Our destiny is not inscribed in the stars, but within ourselves.
The new Magic Flute will be the first opera production by the excellent actor and director Miroslav Krobot, whose time at the Dejvice Theatre has been a great era for that institution. It was with the Dejvice ensemble that he encountered Mozart´s most popular opera for the first time and performed it, with his own arrangement, with great success in 2003. What will his Brno production be like? The Magic Flute is a story of hope in a time of dramatic division. It is a story with a happy ending. We shall draw inspiration from the diversity of Mozart´s music and the comedic potential of the libretto with the aim of creating a production that appeals to viewers through its music and acting. We would like to treat it as something from the original genre of fantasy, rather than as a fairy tale or mystery. The story concerns Tamino, who is searching for Princess Pamina with the help of a magic flute and a talkative bird-catcher named Papagena. It is based on the singspiel tradition, where singing alternates with the spoken word, and is full of philosophy and references to Masonic symbolism, as well as humour and of course Mozart’s charming music in particular. Although the creators of The Magic Flute intended it for less sophisticated audiences at the suburban Schikaneder Theatre, the composer wrote unique musical numbers for his characters, including the virtuoso part of the Queen of the Night, which is the highest peak of every coloratura soprano’s art, and the lyrical arias of the lovelorn couple, Tamino and Pamina, as well as Papageno and Papagena’s cute Pa-pa-pa duet.
