We have to remember the context in which Mozart (in poor health during the last months of his life) wrote the opera: he had been commissioned by the down-market Theater auf der Wieden, managed by the highly popular actor-manager Emanuel Schikaneder (author of the libretto and its first Papageno). The bizarre concoction of musical styles in this score resembles Kemp’s juggling of many-coloured theatrical styles, while his love for extreme contrasts mirrors the way the opera’s subject spontaneously and playfully transcends orthodox rules and genres by mixing sacred and profane, drama and comedy, fantastic flights and everyday appetites. The subline genius of Mozart shining through this opera like a shaft of light needs no introduction, but it is worth underlining how deeply The Magic Flute resonates with Lindsay Kemp’s creative nature, and vice versa.
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