Review: DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE al Teatro dell'Opera di Firenze

Review: DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE at the Teatro dell'Opera in Florence, directed by M° Roland Böer.

By William Fratti and Renata Fantoni –

Expressing different opinions regarding the artistic performances of this production is not an easy matter, since everything turns out to be very homogeneous and on the same wavelength. And this is its greatest value, even if this compactness remains anchored to the average, without ever letting off steam in exciting moments.

Starting from the musical field, a Roland Böer the value of one must be recognized conduction well centered in the classical style, with good dialogue between soundhole and stage, although not particularly generous with phrasing and nuances. Always excellent soundOrchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and proof of Choir led by Lorenzo Fratini.

The same goes for lead singers: the Leonardo Cortellazzi's Tamino, Anna Gillingham's Pamina, Christian Senn's Papageno and Goran Jurić's Sarastro they show a certain Mozartian taste accompanied by a good singing line, but none ever shines, shines or stands out by recalling a particular page of the work.

On the other hand, there is a good improvement in the use of the dramatic accent of Olga Pudova. His Queen of the Night it is always endowed with good intonation and impeccable and luminescent high notes which, with the vocal maturation of these years, supported by a good technical preparation, is characterized by a slightly more vigorous central area. If the singer manages to continue in this direction, she will certainly have the opportunity to leave a mark with this difficult character.

All the other characters are also effective and well suited to the good quality level of the representation: the three ladies of Heera Bae, Cecilia Bernini, Veta Pilipenko; the three children of the soloists of the Muenchner Knabenchor, the Papagena by Giulia Bolcato, the Monostatos by Marcello Nardis, the Oratore by Philip Smith, the priests and armigers by Cristiano Olivieri and Oliver Puerckhauer.

The show signed by Damiano Michieletto – con sets by Paolo Fantin, costumes by Carla Teti, lights by Alessandro Carletti and video design by Carmen Zimmermann and Roland Horvath – originally produced on the stage of La Fenice in Venice, it removes much of the symbolism pertaining to magic and freemasonry to focus on the true process of initiation into life: school during adolescence, the end of the time for play and illusions and the onset of adulthood. To this end, the whole story is set in an educational institution and everything turns out to be extremely functional and philological. Nonetheless, the resulting emotions are truly reduced to a minimum, since this vision, although acceptable, makes everything very flat, almost two-dimensional, not very exciting. In any case, Michieletto must be recognized for his professionalism and directing know-how of great value.

William Fratti and Renata Fantoni