by Mike Telin
Is there a more fun-filled, accessible opera than Mozart’s The Magic Flute? Its classic fairy tale plot — good versus evil combined with a search for enlightenment and love — is timeless. Its characters are sympathetic, and it’s filled with beautiful arias and catchy tunes that are certain to cause the most wonderful earworms long after you leave the theater.
by Mike Telin
Here’s a story: a young prince named Tamino finds himself lost in a far-off land being pursued by a snake, and he faints. Three ladies, attendants of the Queen of the Night — who is seeking revenge against the high priest Sarastro — appear and kill the snake. After arguing about which of them should stay with the handsome Tamino, they leave. Tamino wakes up just as Papageno, a bird catcher who dresses like a bird, enters and complains that he has no wife — he also takes credit for killing the snake.
The three ladies reappear and put a padlock over his mouth to remind him that it is not good to tell lies. Before leaving they give Tamino a portrait of Pamina — the daughter of the Queen of the Night — who has been kidnaped by Sarastro. In an instant, he falls in love. Thus the stage is set for one of the most beloved operas of all time: The Magic Flute.
On Wednesday, February 26 at 7:30 pm in Kulas Hall, Cleveland Institute of Music Opera Theater will present Mozart’s popular opera. Directed by Dean Southern, the cast includes baritone Dylan Glenn as Papageno, soprano Siyeon Kim as Pamina, and coloratura soprano Mengqi Gao as the Queen of the Night. [Read more…]
by Timothy Robson
From November 7-10, Cleveland Institute of Music Opera Theater presented a double bill of Igor Stravinsky’s early Le Rossignol and Maurice Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges in CIM’s Kulas Hall. Dean Southern directed, and Harry Davidson conducted the CIM Orchestra, with sets and lighting by Dave Brooks and costumes by Inda Blatch-Geib. It was a very fine show, both musically and theatrically. [Read more…]