THE MAGIC FLUTE - REVIEW OF 2006 MET PRODUCTION STREAMED IN 2025

Reviewed by James Karas

On December 30. 2006 The Metropolitan Opera filmed  Julie Taymor’s production of The Magic Flute for PBS. That recording was transmitted worldwide Live in HD From the Met. But on December 20, 2025. we were supposed to get the current revival of Julie Taymor’s shortened version of the opera with Paul Aplebu, Michael Samuel and Alexander Kppeczi conducted by Steven White. The Met’s program said so. 

But the one-page program that we got at Cineplex stated that we were about to see The Magic Flute that was transmitted Live on December 20, 2006. Something went wrong but I don’t know what. The broadcast on CBC radio was of the current performance with the cast noted above.

Julie Taynor has her own take of the opera with a version thar lasts only 1 hour and 50 minutes, sung in English and geared toward entertaining children as well as adults.  A highly laudable ambition.

She uses various methods of entertaining children and I don’t know if all were successful. She takes a dark view of the opera and much of the performance is done on a black background. The Three Ladies, Wendy Bryn Harmer, Kate Lindsey and Tamara Mumford are dressed in black, with white puppet heads that are worn on their heads or held in their hands.

The Queen of the Night (Erika Miklosa) has a seriously painted face (like most of the cast) and she has huge banners waved behind her. She is a remarkable figure as is Miklosa a remarkable singer. Tenor Matthew Polenzani as Tamino and soprano Ying Huand are handsome and beautiful and we see their faces clearly. The hero and heroine sing brightly and gorgeously and we root for them. 

 A scene from Mozart's "The Magic Flute." Photo: Ken Howard / Met Opera 

of the 2025 production and not the one under review.

Rene Pape is outfitted like a pagoda or some grand structure but he sings a marvelous Sarastro. Monostatos wears lots of colourful makeup, sports a big, hooked nose and is appropriately nasty but Greg Fedderly is very effective as the would-be sexual predator against our Pamina. Nathan Gunn as Papageno, is fleet of foot and superb of voice as the cowardly bird catcher. The stage is full of papier mache birds, flying bears and thunder and lightning to keep everything moving and everyone entertained and we hope that includes the youngsters.

The production is sung in English which does not mean that everything was comprehensible but I think it was appropriate. Youngsters do not need subtitles in their first or one of their first exposures to opera.

Taymor, in addition to directing, also designed the costumes and, with Michael Curry, she designed the puppets. In other words, this is a Julie Taymor production through and through.

The late James Levine conducted the Met Orchestra in the broadcast of the 2006 production which launched the rightly heralded Live in HD transmissions. It was interesting to see it in the 40th year of opera in a local movie theatre but seeing the current revival live would have been even more interesting.
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The 2006 recording of The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder was transmitted from the Metropolitan Opera on December 20, 2025, at the Cineplex VIP, Shops at Don Mills, 12 Marie Labatte Road, Toronto Ontario M3C 0H9 and other theatres. For more information including encores see: www.cineplex.com/events

James Karas is the Senior Editor, Culture of The Geek Press, Toronto.