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Papageno (Benjamin Taylor) is looking for love in all the wrong places.
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Review: Pittsburgh Opera makes triumphant return to Benedum with ‘Magic Flute’

David Bachmann Photography

Review: Pittsburgh Opera makes triumphant return to Benedum with ‘Magic Flute’

There’s a man dressed like a bird hopping around the Benedum Center singing Mozart. This can only mean one thing: Opera is back.

In fact, it never really left — Pittsburgh Opera is either the only or one of the only companies in the country to have bravely continued putting on live productions during the pandemic, albeit scaled down ones. Now, the company has come roaring out the gate at the Benedum for the first time in two years with a potent production of Mozart's “The Magic Flute,” sung in English and helmed by director Dan Rigazzi.

There was much to celebrate on opening night Saturday. Rigazzi, a staff director at the Metropolitan Opera, emphasizes the humanity of his characters rather than the absurdity of the situations, helping many of the opera's more poignant moments land. (This is an opera to attend for the music and theatricality, not so much the plot.) A minimalist set design of portrait frames emerging from the stage elegantly frame the action with simple projections and lighting completing the mood.

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Conductor Antony Walker and the orchestra delivered an excellent account of Mozart's music, almost as though they hadn't skipped a beat. A shoutout here to principal flutist Barbara O'Brien, whose playing during the “magic flute” passages was, if not magical, splendidly graceful.

Soprano Kathryn Bowden sings as the dreaded Queen of the Night in Pittsburgh Opera's upcoming production of "The Magic Flute."
Jeremy Reynolds
Pittsburgh Opera returns to Benedum with vocal fireworks in Mozart’s ‘Magic Flute’

Vocal standouts include returning guest David Portillo as protagonist Tamino, who arrives in a strange land to seek truth and wisdom and woo a princess and immediately faints at the first sign of trouble. Portillo’s upper register is butter-smooth, and he sent his voice spinning to the very back of the hall with apparent ease. Soprano Kathryn Bowden as the Queen of the Night, the vengeful mother whose daughter spurns her by the finale, was delightfully “pingy” in one of opera's best-known and most difficult second act arias. (Her first act was a bit pitchy, however, perhaps due to opening-night jitters?)

Saturday evening's purest delight was Benjamin Taylor, an alumnus of the opera's renowned resident artist program for early career singers, as bird catcher Papageno, the folksy friend in a buddy comedy whose side quest is more whimsically entertaining than the main plot. Taylor's voice is a supple and robust baritone that he wielded with Mozartian lightness. His physical comedy may ruffle some feathers for its extreme cheese, but for my money it brightened the production by preventing it from taking itself too seriously. Put simply, he killed on opening night.

One small quibble, the pan flute Papageno sounds throughout the opera is distractingly out of tune. Very much not magical.

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As for the others, Adelaide Boedecker as Princess Pamina was as compelling as the preposterousness of her role allowed, making the most of her beguiling arias with intelligently finessed flair in her phrases. Bass Tom McNichols made a strong debut as Sorastro, while Véronique Filloux's squeaks and squeals as Papagena consistently cut through the opera’s solemnity. The chorus could have been a bit tighter, particularly in its entrances, but provided dramatic vocal “oomph” with aplomb.

A tongue-in-cheek comedy about man's search for wisdom and justice, this opera is right on the nose for the times, with a focus on overcoming dark with light and the mystical power of music to unite and heal. “Magic Flute” is also a direct allegory for Masonic induction, as Mozart himself became a freemason seven years before passing away. Symbolism and symmetry and sets of three abound, beginning with the three orchestral chords that launch the overture and recur throughout the work. As the opera digs harder into the induction rights in the second half, the pace drags and some of the staging was underwhelming. The chambers of fire and water were particularly feeble.

Given that the opera always uses supertitles, changing the language from German to English robs the opera of some of its original genius. I’m not convinced that it’s a fair trade for “approachability.”

Nitpicking aside, it's fantastic to enjoy this art form in the Benedum once more, and opening night held a further surprise: the announcement of a $5 million gift from board member Francois Bitz, the largest in the company’s 83-year history. For context, annual expenses for pre-COVID seasons have averaged just over $7 million a year. The gift comes as a part of a $50 million comprehensive campaign, which has raised $23.4 million to date.

Opera is expensive, but to thousands of patrons, the transportive power of this art form is more than worth the cost. “The Magic Flute” is a persuasive argument as to why and a spiffing first production back at the Benedum.

This opera repeats Tuesday at 7 p.m., Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15-$162.50 at pittsburghopera.org.

Jeremy Reynolds: jreynolds@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1634; Twitter @Reynolds_PG. His work at the Post-Gazette is supported by a grant from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Getty Foundation and Rubin Institute.

First Published: November 7, 2021, 10:13 p.m.
Updated: November 8, 2021, 11:29 a.m.

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Papageno (Benjamin Taylor) is looking for love in all the wrong places.  (David Bachmann Photography)
The Queen of the Night (Kathryn Bowden), center, with Madeline Ehlinger, Corrie Stallings, Maire Therese Carmack and Rodell Rosel as Monostatos.  (David Bachmann Photography)
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David Bachmann Photography
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