The Queen of the Night, initially, is less frightening and angry, and is more encouraging and enthusing. Memorable musical moments from our 40 years, in one minute.
We presented The Magic Flute most recently in 2015. Iván Fischer had, for decades, been intrigued by “the notion of organic opera performances where the music and the stage performance are closely linked.” Singers performed in German, but the prose parts were presented by actors in the language of the audience; members of the orchestra were seated in various spots and the musicians also sang. In the excerpt selected, Mandy Fredrich, as The Queen of the Night, portrays a wounded mother turning to Bernard Richter, as Tamino, using the lyrical beauty of her voice; for the time being, Tamino is simply surprised.
