New "Magic Flute"
State Opera: Papageno ruffles feathers in the haunted house
INTERVIEW In her first directorial work for the State Opera, Barbora Horáková conjures up a new version of Mozart's "Magic Flute" - with wise trolls, dark spooks and plenty of humanity.
"Krone": How much magic is there in your Magic Flute?
Barbora Horáková: I hope a lot. Our 'Magic Flute' is set in a haunted house where you can do a lot of magic. The three boys arrive at the beginning on their bicycles and hide there from a storm - and then it starts to come alive like a biotope.
Everything is a bit dusty and dark. Finally, the three ladies appear very mysteriously. The poor boys are caught up in the magic and turned into old trolls. In mythology, they are considered wise because they are connected to nature.
What fascinates you in particular about this piece?
What I find so great about The Magic Flute is that you can play with these dualities.
You have these contrasts and you realize that you can't have one without the other. You can't have darkness without light, evil without good, young without old. I wanted to use that as a common thread.
What is the essence that you draw from "The Magic Flute"?
It was important to me that you can feel the humanity. I found it exciting that the story is told like a journey through life that two people who love each other try to get through together. That's why Pamina and Tamino grow older and older.
At the end, they emerge with two old dolls on their backs. The fire test is like a dance in which they see themselves as old and also as young again. It is as if they are remembering the ideals they once stood up for. Now they are no longer afraid to go to their deaths together. In the water test, these old shells fly away. What remains are two white souls, for whom the gates of the temple of Isis and Osiris open.
How do you deal with characters like the "Moor" Monostatos?
It's not so easy today. For us, Monostatos is someone who works in a coal room. That's why his face is a bit black. Papageno falls into this coal room and therefore looks exactly like him. Monostatos is not just a villain in our version. Because we humans are not just black and white either. He is someone who falls in love with this girl Pamina and doesn't know how to deal with this feeling.
"A woman does little, talks a lot" is one of Sarastro's lines. That doesn't exactly prove his wisdom and humanity either.
No, that's not very nice. At the beginning, he is simply a ruler who punishes and behaves arrogantly. He appears on a crescent moon in the dress of the Queen of the Night. Just like you see in the old pictures. He uses it to amuse his people, insulting the Queen of the Night even more. Pamina has to experience how he makes fun of her mother.
When he sings his "O Isis and Osiris" aria, he probably only really begins to think about what he is singing. And his aria "In diesen heil'gen Hallen kennt man die Rache nicht" then becomes a key moment.
How close to your heart is the birdcatcher Papageno?
Papageno is my favorite character because he is so incredibly human. Because he calls a spade a spade. When he's not feeling well, he gets drunk. He can't keep his mouth shut, he's happy when he sees food. He's probably also so human because he tries to cover up how insanely lonely he is until he almost kills himself because of it.
Did you work on the dialog?
They've been shortened and slightly adapted. We are trying to play a version that is more stringent. We want to get to the heart of the story and hopefully not lose the humor in the process.
Is this your first "Magic Flute"?
Yes, but we worked on it for a very, very long time and spent many years on the piece. I started talking about the scenes in detail with the original conductor Franz Welser-Möst a year and a half ago.
Staging Mozart's "Magic Flute" is considered a very special challenge. What was it like for you?
I always thought to myself that it's great music, everyone can sing along to every number. But what do you do with it? What is it actually about? I always had a bit of respect for the whole fairytale thing. I found Pamina and Tamino to be two of the stupidest characters in the opera. Because they are so naive and go along with everything without a fight.
What are Pamina and Tamino to you now, at the end of the work?
Fighters, fighters for life.
Role models?
In a way, yes. Because they are able to stick together. That's not always easy, especially in the times we live in, with their many possibilities, their speed, the neuroses and depressions that are spreading.
I love all people, the bad ones as well as the good ones. And I wanted to show that people can stick together. That may sound a little naive to many, but it really is my deepest conviction about life. And the two of them show us that it is possible.
This article has been automatically translated,
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