Colin Ainsworth with Carla Huhtanen, Danielle Macmillan and Laura Pudwell in The Magic Flute | Photo by Bruce Zinger
I don’t love this opera. Within the Classical canon, Mozart in general doesn’t thrill me, though the score is lovely enough and certainly fits the giddy charms of this whole affair. Opera Atelier’s acclaimed period production of The Magic Flute, under Marshall Pynkoski’s consistently lavish direction, is a multi-sensory feast. This production is presented in English with a translation of Emanuel Schikaneder’s libretto by Andrew Porter that is both poetic and suitably light-hearted.
The unabashedly silly story sees our handsome hero, Tamino (tenor Colin Ainsworth) adventuring to rescue a maiden, Pamina (soprano Meghan Lindsay) from “evil sorcerer” Sarastro (bass-baritone Stephen Hegedus). Once in his realm, Tamino and the audience discover that Sarastro and his brotherhood are actually an enlightened bunch and that it is the Queen of the Night (soprano Rainelle Krause), Pamina’s mother who sent Tamino on his quest (with the titular magic flute), is the true villain.
This all plays out in pantomime, making it an ideal opera to introduce young people to. From the meta-theatrical gags to everyone hamming it up, The Magic Flute doesn’t take itself too seriously, though all elements conspire towards assertive beauty. We open quite ridiculously on Tamino being threatened by a gorgeous and goofy dragon (designed by Karen Rodd) lumbering along in pursuit of him. This absurd foe is vanquished by three exceptionally well-dressed and coiffed ladies who then wrangle haughtily for his affections.
All of the costumes (original design by Dora Rust D’Eye, resident designer Michael Gianfrancesco) are sumptuous, the Rococo gowns in particular. They add glamour to the cartoonish antics of the cast and throw the shenanigans into campy relief. I’m especially fond of Tamino’s side-kick Papageno (bass baritone Douglas Williams), a boastful rascal who calls himself a bird-catcher, but seems quite a bird himself. His charisma is as endearing as his protruding plumage. And he’s a great foil for Ainsworth’s more subdued heroic affability.
In fact, all of the characters surrounding Tamino are meant to be more colourful than he, who exists as a low-key, modestly brave everyman. Tenor Blaise Rantoanina as Monastatos, Pamina’s lustful jailor, does some buoyant and rambunctious clowning as he tries to woo the captive object of his affections. This scenario is cheerful and exaggerated enough to prevent us from dwelling too deeply on the very non-consensual dynamic of him prancing lasciviously about the chained-up Pamina.
The Queen of the Night’s big aria, “Der Hölle Rache,” is undeniably impressive and what you are essentially showing up for. It is The Magic Flute’s “Defying Gravity,” you could leave right after it and be content that you’d got your money’s worth! I’ve watched clips on YouTube, but nothing compares to the coloratura glory of an in person experience of it. Krause has a much-earned encore which she delivers with an ever-so cheeky nudge-and-wink as she comes downstage to confide with conductor David Fallis—that’s right, folks, I’m doing this again because it’s awesome and we all know it!
While the aesthetic starts out deliberately flat and a little hokey, highlighting the storybook artifice, the illusion of depth grows increasingly convincing in Gerard Gauci’s set as the story unfolds. The cavernous, Baroque spaces of Sarastro’s realm make one almost dizzy. The Eye of Providence, that iconic eye in the triangle, features heavily—a direct reference to the Illuminati. Mozart himself being a member, Sarastro and his brotherhood are quite unsubtly standing in for Freemasonry.
There are some more sombre bits towards the end of the second act with Pamina getting pretty gloomy when it seems that Tamino, in one of the brotherhood’s trials, refrains from speaking to her. It adds dimension to the story, but seems disconcerting none-the-less. I mean, lighten up, there’s a man dressed in feathers right there!
Not an opera I’m especially fond of, I still very much enjoyed this production of The Magic Flute. Now their 40th season, Opera Atelier continues to delight and inspire me.
The Magic Flute
October 15 to 19, 2025
Elgin Theatre
(189 Yonge St.)
2 hours, 30 minutes (including intermission)
Meghan Lindsay and Douglas Williams in The Magic Flute | Photo by Bruce Zinger