The magical search and finding of love

What a touching, humorous and rousing start by the Bad Hall City Theater to its new era as a three-part musical theater! So far, self-produced musicals and operettas have celebrated triumphs here; on Friday, director Thomas Kerbl opened the five-year cycle of Mozart operas with “The Magic Flute”. Together with Robert Holzer (head of singing and music theater at the Bruckner University in Linz), Kerbl introduced the ensemble to the project for months in a specially founded Mozart Academy with more than 100 applicants from friendly music universities from all over the world. After three hours (with a break), the audience stood applauding and cheering.

With The Magic Flute, theater makers can fail in two directions. Upwards, in that the loving fairy tale story strains the mystery cult of the Freemasons or as an Orpheus spin – the flute sounds instead of the lyre. Downwards, as long as the magical playfulness of this material is reduced to a joke.

In Bad Hall there is a good balance of depth of content and light entertainment. Director Kerbl succeeds in threading one of the main pitfalls of the work in a way that is both plausible and relaxed: the assumption that the Queen of the Night (the dazzling Paulina Bednarikova) is initially the good one – and the wisdom temple high priest Sarastro (expressive: Gabriel Fortunas) is the bad one.

“Pamina retrieval campaign”

The production transforms this deceptive initial situation into the reality of the power-obsessed coloratura ruler, complete with three-line f, and the kind, level-headed solar circle guardian. That’s why Sarastro had Pamina (strong: Hanyi Jang) brought to him; he wanted to free the young woman from the influence of the evil queen. Prince Tamino (good tenor, cleverly simple: Conor Prendiville) is sent by the queen along with bird catcher Papageno to free Pamina.

To secure the action, three of the queen’s ladies (impressive trio: Michaella Ciprianni, Yingsi He, Sofie Kenda) provide a magic flute for Tamino and a magical glockenspiel for Papageno (Linus Fischer, a comedic, impressive singer). Three boys (the lively sisters Katharina, Valerie and Victoria Beyerl) show the way to the two perpetrators. In the end, love and wisdom are found, and those who longed for a relationship also get one: Tamino his Pamina – Monostatos (Tim Lehmann with Rasta hairstyle and top hat) can intervene – and Papageno his Papagena (Sophie Leibetseder) .

The works of artist Evelyn Grill define the different spaces of the reduced stage design, from the mysterious to the confident, each in perfect coordination with the imaginative wealth of Susanne Kerbl’s costumes.

Musically, conductor Matthias Achleitner, who is studying in Vienna, does everything right in his first opera project with his specially formed ensemble. He forces the overture without hesitating. He develops clear permeability from the instrument groups, the Steyr choir NowaCanto (director: Michael Nowak) and the ensemble follow him trustingly – and he also plays the glockenspiel himself. An impressive debut from the 20-year-old Upper Austrian. Former state governor Josef Pühringer (ÖVP) after the premiere: “Bad Hall is preparing to become Upper Austria’s music capital.”

Bad Hall continues its cultural autumn with the musical premiere “The Little Shop of Horrors” (October 14th). The second part of the Mozart cycle will be “Così fan tutte” in 2024.

Bad Hall City Theater: “The Magic Flute”, opera by WA Mozart, Director: Th. Kerbl, Premiere: 8. 9. Further dates: September 15th, 16th, 17th Info/tickets: stadttheater-badhall.com