German Theater
“The Magic Flute” as a musical
The photo
© Felix Hörhager/dpa
Now “The Magic Flute” is available not only as an opera, but also as a musical. The premiere was in Munich. What can the piece do that dares to approach Mozart’s cult work?
Composer Frank Nimsgern had great respect for the task and did not want to accept it for a long time. But in the end he was convinced, also because the musical has little to do with the compositions of the Salzburg musician (1756-1791). It is 95 percent new music, said Nimsgern.
Magic Flute from rock to pop
The result is a colorful bouquet of different styles. Sometimes the songs based on the lyrics by author Aino Laos are rocky and wild, sometimes ballad-like and poppy, with Latin sounds in between. There are always borrowings from famous passages from the opera. Nimsgern even took over the Queen of the Night’s aria almost exactly, just rearranged it. Musically, Katja Berg was convincing at the premiere, who took on “The Vengeance of Hell is Cooking in My Heart” in a pop version with Misha Kovar in the role of her daughter Pamina, including coloratura. There was constant applause not only for Berg and Kovar, but also for Patrick Stanke as Tamino, Christian Schöne as the deep booming Sarastro, Tim Wilhelm in the feathered robe of Papageno and Chris Murray as Monostatos.
Overall, however, the piece lacks the courage to do something independent and modern. For long stretches, Benjamin Sahler’s production adheres closely to Emanuel Schikaneder’s libretto for Mozart’s music. There would have been role models for how to break away from a masterpiece, such as Elton John’s celebrated musical “Aida”, which is only fundamentally based on Giuseppe Verdi’s opera.
Women between innocence and sin
The new Magic Flute, on the other hand, sticks to the original without achieving its depth and precision and seems out of time. This becomes clear in the central female characters. The innocent, sweet Pamina is dominated by a dominant mother. Resigned to fate, she waits in a tulle princess dress to be freed from Sarastro’s prison by Prince Tamino. Tamino is of course praised as a hero and is promised the hand of her daughter by the queen, who has no say anyway but enthusiastically accepts the choice of husband. Finally a man! Greetings from the 1950s.
Papagena (Stefanie Gröning) doesn’t make it any better. She can wrap Papageno around her finger in a sexy leather outfit. Women – either innocence or sin. In between lies the Queen of the Night, who, driven by revenge, has no interest in pleasing any man. A self-confidence that the daughter lacks. It could have been exciting and amusing to watch a strong Pamina expose the pompous men’s gang and their old-fashioned gentleman jokes with wit and cheek.
Anyone who doesn’t mind dusty clichés can enjoy three hours of light entertainment and an elaborate, colorful stage set with imaginative costumes. The main source of laughter is Papageno’s sidekick, a cockatoo who makes jokes and throws in cheeky comments. The three fairies are also disrespectful. More of that would have been good for the piece.
The Magic Flute – the musical