The Metropolitan Opera HD Live (Great Performances at the Met) (2006)

The Met Opera HD Live: The Magic Flute

“ In 2006, Julie Taymor directed this heavily truncated version of Mozart’s famous opera, and the taming of the material leaves the production slightly listless. Not only was a large chunk of material edited out, but also much of it was changed to be more “family friendly.” The Magic Flute feels more akin to a mammoth Disney super-production than the original, more aggressively strange work.   If nothing else, The Magic Flute is another visually audacious and beautiful production from Taymor. All of her hallmarks are here: puppetry, masks, ornate costuming, purposefully anachronistic sets, and rear-projection. The cumulative effect is a full-scale assault on the senses, and Taymor’s gifts for visualizing and imagining are best in a theatrical context. If any material can survive” read more