsbruck, under the musical direction of Andrea Sanguineti, played lean and precise, almost inconspicuously, as if one wanted to give the actors the clear leading roles on stage. The focus on acting, plot and clear assignment of functions for the protagonists and supporting roles obviously paid off with the audience. Both the director Gregor Bloéb and the actors were rewarded with thunderous applause.
(SERVICE – “The Magic Flute” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the Tiroler Landestheater, Rennweg 2, 6020 Innsbruck. Musical direction: Andrea Sanguineti, director: Gregor Bloéb, stage / costumes: Laura Malmberg and Paul Sturminger. With Johannes Maria Wimmer – Sarastro, Jon Jürgens – Tamino, Philippe Spiegel – Papageno, Susanne Langbein – Pamina, Sophia Theodorides – Queen of the Night, Joachim Seipp – speaker), among others. Further performances on November 5th, 7th, 12th, 14th, 25th and 27th, on December 1st, 2nd and 26th, on January 13th and 27th and on February 9th. www.landestheater.at)