U of O Opera Company to perform Mozart’s The Magic Flute
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, or The Magic Flute, first opened in 1791. On March 3, the University Ottawa’s Opera Company will be bringing the over 200-year-old opera to Tabaret Hall, so opera lovers can check it out without using a time machine, or even leaving campus.
The Magic Flute recounts the story of Pamina, daughter of the Queen of the Night, who is abducted by the sorcerer Sarastro, and of Tamino, the prince who goes to save her, and falls in love with her in the process.
“It’s a fairy-tale like story,” says Alyssa Curto, who is in her first year of her master’s in voice performance at the U of O and plays Panima in one of the casts.
The opera is presented by the U of O’s school of music, and the cast of the opera are drawn from the school’s opera production class. The production is also double-cast, meaning there are two different crews, so while one group is on stage one night, the other cast is doing all the work backstage. There are also a few theatre students volunteering backstage.
The Magic Flute is one of Mozart’s most popular and accessible operas, and has been performed continually since its debut.
“It’s a really good opera to see if it’s your first time going to an opera because there’s dialogue in it as well, so it’s not singing the entire time,” Curto says.
The dialogue is in English, so you don’t have to worry about taking any crash courses in German before the opening night. The director, Sandra Graham, is a professor and vocal coach with the faculty. Graham brought a unique glitzy and flashy vision to the opera, with a slight Egyptian influence, which Curto says will be “visually very pleasing.”
The Magic Flute is often a must-see for anyone with an interest in opera, and the Opera Company’s performance promises to be top-notch.
“The leads are primarily master’s students, just because they’ve had longer training, but there’s a lot of people in the production who are in their undergrad,” says Jordanne Erichsen, a master’s student in vocal performance.
Like the other leads, Erichsen has been singing for nearly a decade. She says the main draw of the U of O’s performance is the talent of the singers, as well as the catchy music and classic story.
“It would have been like the pop music of Mozart’s time. And the characters are the classic stereotype of the villain and the good guy,” says Erichsen.
For the uninitiated, The Magic Flute is an incredible opera to start one’s journey into the art form, but also a well-loved classic that is a must-see for the more seasoned opera-lover.
The performance will be running March 3-6 at Huguette Labelle Hall in Tabaret Hall. Tickets are $10 at the door for students, and $5.65 if bought in advance on the Eventbrite page. For showtimes and other information, check out the uoCal page here.
