Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus
Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus
Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus
Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus
On 30 March, one of the most famous operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Die Zauberflöte premiered on the stage of the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus as a part of the Austrian Cultural Season in Belarus.
The production of Mozart’s opera was carried out by the international team headed by the artistic director of the Brucknerhaus concert hall in Linz Professor Hans-Joachim Frey (Germany), musical director Maestro Manfred Mayrhofer (Austria), costume designer Professor Hartmut Schörghofer (Austria), chorus master People’s Artist of the Republic of Belarus Nina Lomanovich, lighting designer Vladimir Sterlin (Russia).
On 30 March, the leading roles were performed by the Honoured Artist of the Republic of Belarus Andrei Valentii as Sarastro, the winner of international competitions Yuri Gorodetski as Tamino, the winner of international competitions Margarita Levchuk as the Queen of the Night, the winner of international competitions Irina Kuchinskaya as Pamina, Papageno Andrey Klipo, Papagena is the winner of the international competition Marina Likhosherst, Denis Jantsevich as Speaker of the temple, Yury Bolotko as Monostato, People's Artist of Belarus Anastasia Moskvina as First Lady, Second Lady was the winner of international competitions Elena Zolova, Third Lady was the winner of international competitions Ekaterina Mikhnovets, First priest and warrior was Alexander Zhukov, Second priest and warrior was Ilya Pevzner. Manfred Mayrhofer conducted (Austria).
Manfred Mayrhofer, musical director, ‘It is the last piece by Mozart that was composed as a singspiel in a rather russet style. However, the composer has put all his musical experience into this work, therefore one can find both quite simple and rather exquisite musical moments based on the wide experience of the author.
I see that Belarusian performers like working on this opera, getting ready for the premiere whatever the difficulties are. I definitely want the singers to learn to sing in a lighter manner that is more characteristic of Mozart, asking them to move away from heavy and weighty style that is inherent to the music by, for example, Tchaikovsky, or Rachmaninov.
I love this opera for being a combination of various styles that are still perfectly discerned, but at the same time, this piece is a single entity showing the talent of Mozart. There is nothing in this opera that could be improved – it's perfect.’
Die Zauberflöte is a fairy tale, where the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, love over deceit, and friendship over enmity is glorified. It is this confrontation that the producers of the upcoming premiere focus on. Developing the concept of the scenography and costumes for the new production, Director Professor Hans-Joachim Frey and costume designer Professor Hartmut Schörghofer adopted the style of incredibly popular fantasy sagas and TV series such as Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, etc.
Mozart provisionally divided his opera into several levels: the "dark" world, which is ruled by the Queen of the Night, or the world of drama. The world of Sarastro: bright, sunny and Divine. And between the two lies "the middle world": the world of nature, very natural and easy, where, for example, Papageno and Papagena live. The opera comprises the hidden elements that are related to the history of Freemasonry and the ceremonies of the Masonic Lodge. All of them will be emphasized in the set design, where computer graphics and complex mechanisms of the scene will be involved. The change of scenery will occur along with the change of pictures and places in the opera.
Hans-Joachim Frey, director, ‘The style of the fantasy is not placed within some definite time boundaries allowing us to recreate any temporal layer and even combine several epochs. We will be able to experience the scenes, say, from any time period of the last two millennia years in this opera. We find a mixture of styles from the Middle Ages, Stone Age, Renaissance, and even some elements of futurism in fantasy series and films. We tried to set this opera in a similar manner. I believe that the tale tuned out to be filled with magic and fantasy.’
The next performance of Die Zauberflöte is on April 18.
Media about the premiere:
ONT Die Zauberflöte sounded in a new way…
BELARUS 1: The Flute is playing
General Partners of the Production
