Category: Magic Flute (Page 2 of 2)

The orchestra both countered itself and the vocals. The wind ensemble and stringed instruments played in a call and response manner in the absence of vocals, and the low brass and bass played off of the treble instruments, and the music’s up and downbeats were easily felt. The orchestra would accommodate each vocalist. When Papageno sang, the supplementary music was mainly soft chords to provide harmonies to the bass vocals without overpowering him. When the Queen of the Night sang, the higher instruments played the staccato melody to amplify the high notes, and the lower instruments played staccato fills in intervals of once or twice per measure almost as a response to the melody.

Throughout the opera, the strings and woodwinds played off of each other. They had sequences of call and answer. In these sections, the melody is either echoed or continued from one instrument section to the other. In some other sections, the string section would have the melody and the woodwind section would have a countermelody. In moments when the voice or voices were focused on, the orchestra would play chords in unison. When looking at these two sections individually, in the string section, the upper strings would carry the musical theme and the lower strings would play the chords that supported the theme. In the woodwind section, the woodwinds would also support the theme. The music of the magic flute was from this section.

The Staging in Magic Flute was not only captivating but an important role in the running of the opera. The Staging was centered around a large cube structure that provided different settings. The cube would slowly turn to provide a new stage for the performers to work off of while its transparency allowed the lights to change its appearance. The movement added to the fluidity of the scenery while the changing of lighting made the set customizable and appearance always different. Alongside the large cube structure was a moveable staircase that Papageno  used several times throughout the play. The staircase added another sense of fluidity while also adding another set to work with and allowing movement for Papageno. the sets higher structure added tone as well as additional scenery. The Queen of the Night was always on a higher playform emphasizing her power and the platform was later used for Papageno to climb and in the final test. The set wasn’t only functional but aesthetically pleasing with its basis in geometric shapes. The shapes added structure without emphasizing one place too much allowing the terrain and meaning of the set to change. They also emphasized one of the main themes of the opera order and unity. The use of triangles represents structure, like Sarastro’s kingdom and costume, while the circle revealed unity. Lastly the geometric over curtain added a gorgeous cover to look at while the show was not on and added to the overall aesthetic of the show.

• The instruments of the orchestra are props. They ground you in reality because you can see the musicians actually doing their job, i.e. playing in the orchestra in real time while the story unfolds.
• The three ladies’ floating heads – creepy, all of the heads are the same. Effectively turns them into one personality.
• Papageno’s main prop, the flute, mostly achieves selfish means.
• Papageno even acts selfishly with Tamino’s flute – when Tamino first receives it, Papageno keeps grabbing at it.
• Tamino’s flute is much more elegant and sleek than Papageno’s, as is his costume.
• The floating birds and snake and spirits look so ethereal and ephemeral. This effect works nicely because they are not actual characters, just secondary components of the story.
• Papageno’s movements are choppier, more playful, less refined than Tamino’s. Tamino is elegant and graceful in manner.
• While Tamino sings about how his flute charms nature, the floating bears give the scene a rather whimsical feel. They also physically illustrate the point he’s trying to make. They take the place of the comic relief. For example, when Tamino figures out that the flute will be his guide, the bears dance for joy.
• The sounds of the two flutes answer to each other – the flutes draw a parallel between Tamino and Papageno.
• Papageno’s bells have a comic affect as well; they make the threatening slaves all jolly and dancing and remove the danger from them. It seems that the instrumental props of the characters bring a comic element to the story.

The transparent revolving cube allowed for the quick appearances and disappearances of characters, and for a spritely magical feel. Without the cube, characters such as the Queen of the Night would have had to run onto stage for a semblance of a dramatic entrance, and sets would have had to be changed much more often than they were during this performance. With the cube, transitions between scenes and arias flowed seamlessly.
The only other non-cube staging was the staircase temple of Sarastro. The staircase/temple visibly led to the triangular sunlike pattern. When this temple was present onstage, Sarastro almost always stood on the highest level of it. His positioning on the staging highlighted his powerful godliness and “all-knowing” nature (being above all others allows you to symbolically or literally watch all events and doings below you).
Both main staging devices were transparent and/or relatively colorless. The lack of radical pigmentation on either one allowed the lighting to flood the stage with orange, blue, green, white, etc. and magnify the resulting desired mood.