Flute that magically spikes sexist perceptions
THE Franco-Canadian directordesigner team André Barbe and Renaud Doucet claim to have declined offers to tackle The Magic Flute on the grounds of its sexist and racist aspects. The latter are indeed present, though some commentators prefer to blame the librettist, Schikaneder, believing that Mozart’s musical setting actively confronts such prejudices.
Countless modern directors have subverted the stereotypical views of an earlier age, and Barbe & Doucet find their own ingenious solutions. The oracular pronouncements about women needing a wise man’s guidance are held up for ridicule, while the face of the villain Monostatos is blackened by soot from a furnace rather than by race.
Acknowledging the tradition of the original production at the suburban Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden, the sets are painted drops, all meticulously hand-drawn by Barbe. But the action itself is located in and around the kitchen and wine cellars of a fin-de-siècle Viennese hotel. Sarastro and his priestly cult wear risible variants of chefs’ headgear. Pamina sails through her trial by demonstrating she can outcook any chauvinist male chef, Tamino becoming chief washer-up. Suffragettes demanding votes are chased by policemen. David Portillo and Sofia Fomina are excellent as the heroic couple Tamino and Pamina. Brindley Sherratt is a weighty Sarastro, while Björn Bürger is outstanding as Papageno, his vocal delivery as lithe and engaging as his acting. Caroline Wettergreen’s ambivalent Queen of the Night fearlessly commands the stratosphere, even interpolating extra high notes, though the result as yet sounds a mite mechanical. Ryan Wigglesworth’s stylish direction of the OAE is irreproachable.
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