Magic Flute

THE BALTIMORE Opera Company will perform Verdi's "Don Carlo," Donizetti's "The Daughter of the Regiment" and Mozart's "The Magic Flute" next season, it told its subscribers in mailings this week.''Don Carlo,'' with James Morris singing King Philip and Kristjan Johannsson as Don Carlo, is scheduled Oct. 19, 23, 25 and 27. The Daughter of the Regiment,'' in French with Nova Thomas, is March 21, 25, 27 and 29, 1992. ''The Magic Flute,'' with Carroll Freeman and Kay Paschal, is set for April 25,29, May 1 and May 3, 1992.

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's infrequent presentations of opera-in-concert over the past decade have included a repertoire well off the beaten path — Tchaikovsky's "Iolanta" in 2000 and Bartok's "Bluebeard's Castle" in 2005. This weekend, the focus is very familiar, very popular fare: Mozart's "The Magic Flute. " "It is the first opera I ever heard when I was a kid," said BSO music director Marin Alsop. "My dad told me the story and all about the secret codes, how the number 3 is important.

The upcoming Baltimore Opera Company production of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" will be filled with images of birth and of dreams.The theme of the opera is the triumph of light over the powers of darkness, says Bijan Ahsef-Jah, who has staged this production. He adds that he takes that basic theme to mean the opera is about "being born" or about "waking from the dream state.""Mozart was, of course, a Freemason, and the Masons believe that you are not really born until you've seen the light," says the Iranian-born director, who startlingly resembles in looks, voice and manner the wide-eyed, off-the-wall, insouciantly insinuating character Latka Gravas that Andy Kaufman created on TV's "Taxi."

Typically, when the character of Papageno the bird-catcher makes his entrance in Mozart's beloved opera "The Magic Flute," he's carrying a cage and, often, sporting a few feathers himself. When he appears in Opera Vivente's new production of the work, Papageno's most avian feature will be the word on his shirt — "Orioles." And don't be surprised if he's hoisting a Natty Boh. This isn't your father's "Magic Flute," hon. During the company's 12 seasons, John Bowen, founding general director of Opera Vivente, has frequently spiced and updated familiar works, which are always performed in English.

The upcoming Baltimore Opera Company production of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" will be filled with images of birth and of dreams.The theme of the opera is the triumph of light over the powers of darkness, says Bijan Ahsef-Jah, who has staged this production. He adds that he takes that basic theme to mean the opera is about "being born" or about "waking from the dream state.""Mozart was, of course, a Freemason, and the Masons believe that you are not really born until you've seen the light," says the Iranian-born director, who startlingly resembles in looks, voice and manner the wide-eyed, off-the-wall, insouciantly insinuating character Latka Gravas that Andy Kaufman created on TV's "Taxi."

The gods Isis and Osiris must be have been looking down with favor at the Baltimore Opera Company. Those two Egyptian deities are the presiding spirits of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" and they may have transformed on Saturday evening what was -- on the surface of things -- not promising into what was charming.This threatened to be a hodgepodge of a production. The scenery -- full of great stalagmites and stalactites -- was from a production in Portland, Ore. The costumes -- straightforward and elegant Age of Reason powdered wigs and doublets and hose -- were from a Jean Pierre Ponnelle production in Salzburg.

The Baltimore Chamber Orchestra and its music director Anne Harrigan, concluded its 10th anniversary season in superb fashion with a concert last night before a sellout crowd in Goucher College's Kraushaar Auditorium.In the past decade, Ms. Harrigan has refined this group to an extremely high level. Occasionally, the quality of musical expression is so refined that it fails to "read" well in a hall as large as Kraushaar. But an overabundance of subtlety also shows that these musicians have taste -- which can't be taught -- and the caliber of musicianship necessary to take them to even greater triumphs.

The idea of the subtext -- the notion that there is a set of meanings implied rather than explicitly stated in a literary or dramatic work -- represents depths from which the sirens sing to the best-intentioned directors and critics.Count Roger Brunyate, the brilliant director of Peabody's Opera Theatre, as their most recent victim. His production of Mozart's "The Magic Flute," which opened Thursday in Friedberg Hall, is filled with so many brilliant ideas that it sinks beneath the weight of its insights.

The noble youth sees a portrait of the captive princess, falls in love at first sight, and -- armed by her mother, the Queen of the Night, with a magic flute and with the companionship of a good-natured, cowardly lion sort of chap named Papageno -- journeys off to rescue her from an evil sorcerer.In most fairy tales, things would have proceeded predictably. But Mozart's final opera, "The Magic Flute," which will be presented by the Peabody Opera Theatre for four performances beginning Thursday, is not a just-so story.

Mozart will not get a more beautiful tribute this year than the one tonight at 8 on Channels 22 and 67 when PBS broadcasts the current Metropolitan Opera production of the composer's "The Magic Flute" ("Die Zauberflote").The most celebrated thing about this production -- which was taped last winter -- are the sets and designs by the British-born, California-based painter, designer and photographer David Hockney. Anyone who wants to test his television's capacity for color reproduction must tune in. Hockney's brilliant reds, blues and yellows are used to give this production an Egyptian look for its Masonic symbolism.

Candlelight Concerts presents this musical performance by the Peabody Opera Outreach, based on Mozart's "Magic Flute," at 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. today at Howard Community College's Smith Theatre, 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway. Tickets are $10. For more information, call 410-997-2324 or go to candlelightconcerts.org.

In its English offering this week of Mozart's "The Magic Flute," Opera AACC calls upon the talents of Anne Arundel Community College faculty members, Maryland-based singers and 15 students from county elementary, middle and high schools. The shows, including today's at 3 p.m., will be presented at AACC's Pascal Center for the Performing Arts. James Harp, the artistic administrator of the Baltimore Opera, is the stage director of AACC's production, and Anna Binneweg, AACC's music director, is music director and conductor.

What with certain goings-on in certain places -- I don't know, like maybe, um, New York? -- it's an unusually good week to be reminded about the virtues of steadfastness, tolerance and discretion, not to mention nobility, sincerity and purity. They all fuel Mozart's eternally endearing opera, The Magic Flute, currently playing to packed houses at the Peabody Conservatory. Thursday's cast, which performs tonight at a sold-out show, enjoyed a sprightly romp through the tuneful mix of fantasy and fable.

Annapolis Opera celebrated its 35th anniversary last week with a program of arias from many of the productions it has presented over the years. In 1972, Martha Wright, the company's first president, decided with a small group that Annapolis should have its own opera company. She returned for "Bravo 35" on Oct. 27 to accept the good wishes and proclamations of the city of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County. Congratulations, wine-sipping and hors d'oeuvres-sampling preceded the main event at the Unitarian Universalist Church, a concert featuring four fine singers who are audience favorites and rising young stars, all under the direction of Annapolis Opera artistic director Ronald J. Gretz.

The 2007 Towson University Student Media Arts Festival, a showcase for student-created films, begins Monday with screenings of documentaries and experimental films, plus those centering on dance, in the auditorium of Van Bokkelen Hall on the TU campus, 8000 York Road. On Thursday, the emphasis will be on TV shows, news, public service announcements and commercials, plus corporate and music videos. More screenings are set for April 27 and April 30, with a reprise showing of the best works set for May 5. All film programs begin at 7 p.m. Admission is free.

"It sounds so corny," Marina Piccinini says, before explaining how she ended up where she is today. "My father took me to see The Magic Flute." She was all of 7 when she discovered that Mozart opera and the instrument that plays a pivotal role in it. Now recognized as one of the world's most eminent flutists, Piccinini makes her own magic. MARINA PICCININI -- Flutist and friends perform at 8 p.m. tomorrow and Tuesday -- Peabody Institute, 17 E. Mount Vernon Place -- $8-$18 -- 410-659-8100, ext. 2

The gods Isis and Osiris must be have been looking down with favor at the Baltimore Opera Company. Those two Egyptian deities are the presiding spirits of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" and they may have transformed on Saturday evening what was -- on the surface of things -- not promising into what was charming.This threatened to be a hodgepodge of a production. The scenery -- full of great stalagmites and stalactites -- was from a production in Portland, Ore. The costumes -- straightforward and elegant Age of Reason powdered wigs and doublets and hose -- were from a Jean Pierre Ponnelle production in Salzburg.

The Baltimore Opera performed Die Zauberflote ("The Magic Flute") in December, but I was reluctant to risk $85 on a ticket for my 10-year-old granddaughter. Given the option, Marie might decide to leave at intermission. But at $5 a ticket, the Annapolis Opera Company-sponsored children's version of the Mozart classic was a gamble worthy of taking. As it turned out, Marie chose to stay for the entire show - and even told her friends she'd enjoyed the experience. Every season, the Annapolis Opera Company sponsors operas by Peabody Conservatory's Roundabout Theater that are designed to introduce children to the world of opera.

Playing at a multiplex more or less near you: monarchs, scoundrels, illicit lovers and the occasional fighter. And every one of them is singing. Welcome to opera in the 21st century, which you can now enjoy while munching from vats of buttered popcorn and slurping oversized soft drinks. For 75 years, the Metropolitan Opera has extended its reach with live radio broadcasts of Saturday-afternoon performances. Late last month, the company went a giant step further by introducing high-definition, surround-sound satellite simulcasts of select matinees to movie houses throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and, by delayed transmission, Japan.

Eight-year-old Emily Harper stayed up past her bedtime to watch the full dress rehearsal of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera, The Magic Flute, which will be presented by the Annapolis Opera tonight and Sunday afternoon at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts. "I liked the man dressed as a bird," Emily said at the end of the first act, referring to Papageno, the Queen of the Night's merry bird catcher in a fanciful plot that takes place in ancient Egypt. Emily came Wednesday for the run-through with her mother, Laura, two brothers and an older sister.