'Die Zauberflote' reproduced for family audience

Tenor Kim Se-il, right, and soprano Park Eun-mi perform as Tamino and Queen of the Night in a scene from "Die Zauberflote" / Courtesy of SAC

By Yun Suh-young

The opera "Die Zauberflote," otherwise known as "The Magic Flute," by Mozart, will turn into a family-friendly opera for the first time.

The Seoul Arts Center (SAC) has a new production team for this year's “Die Zauberflote” which reproduced the opera to cater to a younger audience, including children from the age of four.

Ever since the Seoul Arts Center's opera house opened in 1993, “Die Zauberflote” has been the most-produced opera by the performance hall and has always been guaranteed to sell-out. There have been 11 productions of “Die Zauberflote,” nine of which were performed at the CJ Towol Theater, where this year's performance will also take place. This year’s production team features conductor Ji Joong-bae and director Jang Young-ah who collaborated on a 2013 production of “Turandot” by the SAC.

Mozart wrote “Die Zauberflote” in 1791 in the form of Singspiel, a German musical drama characterized by spoken dialogue alternated with singing. In this production, arias are sung in German while the lines are delivered in Korean. When the singers are singing in German, Korean subtitles are available on a screen. The good news for families with children is that the opera is not as long as the typical three-hour performances _ the entire program is just over two hours, excluding intermission.

As much as the production caters to all audiences, costumes and props are colorful and creative, and at times a little childlike. While the costumes are eye-catching, the stage design is pretty minimal yet sophisticated. The stage directors used digital art in the background instead of real life background props. Audience may find it interesting to watch the digital visuals changing according to the scenes.

“Die Zauberflote” is about Prince Tamino who receives a request by the Queen of the Night to rescue her daughter Pamina from the high priest Sarastro who has the princess captive. However, when Tamino thought the Queen was good and Sarastro was evil, it turns out that it is the other way around. He realizes Sarastro is a well-intended philosopher with high ideals and vision for the society and seeks to join his community. In designing Sarastro's character and his guild, Mozart is known to have been inspired by Freemasonry, a secret society of which he was a member, which had freedom, equality and philanthropy as key values along with the belief in a “Supreme Being.”

Prince Tamino goes through several tests to join the community and together with Pamina, the love of his life, the two undergo severe trials of initiation and they triumph. Meanwhile, Papageno, his friend and companion, also goes through the test but fails, but ends up being rewarded with what he wanted most _ a beautiful woman to wed. He pledges to an old lady that he would love her for eternity and the lady turns out to be the young and beautiful Papagena, his other half he had been longing for. The story ends with a happy ending with the Queen being vanquished.

A scene from the opera "Die Zauberflote" / Courtesy of SAC

In the press rehearsal Tuesday, Tamino was performed by tenor Kim Se-il, Pamina by soprano Yang Gui-bee, Queen of the Night by soprano Park Eun-mi and Papageno by baritone Woo Gyeong-sik. The part to take note of in the performance is Pamina played by Yang who overwhelms the stage with her clean and piercing voice. The male voices are buried under her tone. Meanwhile, the Queen of the Night who sings her famous aria in Act II seems weak in this performance. She swallows her words and fails to deliver across the theater.

What may be interesting for the younger members of the audience is the appearance of three young boys who guide the characters on the right path. The boys did a good job holding their own among their adult counterparts.

The general concern about this opera being shown to children, however, is the plot itself. The story involves two failed suicide attempts by Pamina and Papageno, who both try to take their own lives when they fail to find love or unite with their love. In fact, both times, it is the three young boys that intervene and stop them from taking action. The plot doesn't help educationally, and it may be advised that parents explain to their children that the plot is overly dramatized and real adults face consequences for their actions.

The opera will take place from Aug. 24 through Sept. 3 on Tuesdays to Fridays at 6 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Seoul Arts Center's CJ Towol Theater. The performance is 140 minutes long with a 20 minute intermission between the two acts. Ticket prices range from 30,000 to 70,000 won. Families will get a discount of up to 30 percent if they book over four tickets as a package. For more information, call 02) 580-1300 or visit www.sac.or.kr.