Dates

1-28 Dec 2023

Location

Dutch National Opera & Ballet, Main Stage

Running time

3:15, incl. 1 interval

Tickets

From € 30

Die Zauberflöte

The magical power of opera

Simon McBurney’s production of Die Zauberflöte has won praise around the world as one of the most innovative and relevant interpretations of this popular Mozart opera. Now his production returns to the theatre where it was created.

Photo: Marta Syrko

The magical power of opera

Armed with a magic flute, a prince is sent out by the Queen of the Night to rescue her daughter from the clutches of cruel Sarastro. But during his mission, the prince discovers the world is not exactly as he was led to believe. What started as a rescue mission turns into a musical purification ritual for young people who are preparing to take over control from the old guard. Die Zauberflöte is an opera with many different layers. It is both comic and profound, humanistic and magical, complex and accessible.

Paper sheets transform into birds before your very eyes, a set of empty glasses becomes a glockenspiel, and a mobile platform functions first as a mountain, then a prison and then suddenly becomes a meeting table. Using such basic elements to trigger the audience’s imagination, McBurney demonstrates the magical power of theatre. The versatile conductor Riccardo Minasi is in charge of the musical direction. With DNO, he previously conducted Handel’s Rodelinda and Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro to great acclaim.

 

The cast

The Dutch baritone Thomas Oliemans will return as the comic and disarming Papageno, one of his signature roles. He will share the stage with soprano Ying Fang (Pamina), who has become a favourite with DNO audiences after her roles in Le nozze di Figaro and Der Freischütz. Young up-and-coming tenor Mingjie Lei takes on the challenging role of Prince Tamino, while celebrated bass Christof Fischesser performs the role of the high priest Sarastro.

Performance information

Singspiel in two acts

Libretto  Emanuel Schikaneder

Musical direction  Riccardo Minasi
Stage direction  Simon McBurney
Set design  Michael Levine
Costume design  Nicky Gillibrand
Lighting design  Jean Kalman
Video design  Finn Ross
Sound design  Gareth Fry
Dramaturgy  Simon McBurney, Klaus Bertisch

Sarastro  Christof Fischesser
Tamino  Mingjie Lei
Der Sprecher  Frederik Bergman
Königin der Nacht  Rainelle Krause
Pamina  Ying Fang
Papageno  Thomas Oliemans
Monostatos  Lucas van Lierop

Chorus of Dutch National Opera
Chorus Master
  Edward Ananian-Cooper

Dutch Chamber Orchestra

Boys’ choir of the Chorakademie Dortmund

Coproduction with English National Opera (London) and  Festival d’Aix-en-Provence

Die Zauberflöte | Photo: Hans van den Bogaard
Die Zauberflöte (2015) | Photo: Hans van den Bogaard
Die Zauberflöte | Foto: Hans van den Bogaard
Die Zauberflöte (2015) | Photo: Hans van den Bogaard
Die Zauberflöte | Foto: Hans van den Bogaard
Die Zauberflöte (2015) | Photo: Hans van den Bogaard
Die Zauberflöte | Foto: Hans van den Bogaard
Die Zauberflöte (2015) | Photo: Hans van den Bogaard
Die Zauberflöte | Foto: Hans van den Bogaard
Die Zauberflöte (2015) | Photo: Hans van den Bogaard

The return of Simon McBurney’s beloved production

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Ying Fang
Foto: KK

Soprano Ying Fang returns to Amsterdam to sing Mozart and Handel

Nederlands Kamerorkest

Netherlands Chamber Orchestra

The Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and Netherlands Chamber Orchestra have been the main orchestral partners of Dutch National Opera for over thirty years. They are regarded as among the best opera orchestras in the world. The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam is the main regular stage for their concerts.

Photo: Melle Meivogel

Netherlands Chamber Orchestra

In addition to the programmes with chief conductor Lorenzo Viotti and Gordan Nicolić (musical leader of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra), the orchestras collaborate with both internationally acclaimed guest conductors and soloists and top-class musicians from the up-and-coming generation. The orchestras perform at numerous venues, bringing people together through their music and giving both classical music aficionados and new audiences the perfect musical experience. With their welcoming home base in the NedPhO Dome in Amsterdam’s Indische Buurt neighbourhood, the two orchestras are at  the heart of the community and aim to make classical music accessible to everyone who shows an interest.

In the 2023/2024 season, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra will be playing the operas Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, Lohengrin, Il trittico and Oedipus Rex / Antigone.The Netherlands Chamber Orchestra can be heard in Die Zauberflöte and Roberto Devereux

6 March

‘With McBurney, nothing is as you  expect. Amid the darkness in this rich,  inventive production there were  moments of startling humour and  theatrical wizardry’

6 March

Diorama of a horror fairy tale

9 March

The perfect combination of fun and depth is what makes Die Zauberflöte so powerful

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