Glyndebourne - The Magic Flute

Enchantment meets Enlightenment politics in Mozart’s final operatic masterpiece.?

True love conquers all in a colourful?fairytale?that pits the forces of darkness against truth,?goodness and light.?Barbe?et?Doucet?make both their British and Glyndebourne debuts with their beguiling?production of The Magic Flute.

Prince?Tamino?is on a quest: to rescue the beautiful?Pamina, daughter of the Queen of the Night, who has been kidnapped by her father?Sarastro. But is all really as it seems? With the help of bird-catcher?Papageno,?Tamino?must brave not only dragons and the forces of darkness but trials of fire and water if he is to arrive at the truth and gain?Pamina?as his wife.

Composed just months before his death, Mozart’s final stage work is a heady blend of knock-about comedy and contemplative beauty – a musical masterpiece that reimagines opera for the Age?Of Enlightenment. The sweetness and apparent simplicity of this enchanting score conceals a great deal of sophistication, weaving some of the composer’s most beautiful and best-loved melodies together in an elegant allegory whose wicked queens and noble princes are just the beginning of the story.

Prize-winning conductor Leo McFall makes a welcome return to the Glyndebourne Tour with this production, directing an exciting young cast led by British soprano Gemma Summerfield – a finalist in Glyndebourne’ inaugural Opera Cup – as?Pamina. She’s joined by Glyndebourne debut artists Thomas Atkins as?Tamino, Aleksandra?Olczyk?as The Queen of the Night and David Shipley as?Sarastro. Glyndebourne favourite Caroline?Wettergeen?(whose “dazzling” performance at La Fee was a highlight of 2018’s?Cendrillon) will also return to sing the Queen of the Night for just four performances.