Over the course of the last two nights, I watched The Magic Flute, the famous opera composed by Mozart. This was the first time I’d watched an opera all the way through, although I’ve been interested in doing so for a little while now. I have a few initial thoughts after viewing it.
First, it was not boring at all, which is the stereotype of what operas are supposed to be like for the uninitiated. I recall the drummer in my old band, Mike, proudly boasting one time about how he fell asleep and was snoring during an opera his girlfriend dragged him to. This didn’t feel that way at all. I was never bored. And it was pretty easy to follow the plot, since I did a little research before hand. In fact, this advice from Vox worked pretty well for me (although I didn’t attend in person; maybe next time?).
My German is pretty rudimentary, so while I was able to pick out key words that gave me some direction as to what the dialogue was about, I definitely was not able to follow the conversations. That said, this is not critical for enjoying an opera, given music is supposed to be the main focus. The music had an up-beat quality that I found put me in good spirits.
As far as the plot, I’ll begin with what I liked. I like the fairy tale nature of the story. I liked how the story seemed to be about an ongoing quest towards enlightenment. This made the story timeless and relatable. I felt there are many lessons that people can take to heart now and perhaps even more so in the future. As the world becomes increasingly complicated, simple life lessons, like the requirement that Papageno had to adhere to not to lie, while perhaps trivial on some level, nonetheless stuck with me. There were other examples like this as well.
One part of the opera that rubbed me the wrong way was the part during the course of Tamino’s initiation where he has to overcome a trial by fire and water. This was all brushed over very quickly. Perhaps these “trials” are meant to be mere symbolism, but I thought that given so much of the opera was leading up to this climax, it deserved more time and attention in the plot.
Overall, the experience was incredibly enjoyable—a pleasant surprise, for sure. I recognized a fair amount of the music, which I suppose shouldn’t have shocked me given this is Mozart. And the plot was so straightforward, it was not at all hard to follow nor what I expected from an opera. I can certainly see myself exploring more of these. Any recommendations? Perhaps Don Giovanni?