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October 21, 2014 | What Did You Think?,
What did you think of The Magic Flute?
Thank you attending the Isango Ensemble’s production of The Magic Flute! This distinct interpretation of Mozart’s classic score is for many an introduction or total reconstruction of what opera can be – please take a moment to share your thoughts!
How would you describe the experience of seeing The Magic Flute?
What surprised you the most about this produciton?
What opera would like to see the Isango Ensemble perform?
If you could share this experience with anyone, who would it be and why?
Thank you for taking the time to drop us a line!
I must say that this performance was very different! I think much was lost because of acoustics. I won’t recommend it to my friends because most of the time I couldn’t understand what was being said.
The Magic Flute is my favorite opera, and I love dancing. Monday night I experienced the best performance of The Magic Flute I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen more than a dozen. The wonderful singing, acting, dancing, marimba and drum playing, and the use of a bare stage
were breathtaking. I want to see more performances by the Isango Ensemble! The director and the cast are fabulous.
From the opening moments I was drawn in by the energy, creativity, and artistry of this production. It was a joyous mashup of musical styles and cultures that worked at every level, introducing fresh ideas while maintaining deep respect toward the original score. I loved how the performers sang, danced, and played instruments, often moving among the different roles. Thank you for this wonderful experience!
The vocalists were outstanding, much better than I expected. The marimbas and dancing seemed less than exuberant. Perhaps the performers were saving their energy for the evening performance later on? I also had trouble understanding the lyrics as spoken and sung so I would agree with the acoustics issue noted already. Finally I was not impressed by the vouchers for $25 discounted tickets after having paid several times that myself to see the performance.
Starting off with the marimba octet doing a marvelous job with the overture was indeed magic. But the singing suffered from abysmal diction and huge problems with pitch (especially the lead women, who often tended to go very very sharp). The ensemble seemed more grounded in the (inventive) African-style deviations from the score. Also, the Pamina and Queen had very small (lovely, but small) voices that had trouble projecting well into the Majestic Theatre space. (The men fared better.)
Given that the text was all but unintelligible, and the staging often did not help tell the specifics of the story, I can’t imagine anyone not already familiar with the opera could tell what was going on most of the time. Surtitles would have helped, even though the performance was, as i surmise, mostly in English.
Though the “concept” for the piece piqued my curiosity, the actual performance was, musically speaking, a huge disappointing mess. I did not stay for Act II.
I can’t imagine what this company’s “Boheme” must be like.
We enjoyed the show, but did have difficulty with the acoustics. I would have liked to have had this libretto in the program book. It would have helped my grandchildren (8 and 9) for whom this was their first opera.
Loved the marimbas and the enthusiasm of the ensemble. If this were continuing, I would recommend it to friends who are already familiar with the story.
Stirring, creative, completely unexpected. The singing was spot-on, the performers completely engaging and I think it captured the crazy spirit at the heart of the Magic Flute perfectly.
I thought the production was very inventive and interesting. I loved the marimba’s and drums and the costumes and the voices were beautiful. However, I would have enjoyed it a lot more if the words had been projected above the stage as in most operas. I could only understand about 5% of the words.
a fabulous, creative and energetic rendition of Mozart’s crazy-inspired Magic flute.Papageno, and Pamino had mellifluous voices, the queen of the night was a sight and vocal force to behold. The cast had multiple roles as dancers, singers, xylophonist orchestra players as well as on other African instruments. An all enchanting performance. Now my second favorite rendition after Bergman’s movie in Swedish of the Magic Flute. These non-traditional versions capture the very essence of “magic” in ways conventional performances do not.
Pamina had a few moments of her voice not quite at its best, Sarastro’s bass was not as mellow as could be hoped for the role of him reigning over a society of benevolence, bravery and good deeds, exuding the very kindness with his voice he advocates. My husband and I also didn’t care for the pink and kitschy and teddy-bear-bearing choice for the three boys of the original.
Yet overall, a splendid success and perfect entertainment for young and old! Go be re-enchanted by this eternal favorite in the operatic repertoire.
I am an opera singer and have sung the role of the Queen of the Night, so I know the music well, and I was absolutely fascinated by this production! I was amazed at the fact that the cast not only sang but played many varieties of marimba and drums. It was such a fresh and entertaining approach to an opera that has existed for centuries. Even though some of the voices were frayed and many of the words were lost, I LOVED it!