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San Francisco Opera, The Magic Flute

June 13, 2012

By Michael J. Vaughn

The moral thread of Die Zauberflöte is such a brilliant chaos that

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it can be nudged in provocative directions by merely shifting itsvisual environment. For SFO’s new production, Artist JunKaneko has created such a captivating reimagining that itsometimes feels like someone held an art exhibit and an operabroke out.

Kaneko’s backgrounddrawings carry the crayonroughness and primarycolors of children’s art, butare pulled into surprising,elegant complexities.Animated projections(Clark Creative Group)convey the sense thatthese works are beingcreated on the spot, andalso serve some importanttheatrical functions:illustrating the creativeprocess itself, conjuring afantastical world that isalmost alive, andsmoothing out the flow ofan opera with an enormous number of scene changes. A suddenburst of black scrawls accompanies the entrance of the Queen ofthe Night, and the tests of fire and water are powered by tendrilsof orange and red ceding to waves of blue and green.

A second fresh element is the new English translation by SFOgeneral director David Gockley, which makes sense in a numberof ways. First, a primary luxury enjoyed by Mozart inSchikaneder’s theater outside Vienna was the freedom to create awork in the same language spoken by the audience. Secondly,the rhythmic similarity between German and English provides asmooth musical transition. Thirdly, the move opens up an extralevel of humor fueled by the subtleties of language. Gockleymakes free use of slang and topical humor: the Three Ladies’reference to their boss as a “flaming queen,” Papageno’s claimthat he practices “sustainable birdcatching,” and a runningreference to the opening scene’s “Chineseinspired dragon.” Andwho wouldn’t love a line like “I’d cook her eggs and tasty grits,make love until we called it quits”?

It’s almost too bad that the company offered a preperformanceannouncement of Alek Shrader’s cold, because I doubt if anyonewould have noticed. Shrader sang Tamino with the clearest oflyric tenors, and only began to fatigue toward the end of theevening. Soprano Heidi Stober provided the most touching

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A B O U T M E

MICHAEL J. VAUGHN

Michael J. Vaughn is the author of sixnovels, including Frosted Glass (DeadEnd Street, Seattle) and RhymingPittsburgh (LBF Books, Pittsburgh).His poetry has appeared in more thanfifty journals, including SkidrowPenthouse and The Chaffin Journal,and he works as a judge for severalWriter's Digest competitions. He livesin San Jose, and plays drums for theSan Francisco rock band ExitWonderland.

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musical moment, a performance of Pamina’s “Ach, ich fühl’s”threaded with a spinning, vibrant tone. Russian coloraturasoprano Albina Shagimuratova performed the Queen’s famedshowpieces with stunning agility.

Baritone Nathan Gunn opted for a more likeable, less goofyPapageno, opening up a deeper empathy for the birdcatcher’smoments of doubt, but still getting the most of his many funnylines (“Brotherhood, Schmotherhood!” he exclaimed, and Iwould have to agree). His outfit – always a central concern forZauberflöte buffs – is a Rubik’s cube bodysuit augmented by aneggholder backpack. Soprano Nadine Sierra, an SFO AdlerFellow, joined him with a vivacious Papagena.

Tenor Greg Fedderly performed an energetic, sleazyMonostasos, and it was lovely to hear the rich music for theboys’ trio sung by actual boys: Etienne Julius Valdez, JoshuaReiner and John Walsh. The Three Ladies were a familiar andwelcome group: former Rhinemaidens Lauren McNeese and

Renee Tatum, and Melody Moore from last season’s worldpremiere of “Heart of a Soldier.” The Ladies’ costumes took aninteresting trip from Mouseketeer to Motown girlgroup. Themen’s chorus gave a powerful reading of the temple chorus, “OIsis and Osiris.” Bass Kristinn Sigmundsson gave Sarastro animposing presence but not quite enough thunder in thechallenging low notes.

Conductor Rory Macdonald led the orchestra in anextraordinarily clean, crisp performance. Stage director HarrySilverstein’s understated approach to movement worked wellwith Kaneko’s wild sets (perhaps the same kind of challengeoffered to lighting designer Paul Pyant, who had to avoidconflict with the everpresent projections). Tamino’s flute callsbrought forth a whimsical assortment of elongated woodlandcreatures, similar to Central American woodcarvings; thecuteness award goes to the birdlings representing Papageno’sfuture offspring.

The inherent contradictions of the opera may, in fact, be aprincipal reason for its constant popularity. Like Hamlet, it offersan unsolvable labyrinth of meaning and intention. If the Queen isso terrible, for instance, why does she provide protectiveinstruments to Tamino and Papageno? And although the Queenresorts to violent measures, what gives some pseudoreligiouspriest, spouting abstract ideals with no real substance, the right togo around abducting other people’s children? When Kanekowent to stage director Silverstein for his interpretation, heanswered, “…none of the people in Mozart’s world are eithersimply good or bad. Rather, their lives and needs have driventhem to do what they feel is necessary and correct.”

Jun Kaneko’s book “Magic Flute,” a chronicle of theproduction’s creation, is available in the San Francisco OperaShop.

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Asides: Had to love the moment when the temple speaker calledfor silence – immediately followed by someone in standing roomknocking over a loud, jangling bottle. The show is a coproduction with the operas of Washington, D.C., Omaha,Kansas City and Carolina. I cannot recall another productionwhere the designer received a bigger ovation than any of theperformers.

Through July 8, War Memorial Opera House, 401 Van NessAvenue, San Francisco. $21$389, 415/8643330,www.sfopera.com.

Michael J. Vaughn is the author of "Operaville," a novel andcompanion CD available at amazon.com. His poem, "How toSing," is forthcoming in the literary magazine Confrontation.

Photos by Cory Weaver:

Albina Shagimuratova (The Queen of the Night).

Nathan Gunn (Papageno).

John Walsh, Joshua Reinier, and Etienne Julius Valdez (TheThree Boys) with Heidi Stober (Pamina).

Alek Shrader (Tamino) and the animals of the woods.

Greg Fedderly (Monostatos). POSTED BY MICHAEL J . VAUGHN AT 1:15 PM

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