Israel, Day 2, The Magic Flute

If you have not seen or are not familiar with The Magic Flute, the following may make no sense.  Even if you have, it may make no sense!  hahaha  So take it all with a huge grain of salt, and if you enjoy, then that is good.  If not, you can stop reading at any time of course!

My take on the Tel Aviv Opera's interpretation of The Magic Flute:  It was a really interesting interpretation of the classic opera.  The original is heavy in masonic symbolism and seems quite ancient.  But the Israeli interpretation was very light hearted.  I think Mozart would heartily approve of the changes though.  Instead of Papageno, a bird catcher, the faithful yet childish companion for Tamino on his quest to free Pamina from the grip of Sarastro was fulfilled by “Paparazi”, who carried a camera instead of a whistle, and hunted celebrities instead of birds.  He served the maids of the Queen of the Night, as in the original opera, but who these might represent in the modern world would be interesting speculation...  Instead of magical bells, Pagageno was given a super slim laptop by the Queen of the Night in order to assist Tamino in his quest to rescue Pamina.  And in the closing scene, instead of the attendants of the Temple of Knowledge being clothed in robes, they were dressed in the typical multicultural dress of a United Nations meeting, all converging on Sarastro, who was now wearing a Nobel Peace Prize.  Also, the Temple of Knowledge was an arctic ice station, and its priests wore the uniform of scientists that we typically see in documentaries about such places.  Instead of the typical hellish fires shown during the trial by fire that Sarastro forced Tamino and Pamina to endure, we see backdrops of burning oil wells and rigs.  It was very modern (although the music was perfectly faithful to the original, and the Queen in particular hit a home run), and if intentional, very wise, I think.  However, I am perhaps in a great minority, since I do not believe as most people do that Sarastro was a wise ruler and his Temple of Knowledge a benign organization, but rather, I concluded even after seeing the original opera that he is in fact a brutal tyrant, and his temple nothing more than a cult.  Although the Queen of the Night is presented as an angry and bitter woman (which she actually is, but justifiably, as her daughter is captured and brainwashed  by an evil man, and she is simply trying to save the girl), and Sarastro is shown triumphant over her – in fact destroying her despite his claim to Pamina that “revenge is not known” in his “sacred order” – I have thought she represents rather the old school which is commonly dismissed as “fuddy duddy” by the new school, but all the while, actually seeks to preserve true wisdom, which the new school only mocks and imitates.  I also saw many direct comparisons in the original opera to the plight of the Jews throughout history, even before the creation of the modern state of Israel.  And when I first concluded this, and was searching for more information about it, I found another Jew, an author from New York, had concluded just as I did.  So I know while this interpretation of the opera might be anathema for most happy opera goers, it is not exclusively held by me.  And there are many clear indications of the correctness of my position, too.  In the final scene, the United Nations’ motley crowd converges upon Sarastro proclaiming the wonders of the utopian world they have created, that now all is perfect in the world, despite the murder just moments before of the Queen.  Sarastro happily takes the flute she had given Tamino, which grants power over the minds of men, and so concludes the story.  Clearly, this is mocking the real world, since what we can all see which was created by the politicians in the current order is anything but a perfect utopia.  So to Mozart’s original “wink and nod” at the foolishness of the world, I believe the Israeli interpretation was faithful.  I am not sure if it was actually wisdom on their part, or bumbling into the truth maybe…  If so, that could further demonstrate the genius of the original work, that it might even cause fools to accidentally express a correct finding.  But at any rate, it was definitely interesting, and a worthwhile evening, despite being absolutely exhausting.

Unfortunately, I don't know what happened to my pictures from this excursion, so you'll just have to imagine.  To help, though, I will paste a picture from a web site...

Closing scene, notice Sarastro just to the left of center, Nobel Prize around his neck, the "People of the World" in all their traditional dress, the Arctic Ice Station behind is the "Temple of Knowledge"