THE MAGIC FLUTE
By Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
The Merry Opera Company
Director: Kit Hesketh-Harvey
As part of the Lamberhurst Music Festival (in aid of St. Mary’s Church, Lamberhurst, Kent), The Magic Flute was performed in the open air among the ruins of Bayham Abbey on the evening of August 3.
The setting was evocative, with the stage set in front of three ruined arches towering overhead through which the clear blue sky shone, gradually deepening in colour (after the interval) as dusk was followed by night. To see this pagan story, with its Masonic, occult and Enlightenment overtones, enacted against a backdrop reminiscent of a Christian (architectural) heritage was striking.
The unusual production (in English, part-pantomime and part-opera, with the last stages of Mozart’s life woven into the action) was interesting, with the musical standard (of singers and musicians) appearing high to this musically unqualified reviewer! Mozart’s sublime music heard in such beautiful surroundings was an experience not to be missed.
Many will be aware that Mozart conducted the first performance of The Magic Flute after becoming ill. He died just over two months later (aged only 35). In light of this, one line tragically resonated: ‘His [the artist’s] immortality is his hope, his certainty’. Mozart’s genius certainly ensured immortality for his name in this world, but eternal life can be ensured through Jesus Christ alone.
Priscilla Seidler
