Review: The Magic Flute, London Coliseum

The audience is filing in and what is this? The curtain is already up, the orchestra are raised to stage-level, the setting is an austere industrial plinth, there are videos and projections involved, hard white lights, wowzers, on-stage technicians. Très chic, très continental. In English, of course.

Simon McBurney/Complicité’s 2013 co-production between ENO, De Nationale Opera (Dutch National Opera) and Festival d’Aix-en-Provance returns for the third time, showing just how innovative opera can be when the money and time is there to invest in new performance making techniques. Here ENO makes the case again for London to have what all the best European capitals have; a second opera house. It’s good for opera to have something modern, fun and oh so trendy on St Martin’s Lane. With experimental storytelling at its core, its Covent Garden cousin, the Royal Opera House, couldn’t (and perhaps shouldn’t?) compete.

House lights fully up, conductor Erina Yashima sneaks to the stage and shakes up the audience (some still making their way to their seats, sloshing their chardonnays in surprise) with the grand opening chords of the overture. She maintains an exciting pace throughout and keeps the orchestra sounding perky and energetic. No mean feat, for the band have recently ended their industrial action (they appear here in concert dress, not the yellow protest shirts of recent months). They will soon be made to feel the brunt of Arts Council England’s cut to ENO’s funding after unsuccessful negotiations to prevent redundancy. Disgusting behaviour to force the hand of ENO into being the baddies.

On a lighter note, it’s an amazingly witty and stylish take on Mozart’s not-quite-opera not-quite-pantomime. Prince Tamino (Norman Reinhardt, here ‘T’mino’, in the native dialect) must rescue Pamina (Sarah Tynan) the daughter of the Queen of the Night (Rainelle Krause, she of glass shattering aria, more on that later) from the High Priest Sorastro (John Relyea, dressed as something between Milk Tray Man and Zoro-Astra-Zenica CEO).

The singing is bouncy and virtuosic from all. Krause shows off in the producton’s most famous aria, The Queen of the Night. She’s impeccable, expressive even right up at the top and impressively clear.

Ultimately this is Tamino’s lovelorn sidekick-cum-birdcatcher Papagino’s show. Loveable baritone David Stout (here decorated with white shitty smear, a detail hopefully spared those in the cheap seats) takes up the role with the ditsy glee of panto’s Buttons. Following Papagino and Tamino through Mozart’s crackers tale has never been so enjoyable.

Directed by: Simon McBurney
Conducted by: Erina Yashima
Design by: Michael Levine

The Magic Flute plays at London Coliseum until 30 March. Further information and bookings can be found here.