HCMC – Opera Performance “The Magic Flute”

09 and 10 Jun 2018, 8 pm
HCMC Opera House

From the organizer:

Few people will be disappointed that HBSO are staging Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute” once again. Of the half dozen operas that HBSO have produced, this one has been easily the most popular.

It wasn’t Mozart’s final operatic work, but it was his last important one. “La Clemenza di Tito” was actually his last, but it has never attained great popularity. “The Magic Flute”, by contrast, is one of the world’s most frequently performed operas.

It isn’t hard to see why. It combines popular elements such as a dragon, a wicked witch, a comic bird-catcher, two pairs of lovers, and a magic flute for protection in times of danger, with solemn ritual music overseen by a benevolent ruler called Sarastro.

In the late 18th century, Masonry stood for the principles of the Enlightenment, ideals such as liberty, justice, a measure of equality, and fraternity in general. These were, of course, the original principles of the French Revolution, and indeed Masonry was viewed with a certain amount of suspicion by the authorities around Europe.

The Magic Flute (die zauberflote in its original German) was premiered in 1791, whereas the revolution in Paris had broken out two years earlier, in 1789.

Mozart was in hard times financially, and he must have welcomed the idea of collaborating with his friend and fellow-Mason, Emanuel Schikaneder, to produce an opera in German (the language of the ordinary people of Vienna) with popular elements but also serious Masonic themes. Schikaneder owned a theatre in down-town Vienna, and this was where the opera was first produced.

The HBSO production has played to full houses for several years. It is directed by the German director David Hermann, with costumes designed by the Saigon fashion designer Quynh Paris.

The conductor will be Tran Nhat Minh, and the entire cast, with only one exception, will be Vietnamese. The exception is Derek Anthony who will be returning to Saigon from Hong Kong to repeat his performance in the role of Sarastro. He has learnt his spoken lines in Vietnamese especially for this production.

Pham Khanh Ngoc will repeat her portrayal of the wicked (but slightly lovable) Queen of the Night, and Dao Mac will repeat his portrayal of the bird-catcher Papageno.

For reference: Pham Khanh Ngoc sings the classic aria “Der Hölle Rache” as the Queen of the Night:

The two lovers will again be Pham Trang as Tamino, and Pham Duyen Huyen and Vo Thuy Ngoc Tuyen as his beloved, Pamina. Võ Thụy Ngoc Tuyen will sing the part in the second performance.

The Magic Flute plays at the Saigon Opera House on June 9 and 10, starting at 8pm. The production is being staged with the assistance of the Goethe Institute, Germany’s cultural arm, and the sung passages will be performed in the original German. Spoken passages, by contrast, will be given in Vietnamese.

This spectacular production will not please children under 10. With the staged intervention of dancers to represent water, fire and the dragon, brilliant lighting, and Quynh Paris’s wonderful costumes, not to mention Mozart’s incomparable music, it will please both the ear, the eyes and, most of all perhaps, the imagination.

If Cinderella and Nutcracker are the jewels in the ballet department’s crown, “The Magic Flute” is the jewel in that of HBSO’s opera department.

Program

In cooperation with Goethe Institute

Music: WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Libretto: EMANUEL SCHIKANEDER
Conductor: TRẦN NHẬT MINH
Director: DAVID HERMANN

Pamina: Phạm Duyên Huyền, Võ Thụy Ngọc Tuyền*
Tamino: Phạm Trang
Königin der Nacht: Phạm Khánh Ngọc
Sarastro: Derek Anthony
Papageno: Đào Mác
Papagena: Nguyễn Thu Hường, Mer. A. Trần Hồng Vy*
Monostatos: Trần Thanh Nam
Zwei Priesters: Phan Hữu Trung Kiệt, Võ Nguyễn Thành Tâm
Drei Damen: Nguyễn Thị Thanh Nga, Lý Hoàng Kim, Phan Hồng Dịu
Drei Knaben: Nguyễn Thị Thanh Nguyên, Nguyễn Thị Duyên Quỳnh, Lâm Minh Ngọc

(* Second performance)

Choreography: Nguyễn Phúc Hải, Nguyễn Phúc Hùng
Vocal Master: Askan Geisler
Language Coaching: Laura Lehnert Nguyen, Thanh – Nha Claudia
Choirmaster: Trần Nhật Minh

Performing: HBSO Opera, Ballet & Symphony Orchestra

Tickets

Admissions: 900,000 – 750,000 – 650,000 – 550,000 – 350,000 – 150,000 VNĐ (for students, limited offer)
Booking and delivery: 028 38237419, Ms. Ngoc: 0903604539
At HCMC Opera House, 7 Lam Son Square
Online Booking: www.ticketbox.vn