Die Zauberflöte

I am slowly but surely trying to update my blog so it reflects my "life"! (I don't know why I put "life" in quotes, it just seems appropriate.) 

Around Christmastime, one of my teachers gave me free tickets to Mozart's Die Zauberflöte  (The Magic Flute) at the Wiener Staatsoper  - she has season tickets, and for some inexplicable reason, hates this opera. Well, all the better for me, I guess, since I got to go! And I actually got a seat...normally I buy a Stehplatz, or standing ticket, because they are super affordable (€3-4) and I don't really mind standing. The view is actually pretty good, and in fact better than some of the more expensive "seats" where you sit on one side of the stage or the other and thus can't see anything except the orchestra pit. I end up standing whenever I get one of those, anyway.

True to the opera, this production was fanciful - there was a revolving box as the stage, as you can see from the picture - and excellent quality, as is practically everything staged at the Staatsoper. The one problem was that during the Queen of the Night's famous solo, her crown fell off. I was with a friend, and we laughed, which was mean. But, on stage, she didn't break her concentration, and didn't hit a false note. Now that is stage presence.

According to some, the Vienna State Opera is the premiere in the world. I would agree, except I don't think I should agree too quickly. I haven't seen much opera outside of the United States and Europe. Though, this one in Vienna was definitely head and shoulders above the production I saw at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin in 2007, complete with a giant papier-mâché rhinoceros (actually, the only thing that really stuck out to me about the whole thing). 

For those of you with the opportunity to go to an opera in Berlin, I highly recommend the Berliner Staatsoper (the State Opera seems to get more funding and better singers and directors). I saw a most magnificent version of Der Freischutz there.

As for the Wiener Staatsoper, they are highly respected, and tend not to take many risks (so, for those of you into avant garde theater, look elsewhere). Personally, I am never disappointed with a performance. 

If you are not familiar with the plot, Wikipedia gives a good summary. I love it because of all of its mystical undertones, especially having to do with the Free Masons (Mozart was one) and Zoroastrianism.