Customer Reviews

Ingmar Bergman's The Magic Flute; The Music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I found this to be a magical rendition of one of my favorite operas. As the previous reviewer noted, Bergman does somewhat deconstruct the opera. However, I did not find this in the least annoying, but rather found it increased my enjoyment. Opera is a highly artificial art form, and showing it in a lighter vein I found useful, for it emphasizes its artificiality. So, I highly recommend this version, especially for those who have enjoyed works of Bergman such as Fanny and Alexander.

I would have given this production 5 stars for the terrific performance but for one very annoying flaw. Just when I was caught up in the magic of this most incredible opera the camera would switch from the stage to the audience and I found myself staring into the face of a girl in the audience. This happened not once but several times during the opera. It was so annoying and distracting that it killed my enthusiasm for this rendition of The Magic Flute! If that were not enough to steal the magic they actually showed the actors OUT OF CHARACTER during the intermission! Watching the three muses SMOKE while Pamina and Tamino played chess completely destroyed it for me!