Praise for The Magic Flute

Duke Kim as Tamino with Ethan Ibsen, Caleb Petrini, and Autumn Helene Chociej as the Three Genies in The Magic Flute at Seattle Opera. Photo: David Jaewon Oh.

Audiences have one last weekend to catch Seattle Opera’s latest production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, which has taken the city by storm. Concocted by visionary director Barrie Kosky and mixed-media theater group 1927, the production blends hand-drawn animations with silent film aesthetics in a unique, fully animated film projected over live performers. Read what critics have to say about this audacious new production, and don’t miss your chance to see The Magic Flute, playing at McCaw Hall until March 9. Tickets and info at seattleopera.org/flute.

THE MAGIC FLUTE in Pop Culture

The Magic Flute is one of the operas with tunes so catchy and recognizable, even those who have never seen a performance of it have probably heard its music. Whether it’s the overture played as background music at the mall on an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or a music box on an episode of House bringing Papageno’s "Das klinget so herrlich" front and center, The Magic Flute is definitely in the pop culture landscape.

How is this Magic Flute Different?

by Jonathan Dean

Seattle Opera's 2017 production of The Magic Flute, featuring costumes designed by Zandra Rhodes. Photo © Jacob Lucas

The Magic Flute is one of the world’s favorite operas, and Seattle Opera has presented it many times—once in a charming production by Maurice Sendak (of Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Nutcracker fame), once in a whimsical version by British cartoonist Gerald Scarfe, and most recently (2017) in an eye-popping production with costumes by fashion legend Zandra Rhodes.

A Magical Storybook

by Ulrich Lenz

Barrie Kosky, Suzanne Andrade, and Paul Barritt on flying elephants, the world of silent film, and the eternal search for love.

© Jaro Suffner

OPERAWISE: Singspiel

Seattle Opera · OPERAWISE: SINGSPIEL

In this series of podcasts, Seattle Opera Dramaturg Jonathan Dean gives listeners a taste of nine different types of traditional opera. Singspiel (that’s German for SongPlay) mixes songs, dialogues, choruses, and marvelous orchestral writing with fun and fantasy for a lowbrow, family friendly art form—the ancestor of today’s Star Wars movies. Mozart’s ever-popular Magic Flute is the perfect introduction to Singspiel, as well as one of the most beloved operas ever written. Another wonderful Singspiel, Weber’s Der Freischütz, demonstrates the power of this form to send a wonderfully creepy chill down your spine.

Musical examples on the podcast include:

• •Celebratory chorus from Hans Heiling, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Ewald Körner (Marco Polo 1992)
• •“Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja” from Die Zauberflöte; John Moore and Seattle Opera orchestra conducted by Julia Jones, 2017
• •Hunters’ Chorus from Der Freischütz; Seattle Opera chorus and orchestra conducted by Gerard Schwarz, 1999
• •Melodrama from Fidelio, Jane Eaglen and Kevin Langan, Seattle Opera orchestra conducted by Gerard Schwarz, 2003
• •A line of Papageno’s from Die Zauberflöte, John Moore and Seattle Opera orchestra conducted by Julia Jones, 2017
• •Act 1 Finale from Die Zauberflöte, Andrew Stenson and Seattle Opera orchestra conducted by Julia Jones, 2017
• •Act 2 Finale from Die Zauberflöte , Seattle Opera orchestra conducted by Julia Jones, 2017
• •“Der Hölle Rache” from Die Zauberflöte, Christina Poulitsi and Seattle Opera orchestra conducted by Julia Jones, 2017
• •“O Isis” Chorus from Die Zauberflöte Seattle Opera chorus and orchestra conducted by Julia Jones, 2017
• •Opening duet from Fidelio, Lucia Popp, Adolf Dallapozza, and Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein (Deutsche Gramophon, 1978)
• •“O namenlose Freude” from Fidelio, Gundula Janowitz, René Kollo, and Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein (Deutsche Gramophon, 1978)
• •Cat duet from Der Stein der Weisen, Jane Giering-De Haan, Kevin Deas, and Boston Baroque conducted by Martin Pearlman (Telarc, 1999)
• •Wolf’s Glen Scene from Der Freischütz, Harry Peters, Gabor Andrasy, and the chorus and orchestra of Seattle Opera conducted by Gerard Schwarz, 1999
• •Overture from Der fliegende Holländer, orchestra of Seattle Opera conducted by Sebastian Lang-Lessing, 2016
• •Dance of the Apprentices from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , forces of the Bavarian State Opera conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch (EMI Classics, 1993)

Stay tuned for one more podcast introducing another kind of opera next week!

AIDAN LANG INTRODUCES THE MAGIC FLUTE

Listen to or read this downloadable podcast by General Director Aidan Lang. Mozart's beloved Magic Flute returns to Seattle this May (nine performances through May 21). Aidan explains the powerful appeal of this great masterpiece and the difference between good and great productions of The Magic Flute.

Hi, everyone! It’s Aidan Lang here, and I’m going to speak to you about Mozart’s Magic Flute, Die Zauberflöte.

Magic Flute is always in those lists of “the most popular operas,” which are really lists of the operas most performed. Why is that? I think it’s ‘cause it’s got something for everyone. Part of its appeal is it’s a very large cast, which keeps its interest going; it’s going a strong, if somewhat diverse storyline; I mean, it’s a hard storyline to encapsulate! But you are engaged, always, in terms of what’s going to happen next, and that’s a great appeal for people. The variety of its music is also so important. It traverses a number of different styles, from the simple, almost folk-like tunes given to Papageno, which is very much symptomatic of the sort of music which was performed in a Singspiel; and then music of huge sophistication, in the arias, say, of Tamino and Pamina; the vocal fireworks of both of the Queen of the Nights arias; and the beautiful, somber gravitas of the music for the priests and Sarastro. So there’s massive variety in this work, of style, of tone, which is not just to do with the storyline, it’s baked into this particular form called Singspiel. At the end of the day I think its popularity is based on the fact that it’s got so much going for it. It’s got famous musical highlights, and a number of highlights (it’s not just a one-hit wonder at all). As you sit through it you’ll go, “Oh, my goodness me!” and “Oh, it’s that one,” and “Oh, that;” they keep coming. And I think that’s part of its appeal. It has everything right. It’s got extraordinary music, familiarity of many of the numbers, and also an opera which demands spectacle and it demands visual élan. It’s got it all.

MOZART

What I love about Mozart’s work is, at the end of it all there is forgiveness and humanity and an understanding, not only of human nature, but of human foible.

THE MAGIC FLUTE and Early Romanticism

Mozart’s Magic Flute may be a “timeless masterpiece,” an “immortal classic” full of music that will last forever. It’s also very specifically a child of 1791. Everything about this opera—its plot, characters, world, range of musical styles, and themes—makes much more sense when considered in its historical context. Musically, The Magic Flute is hugely significant as the first great Zauberoper, the German tradition of popular musical theater on fantasy subjects that eventually gives us such operas as Wagner’s Ring. In terms of the visual arts, it sits on the fulcrum between eighteenth-century neo-classicism and nineteenth-century Romanticism. Images from productions of this opera in its first few decades illustrate how Romantic art emerged from neo-classicism.

The First Production
Mozart’s pal Emanuel Schikaneder, who wrote Flute’s libretto and created the role of Papageno,

OPERA Timeless & Timely

This blog post is based on a lecture Jonathan Dean gave as part of Seattle Opera’s adult education series at Seattle University on October 18, 2016. Next up in the series: on Tuesday, November 8 at 7:00 PM, Aidan Lang hosts a panel discussion with the cast and creative team of As One: composer Laura Kaminsky, co-librettist Mark Campbell, co-librettist Kimberly Reed via Skype, director L. Zane Jones, and conductor John Keene. Mezzo-soprano Taylor Raven and baritone Jorell Williams will also join in the conversation and perform excerpts from As One.

Our opera industry today is built upon a handful of paradoxes. Opera has always been a tug-of-war between sound and sense, between music and word; today, the auditory and visual sides of the opera experience are sometimes struggling partners. (Should we cast for voice or look?)

Opera’s Greatest Witches

Witches—be they sopranos, mezzos, contraltos, or (coming up in this fall’s Hansel & Gretel at Seattle Opera) tenors—bring intense drama and spectacular music to any number of great operas. Enjoy these memories of great witchy performances at Seattle Opera! If you’d like to listen to them all in one go, open our Witch Album over at SoundCloud and simply press play.

MACBETH: A Stage Full of Witches
Something wicked this way comes! When he set about transforming Shakespeare’s Macbeth into an Italian opera, Giuseppe Verdi multiplied Shakespeare’s three witches into a whole bevy of them, and then wrote them some spectacularly creepy music. The scene in the witches’ cavern becomes a huge production number as the witches brew their hell-broth and await the evil king. Seattle Opera’s 2006 production of Macbeth was conducted by Nicola Luisotti.

LOHENGRIN: Ortrud Invokes the Ancient Gods
In Wagner’s Lohengrin, wicked witch Ortrud transforms the young Christian prince Gottfried von Brabant into a swan with all the powers of hell.

Top 4 most memorable costumes

Opera transports the audience to worlds far away from the everyday, and costumes play a big role in creating that on-stage magic. Here are just a few of our favorite outfits from recent productions:

#1: Tosca’s performance gown from Tosca

© Elise Bakketun

Mozart, Master of the Ensemble

Of course they had ensembles in opera before Mozart. (Remember Semele’s amazing duet for Semele and Ino?) But more than perhaps any other composer before or since, Mozart reveled in the glory of the operatic ensemble, its potential to explore multiple human characters simultaneously and to bring to the foreground the beauty and conflicts of any relationship (or network of relationships).

No other art form has anything quite like the ensemble. By nature it’s a little bit surreal, which may explain why it arose in comic opera, where playing around with the laws of reality adds extra fun. Mozart’s operas taught later composers how to create both kinds of ensembles: those of mounting confusion and hilarity, which always form the climax of great comic scenes, and those exploring complicated characters in serious conflict, which became one of the delights of nineteenth century opera.

Given the extraordinary fertility of Mozart’s genius, it’s no surprise that he never repeated himself, neither in terms of music nor in dramatic situation. We raided our archives for the four great Mozart masterpieces we regularly present at Seattle Opera and found a remarkable range of different types of ensembles. Below are some samples from our favorite Mozart ensembles, demonstrating what he was able to do with each type of form.

DIY Halloween — Opera Style!

Ieva Ohaks is Seattle Opera’s Costume Stock and Rental Coordinator, managing approximately 15 tons of costume stock and providing costume rental services to professional opera and theater companies. She has worked for Seattle Opera since 1996, starting out as a costume crafts artisan and costume shop assistant, and working in her current position since 1999. Although she works with amazing costumes all day, it’s still not enough! As you can imagine, Ieva is pretty excited for Halloween. Over the next week, she'll share some ideas for costumes inspired by iconic opera characters. These costumes will be easily recognized by opera fans, (but everyone will be able to appreciate them!). Cook up these do-it-yourself looks with thrift-store finds or items from your home. They can be created without sewing skills.

Opera Inspiration: Papageno and Papagena from The Magic Flute: 

Photo by Rozarii lynch

Beaky hat:

• Baseball hat 
• Color posterboard or cardstock (try yellow or orange) 
• Cut in a big triangle with one curved side to attach to the hat's visor 
• Attach with hot glue, heavy-duty staples, or punch holes in both and attach with yarn or metal brad fasteners 

Base layer:

• Close fitting long-sleeve crew neck or turtleneck in a fun color 
• Matching leggings, close-fitting sweatpants, or tights 

Feathery jerkin/vest:

• Start with an oversize thrifted knit sweatshirt in a different bright color
• Cut an opening down the center front if it's a pullover
• Cut the sleeves off shortish, then cut into the sleeve in irregular feathery shapes
• Make similar cuts around the hem and around the neckline

Pantaloons:

• Start with oversize sweatpants, cut off a little longer than your desired finished length, then cut irregular feathery shapes
• Use the cut-off cuffs of both sweatshirt and sweatpants to make feathery bands at wrist and ankle: Keep the elastic or ribbing intact; cut the material above the ribbing into the same kind of feathery shapes

Feathers: extra plumes or pieces of feather boa (available at craft stores or costume stores) for tail, as a crest on the hat, around the waist or neck, wherever you need an extra bit of color

Papageno's Iconic Props: a set of reed pipes, which Papageno uses to lure the birds he catches; a bird cage to keep his captives

Papagena: Use any of the above ideas! Also consider a skirt, cut off in the same way as the pantaloons or vest, or even several skirts cut in different-length layers

Drawings by Ieva Ohaks  

Alan Alabastro photo

Staff Chat with Stage Manager YASMINE KISS

With a gift for diplomacy and nerves of steel, Seattle Opera’s Production Stage Manager Yasmine Kiss oversees every detail of our performances— orchestrating lighting, scene changes, and singers’ rehearsals and stage entrances. Her job, which ranges from navigating personnel issues to averting disaster, is not for the faint of heart.

What does your job involve?
Stage management is such a weird job because it encom­passes so many things. First of all, I’m the manager of the production. I am the final word onstage if something goes wrong, and I generally make the bulk of the decisions. When people are indisposed or they’re late or anything like that, I take care of it. The second part of the job is navigating the personalities and doing whatever we can to make the art happen as smoothly as possible. Our duties include everything from the mundane task of emptying out the garbage can, to scheduling, and keeping all the union rules in check. I make sure that the director doesn’t make a choice that’s going to impact a union contract. We also communicate the director’s ideas to the various departments. And finally, I call the show.

What goes into calling a show?
Before the dress rehearsals the artistic team (the lighting designer, set designer, and director) plans out exactly what the production is going to look like: they build all the light cues and projection cues, and they coordinate scenic shifts. They’ll say, “I want light cue 7 to happen here, I want the curtain to come in here, I want the curtain to move at this speed.” Then I take all of that information and write it into my score with little stickers. It’s sort of like a secret code, but it has to be clean and concise and easily legible so that if I fell down backstage, another stage manager could step in and do it.

And when the music starts?
I literally read the book. I follow along with the music, and when a little pink sticker comes up that says “stand by light cue 7,” I say, “stand by light cue 7.” With my microphone I can speak to the house, onstage, or backstage; with my headset, I speak to the light board operator, the assistant stage managers, and master carpenter; and with my radio, I speak to the bulk of the crew. I watch a smaller monitor that has an infrared stage picture so that I can watch the curtain in blackouts, and then I watch the maestro, because so many of my cues occur on the downbeat, and 0.5 seconts really makes a difference.

You’re the air traffic controller.
Yes, that’s it exactly.

Do you communicate with the singers on a performance night?
The singers can do five Hoffmanns in a year, for example, and every single production is different. So in opera no singer walks onstage unless an assistant stage manager says, “OK, you’ve got your hat, you’ve got your ring, stand by, go.”

Are some shows more difficult to call than others? And where does The Magic Flute fall on the spectrum?
The Magic Flute is going to be an incredibly difficult call because it has 20 scenes, and there are scene shifts between each one. The last five minutes of Götterdämmerung are always the most difficult, because they are incred­ibly dangerous. There is a giant open pit onstage, then a giant elevator comes up with 13 people on it, and a heartbeat after that elevator is under the stage, a giant set piece rolls over it. If anything in that timing goes wrong, you can really hurt someone. I worry about killing people every day.

How do you remain calm?
When very stressful situations happen—I am very lucky I’m born with this—I go to a quiet place. There are many people who go to a screaming place. We all know screaming stage managers. I go quiet; let’s all focus in; let’s figure this out. My product is not onstage for everyone to critique, so it’s easy for me to put aside my own personal ego and do what is best for the production.

I’d love to call you the next time I have a flood in my basement.
But with the flood in my basement I’d totally panic. My boyfriend and I were redoing tiles in our basement bathroom and they weren’t laid down properly, and I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown.

Does the highly organized aspect of your job carry over into your life?
Yes, it does. I always know where my scissors are.

-Jessica Murphy
Photo by Alan Alabastro
This Staff Chat first appeared in Seattle Opera’s program for The Magic Flute in May 2011.

Seattle Opera's 2010/2011 Artists of the Year

Last week at Seattle Opera’s Annual Meeting, Speight Jenkins announced the winners of the company's 2010/2011 Artists of the Year awards: soprano Aleksandra Kurzak and costume designer Zandra Rhodes. Both of these artists made their Seattle Opera debuts last season, and both made memorable impacts on their respective productions.

As Lucia in the October 2010 production of Lucia di Lammermoor (see left; photo by Rozarii Lynch), Polish soprano Kurzak blew audiences away and earned rave reviews from critics, who called her “a determined young woman of considerable talent,” and said she “set the theater alight both vocally and dramatically.”

Said Jenkins: "Aleksandra Kurzak gave us one of the great Lucias of my life, vocally and dramatically. She suggested Lucia's condition and both acted and sang her madness with unforgettable panache."


If you missed Kurzak as Lucia, check out the trailer for last season’s production to get a glimpse of her in action:




Our other Artist of the Year recipient, Zandra Rhodes (pictured here at Neiman Marcus in Bellevue; photo by Alan Alabastro), made her company debut as costume designer for the season-closing production of The Magic Flute in May.

Rhodes is a noted fashion designer whose creations have been flaunted by royalty, Hollywood celebrities, and Vogue, and who only recently began designing for the stage. Her incomparable style, which makes use of vivid colors and textures, has been stunningly upheld in her transition from couture to costumes.

"[She] opened her imagination to create the most extraordinarily fanciful costumes for The Magic Flute," said Jenkins. "Their greatest virtue was that no matter how exotic or colorful, they never overwhelmed the musical and dramatic realization of the different characters."

Just a few of Zandra Rhodes' costumes for The Magic Flute. (Pictured center: John Tessier as Tamino.) For more photos, visit the production and costume photo albums on our Facebook page.
Photo by Rozarii Lynch

About the Artists of the Year Awards:

In 1991, Seattle Opera's Artist of the Year award was created to honor the individual singer, conductor, director, or designer who had made the most significant contribution to the success of the season. At the conclusion of the 2003/04 season, Seattle Opera began honoring two Artists of the Year for each season: one a conductor, director, or designer; the other a singer. Participating in the selection process of Seattle Opera's Artists of the Year are members of Seattle Opera‟s Board of Trustees, Diamond Level and Platinum Circle donors, and staff, as well as selected members of the local press. This is the company‟s twenty-first annual selection of Artist of the Year.

Vote for Your Favorite Opera of 2010/11

It's been quite a year for us here at Seattle Opera! We heard operas in German, Italian, and French, and from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Now that 2010/2011 is in the books, it's time to poll you, our wonderful audience, on your favorite production of the season.

Are you a Wagner fan who will choose Tristan und Isolde, or did you prefer the elegance of Lucia di Lammermoor? Was it the comedy of The Barber of Seville or the magical world of The Magic Flute that won you over? Or perhaps it was Seattle Opera's first-ever Don Quixote that thrilled you most. Whichever your choice, we want to know--so cast your vote today!

MAGIC FLUTE Camp at Seattle Public Theater

For the nine 4th-9th graders who participated in Seattle Opera’s Magic Flute Camp at the Seattle Public Theater in April, spring break was spent thoroughly exploring the fantastical land of Mozart’s final opera to premiere. Through acting, singing, and writing, the students put on a showcase of the opera in just five days. Here are some of the highlights:

On day one, a few of the participants knew the story of the opera, and as Dramatic Director Kelly Kitchens began the warm-up exercises, there were a few whispers of “Pa-pa-pa” and “that’s what Papageno sings!”

During the first morning, the performers created a series of tableaus documenting various emotions and characters including “Birdcatcher” and “Queen.” As the students formed a pose, Music Director Barbara Lynne Jamison asked each student to come up with a sound that embodied his or her emotional state in that pose. As she walked around the group, students started their sounds when she tapped them on the shoulder. Though the participants had never sung opera before, within minutes, we had our first chorus.

Makara plays Tamino while the chorus of spirits looks on.
Photo by Laura Marris

By day two, the performers had learned some of the major arias, but the next challenge was to find ways to connect the arias into a cohesive story that would be suitable for the showcase. With that in mind, we led a workshop in writing transitions for the Three Spirits. The resulting lines were fantastic—full of detail and mysterious wisdom. Here’s an example by Ingmar and Nate (both 11 years old):

“Love has triumphed through the trials of fire and water with the help of the magic flute. But everyone’s love must be found for the magical story we tell to astound.”

As the week progressed, Kelly began to stage larger chunks of the now-completed script. For the aria “Dies Bildnis,” the students formed a human picture frame around Pamina (played by Linda, age 10). For Papageno’s aria "Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja," Sequin (age 12) lead the performers in darting around the stage and sweeping birds into a net.

Kelly and Barbara also focused on making the music a character in itself. To that end, the students listened to the march of the priests and helped imagine the choreography in response to the melody and mood of the piece.

Linda, Adrian, Melvina, and Sequin strike a pose.
Photo by Laura Marris

The final performance on Friday afternoon was fantastic. The joy the participants felt at succeeding in a genre they had never tried before was palpable. From start to finish, the camp transformed students who were shy about singing and acting into talented performers who were able to seamlessly blend a variety of skills. Congratulations to everyone who participated!

If you missed this camp, check out this recent blog post for information about Seattle Opera’s Pirates of Penzance Camp at the Seattle Public Theater this summer and about Song Pirates, Ahoy!, a pirate-themed 826 Seattle workshop in July.

--Laura Marris
Education Intern

Benjamin Richardson's Final Report, #5

It's me again, Benjamin Richardson, Second Spirit. Looking back on this whole Magic Flute experience is incredible. I was onstage singing with well-known singers while on a scooter and 10 feet high on a catwalk! That has got to be one of the most unique experiences ever. I had the time of my life playing the Second Spirit. This was (98% sure) the last time I will ever be a Spirit in this opera, and I will never forget it. The cast was such great fun to work with, and everyone was so nice and helpful. I loved coming back to the Greenroom after singing in front of hundreds of people, on a catwalk, and wearing a red wig, to find people waiting to play poker or another game. It was very serious onstage, but surprisingly casual when we weren’t singing.

The last performance went very well, and nothing seemed to go wrong except for one minor accident. I previously had made a mental note to lean forward more when I get up from lying down on the catwalk so that the lights would shine on me. I forgot one small thing, though. When I crawled back up from my laying position, leaning a little more forward than usual, my whole head banged on the railing above me. The red wig shielded my head, but it still made a huge gong-like noise onstage. Casi Goodman, the Third Spirit, could hardly keep herself from laughing. The rest of the performance was superb, and I think that everyone must have loved the Queen of the Night a lot that night, for when she came out to bow she received the biggest roar of applause of any character on any night!

Alissa Henderson, Benjamin Richardson, and Casi Goodman as the Three Spirits in The Magic Flute.
Photo by Rozarii Lynch

It really was the most fun series of performances I have ever done. I had such a great time working with the other Spirits, Alissa Henderson and Casi Goodman, and I hope someday we will end up doing another opera together. Our Director, Chris Alexander, was a wonderful person to work with. He completely made what this opera what it was, and without him it couldn’t have been so successful. Rehearsals with him were always productive and creative, and I appreciated every one of his ideas on how to make the opera better.

Backstage at The Magic Flute: Papageno cowers, near the front of the stage, while Anubis with red brooms sweep away the Three Ladies from the "blacklight" zone upstage (Photo by Alan Alabastro)

I want to congratulate the entire cast for putting on magnificent performances and for making this one of the most amazing experiences of my life! You shall always remain in my memory, and I hope to continue singing with you.

MEET OUR SINGERS: Keith Miller, Sarastro

Singing Sarastro at tonight's performance is American bass-baritone Keith Miller, native of Colorado, former professional football player, Director of Opera and Opera Young Artists Program for the Crested Butte Music Festival, and all-around great guy. The city of Seattle has taken warmly to Miller while he was here making his Seattle Opera debut; last week, the Seattle Times Sports Page ran a story on him, and posted a Video Interview as well; and he also appeared on New Day Northwest, where he sang "O Isis und Osiris" for the studio audience. Yesterday, Miller sang the anthem for the Mariners, and today (before tonight's performance) he answers our questions about his career, the role of Sarastro, and singing those low, low notes.

What’s your favorite moment in Magic Flute--either to perform yourself, or just to watch?
I love the quintet and the entrance of the queen. When they speak of the Three Spirits and that beautiful simple music plucks away underneath the singing, it is magical. Also, I can't imagine what the first performance of Flute must have been like watching the faces of the audience and children as the Queen's first entrance music pulses away and the
vocal fireworks begin on "Du Du Du!" Mozart was a genius!! No argument from anyone on that, and I am so grateful to be a part of the retelling of this masterpiece!

With The Magic Flute, do you have to be careful about warming up, so your voice doesn’t get so high that you can’t sing Sarastro’s arias?
Yes, you do have to be careful as not to warm up so much for Sarastro. It is a very low role and what makes it especially difficult is that I'm singing Escamillo in Glimmerglass right afterwards. This makes the voice bounce up and down like a yo-yo!

Pamina (Hanan Alattar) is not necessarily convinced by Sarastro's (Keith Miller) lofty ideals of nobility and brotherhood; Rozarii Lynch, photo

Do you consider Sarastro “good”? With Tamino not joining Sarastro’s brotherhood in this production, does that change how you perceive Sarastro as a person, and how you play his character on stage?
Great question. I feel like Sarastro is is very much like a parent, with parental powers included. By this, I mean his powers are influence and education along with point of view and perspective. By showing Tamino these things, he is guiding him, educating him, and the fact that Tamino doesn't side with him in the end means that he has done his job well.

I actually consider this to be the final passing of the tests. My own little interpretation! Tamino comes away with the power of choice. Just like a parent, the time to educate and raise our children comes and goes, and when they leave, you hope that they have gathered the lessons taught and begin a new and more prosperous life. In this production, this is how I see this relationship. This is how I know that Sarastro has done his job, and in the end, I think that he can feel proud that he has chosen wisely in Tamino.

Sarastro (Miller) chastises his misbehaving slave, Monostatos (Doug Jones) (Rozarii Lynch, photo)

Why did you decide to make the switch from a career in football to a career in opera?
Basically, I just followed my heart. The stars aligned and I found myself in the unique position of being able to play for probably two more seasons and beginning this journey into music. At that point, I realized that I couldn't imagine what my life would be like looking back at that moment, many, many years from now and saying to myself, "What would have happened if I had seized that opportunity to sing?" I have never lived with regret. But I realized then that if I didn't grab this golden opportunity, it was never going to come again. This is something that I would have regretted, and would have been willing to trade all those days that passed for the chance to come back to that decision and choose music. I would have traded my soul away.

Miller as Sarastro (Rozarii Lynch, photo)

You’re training young singers and introducing kids to opera through the Crested Butte Music Festival. How did you get involved, and how do you balance these responsibilities with your performing career?
Balance is a careful combination of doing what you need to do. Each task, whether it be my preparation as a singer, teaching, hearing auditions, auditioning myself, or anything else, is like a spoke of a wheel. Each spoke must be strong within itself, support equal weight and yet be distanced from the rest in order for the wheel to be aligned. I cannot allow myself to neglect what I need to do as a performer, for half of what my value is to young singers is that I am going through the process myself and they can learn from my experiences and follow my career in the making. I cannot concentrate completely on my music, because that would not allow me to administrate to my full effectiveness. The axle of this wheel for me is patience and foresight. Through these two things, all the spokes of my performing career and administrative duties are attached and supported. These two things sustain my career, the education I am providing for the Young Artists, how to balance the needs of my staff, and allow for the natural progression of time. The good thing is as this wheel turns, I am able to learn new things about myself, the business and most importantly music. The only way to balance a wheel is to let it spin. It's like a planet. If it continues to do its job, it aligns itself and everything falls into place.

VIDEO: The Behind-the-Scenes Magic of Quick Change

For every person you see on the opera stage, there are, on average, three more people working behind the scenes to bring you a fantastic opera-going experience. Here's a glimpse of some of that unseen work. To learn more, visit www.seattleopera.org/support




Videography by Alan Alabastro, Jeffery Santos, and Matt Holmes.

MEET OUR SINGERS: Eric Neuville and Erik Anstine, First and Second Priests

Our current production of The Magic Flute wraps up this Saturday, and our blog series of Q&As with artists still hasn't made it through everyone in this very large cast. But today we bring you two more players in Flute, both of whom also were Seattle Opera Young Artists this season: tenor Eric Neuville (First Priest) and bass Erik Anstine (Second Priest). Check out what they had to say about their roles below, and take note that if you haven't yet seen Flute, there are only three performances remaining.

To the right, a costume sketch for Sarastro and his priests, by costume designer Zandra Rhodes.

In your brief duet, “Bewahret euch vor Weibertücken,” the two of you warn Tamino and Papageno to watch out for women. Have these priests been badly hurt…or are they just jerks?

ERIK: I think that’s an unfair question. The priests’ attitudes toward women come from the philosophy of the temple. In the finale of Act One, Sarastro gestures while lecturing about how women, without the guidance of men, will tend to step out of place. The women of the chorus fall to their knees in deference at this comment. The two priests are starting to indoctrinate Tamino and Papageno in the temple’s attitudes toward women.
ERIC: I think the priests take pleasure in scaring Tamino and Papageno, but keep in mind, these two priests were the first to speak up against allowing Tamino to take the tests in the first place. So perhaps they knew they would have to be babysitters and are just annoyed with the whole situation.

Erik Anstine (Second Priest) and Philip Cutlip (Papageno) in The Magic Flute.
Photo by Rozarii Lynch

In Act 2, as Tamino and Papageno undergo the brotherhood’s testing, you each take one under your wing. How does that play out?

ERIC: I'm very fortunate to be the Priest responsible for Tamino on his journey, as Mr. Anstine gets stuck with the "flighty" one. Talk about a pain in the tail-feathers!
ERIK: The Second Priest is disappointed at having to deal with Papageno, yes. While Tamino answers all questions correctly, stays silent, and undergoes the trials, Papageno only wants a glass of wine, or spends his time talking and making life difficult for the Second Priest.

Eric, you and Erik Anstine both performed in the Young Artists Program production of Don Giovanni earlier this spring. How do these two Mozart operas compare to each other?

The first thing that comes to mind is the nature of the stories. Don Giovanni feels very real; one can easily sympathize with a character like Donna Elvira or Leporello. The Magic Flute is a fairy tale. I mean, when is the last time you were forced to do secret priest tests in order to impress daddy enough to get a first date with a girl who's picture you fell in love with after being rescued from a dragon?

Marcy Stonikas (Donna Elvira) and Eric Neuville (Don Ottavio)--both Seattle Opera Young Artists--in this spring's YAP production of Don Giovanni. In The Magic Flute, Stonikas makes her mainstage debut in The Magic Flute, as one of the Three Ladies.
Photo by Rozarii Lynch

Erik, congratulations on your mainstage debut with this production. Does it feel like an arrival for you?

Thanks! After two years in the Young Artist Program and watching singers perform on the mainstage, I’m really happy to get up there myself. Singing at McCaw and being in a mainstage production has felt like a natural progression from being in the amazing program here. Of course I had some nerves on opening night, but I have felt incredibly prepared throughout the process, thanks in no small part to the terrific training I received here. As opposed to being coddled or treated like students, we were treated like real professionals in the program. We were expected to behave and perform at an extremely high level. Being under that kind of pressure really prepared me for being on the mainstage and has meant that I’ve been able to enjoy my debut.

I’m also really glad I’ve been able to share this production with Marcy Stonikas and Eric, my fellow two-year YAP veterans.