THE MAGIC FLUTE AS GREAT MUSICAL COMEDY FROM OPERA ATELIER

Ambur Braid as The Queen of the Night and Laura Albino as Pamina. Photo Bruce Zinger

 

Reviewed by James Karas

Opera Atelier espouses truth in advertising: The Magic Flute, they tell us, is a Singspiel in Two Acts. You can call it a play with songs, a musical comedy, even an operetta but hardly an opera in the traditional sense. Call it what you will, this is Opera Atelier’s fourth production of the work in the last 22 years.

Marshall Pynkoski, the Co-artistic Director of Opera Atelier produces The Magic Flute as a musical comedy, sung in English, with colourful sets and costumes to delight everyone. After all, the original production in 1791 was in plain German at the popular Theater auf der Wieden by its librettist Emanuel Schikaneder, a man of the commercial theatre.

My full review of this production may be read here:
http://www.bachtrack.com/review-toronto-opera-atelier-magic-flute-pynkoski

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The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder opened on April 6 and will be performed six times until April 13, 2013 at the Elgin Theatre, 189 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario. www.operaatelier.com