State Opera South Australia. Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Her Majesty’s Theatre. 30 Aug 2025
At last night’s performance by State Opera South Australia (SOSA) of Mozart’s much loved and much performed The Magic Flute, Dan Lam addressed the audience. Whether it’s grand opera or a grunge band, pre-show announcements from centre stage can be terrifying. They usually signal some disaster has befallen the event, such as a principal actor or singer is indisposed and won’t be performing and there will be an understudy. (Mind you, this reviewer prayed for that very thing to happen at a performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard earlier this year in the Sydney Opera House, but, dammit, Sarah Brightman soldiered on despite the fierce headwind of damning reviews.) As Lam paused for breath, we were all wondering whether he was going to announce that Sofia Troncoso (who plays the important role of Princess Tamina) was still indisposed. (Troncoso was replaced on opening night by Stacey Alleaume who was flown in at very short notice to fill in.) Or worse still, had someone else in the cast succumbed to ‘the dreaded lurgy’? Lam, announced that young Ethan Zhang, one of the child performers, was suffering from a winter illness and although he would take to the stage and act his heart out, his vocal line would be sung by a member of the State Opera Chorus from the wings. Phew!!
The Opera gods were smiling.
Lam, who is SOSA’s new Artistic Director (and the conductor of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra for this production), also asked members of the audience to raise their hands if they were at their very first opera or production by SOSA. He was taken aback that so many hands went up in the air! This bodes well for the future, but it’s also a ringing endorsement of Lam’s plans for SOSA. This is the first season he’s programmed for SOSA, and it embodies his vision of “opera without borders” and a return to the not-so-distant past when SOSA was known and celebrated internationally for its many ‘firsts’. (State Government – please take note! SOSA deservedly merits the support you provide it, and more!). This production of The Magic Flute is the first collaboration between an Australian opera company and leading Chinese partners, namely Opera Hong Kong, the Beijing Musical Festival, and China National Opera House. It is also supported by Australia’s National Foundation for Australia-China Relations.
This production, which premiered recently in Hong Kong, and travels to China later in the year, is directed by Chinese theatre, film and opera director Shuang Zou, and it is stunningly brilliant in every respect.
Zou reimagines The Magic Flute into a world and time far removed from its original. It couldn’t be any further. There is always a risk in doing this, especially with an opera that is one of the mainstays of the repertoire. There have been some classic faux pas in modernising operas – setting Strauss’ Salome in a slaughterhouse, and Verdi’s Otello on an aircraft carrier very quickly come to mind – and Zou’s setting of The Magic Flute in a busy Hong Kong subway might seem the recipe for a fall, but nothing could be further from the truth. It works. Its conception is intelligent, and almost every aspect of the original story line – the adventure, the pantomime and melodrama, and the allegory – remain evident, alive, and believable (in a strange sort of way!).
As the overture plays, an animé scene plays out on a gigantic projection screen that forms the upstage wall of the set. (Zou brings her training in film to the fore.) We see a young man waking up and going through his morning routine as he prepares for the day. We even observe him on his ‘porcelain throne’ which is greeted by howls of laughter from the large Her Majesty’s Theatre audience. Suddenly they know they are in for an operatic experience of an entirely different kind, and they are not disappointed. The young man eventually enters a busy subway, and the curtain rises to reveal just that: throngs of people getting on and off trains that whizz past on the screen. A young man (perhaps it could be the same one as in the animé clip) is seen in heated discussion with a young woman, who abruptly leaves him and gets on a train. It looks like they are breaking up and he is so distressed that he imagines the next train morphs into a terrifying dragon, and he collapses on the station platform. An impassioned mind can play tricks. From this point on we are in a fantasy and in the milieu of Mozart’s opera, with a prince, a princess, a wicked Queen, scheming ladies in waiting, strange animals, high and not so high priests, guards, musical instruments with magical powers. It’s a wild ride.
Zou essentially acknowledges that the original story line of The Magic Flute either needs to be played out ‘as written’ and as intended by librettist Emanuel Schikaneder, one of Mozart’s collaborators and an entrepreneur specialising in ‘low art’ entertainment for the masses, or it needs to be interpreted in a way that retains the integrity of the story but speaks to a modern audience. As Lam puts it in his program notes, Zou’s reimagination “…helps us listen more intently – to beauty, to each other, to deeper truths”, and he’s right. Zou’s brilliant interpretation removes the need to suspend disbelief so much that it hurts, squarely faces up to the fantastical fairy tale that the opera really is, and finds a way to expose the underlying themes without being ‘preachy’.
So, the scenic design is inspired and fits Zou’s vision like a well-crafted glove. Dan Potra is the set and costume designer, and it’s just dazzling without resorting to unnecessarily gimmicks. Glen D’Haenens lighting design emphasises and immerses us in fantasy when necessary, and snaps us out of it when the story line is best suited to the listener having a clear mind. It’s so thoughtfully designed.
Dane Lam has the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra sounding exquisite. Mozart’s gorgeous score is in good hands. (The flute and (uncredited) percussion that create the sounds of the “magic flute” and “magic bells” could have been amplified a little – they get a bit lost in the pit.)
Anthony Hunt’s command of the State Opera Chorus has never been better. They sounded superb and sang with superb balance.
The cast of principals are world class. This can be a dangerous thing to say – it is easy to get caught up in the moment and direct a spray of superlatives at them – but is deserved. Australian tenor Nicholas Jones, who is currently a principal artist with the Paris Opera, sings Tamino, and the tessitura of Tamino’s arias fits Jones’ voice beautifully. He’s sung on the SOSA stage before, but this performance eclipses all before it.
Sofia Troncoso makes a brilliant Pamina: she gives the role sass, sadness as well as unbridled joy. Her soprano voice is truly a fine instrument, with evenness and musicality across the range.
David Greco sings the comic bird catcher role of Papageno and rightly stops short of making the character ridiculous. Refreshingly, Greco plays the character almost straight, which makes it all the funnier. He has timing, and his tenor voice is strong and true. His difficult duet with Jessica Dean in the cameo role of Papagena, his newly found sweetheart, is tight and very entertaining. The precision of Mozart’s challenging music and Schikaneder’s tongue-twisting text are superbly navigated by both, with the ever-watchful Lam in the pit keeping finely balanced control.
New Yorker Danielle Bavli plays the menacing Queen of the Night. Her costume is striking, and she uses it to style menace as well as grace. Although a little quiet, she sings beautifully and her signature aria Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen is a high point of the opera. It's a bit cliché, but this is the ‘pot boiler’ aria that everyone looks forward to in The Magic Flute, and Bavli sings it strikingly.
Teddy Tahu Rhodes sings the role of Sarastro and imbues him with wisdom and benevolence. Rhode’s bass voice is truly world class, with clarity and musicalness across even the lowest notes. His costume is an eye opener, and the symbolism built into its construction is not missed. He inhabits the costume; he doesn’t merely wear it.
Sopranos Helan Dix, Catriona Barr and Fiona McArdle play First, Second and Third ladies respectively – they are servants of the Queen – and they initially take to the stage by magically coming to life as they emerge from a giant airline company poster in the subway. Zou’s directorial concepts are just so imaginative! Their trios are just so much fun. Dix has a gloriously strong voice, and she makes First Lady larger than life, and lusty! Barr and McArdle build on Dix’s vamping humour, and the trio of ladies is an absolute hoot. McArdle continues to rapidly develop into a fine artist.
Mark Oates sings the evil Monostatos with a comfortably surety. His costume deliberately distracts from the garb that is traditionally worn by the character, who, in the original script is described as a ‘blackamoor’. Like Rhodes, Oates uses his costume as an extension of his character and manages to have the audience laugh heartily at him as he struts his stuff as a would-be seducer of women (but he is quite delusional!).
Pelham Andrews sings the role of Speaker, and his fine bass voice is well suited to this opera. He sings with evenness of tone and imparts humility to the role. A fine performance.
Rounding out the cast are Phillip Cheng, Ethan Zhang and Celine Yuan as the three children. They are just fabulous. They begin as triplets in a children’s pram, then become young men, then older men and finally very old men who take an almost unhealthy interest in the final romantic outcome between Tamino and Pamina. This is another of Zou’s directorial coups! The ageing of the children serves to illustrate that the The Magic Flute is as much about life’s journey as it is about the ultimate triumph of good over bad, love over hate, and compassion over animosity. Chorus members Callum McGing, Jamie Moffatt, Andrew Turner, and Nick Cannon play minor roles but do it with conviction. McGing, in particular, demonstrated the depth of musical talent that is alive in the State Opera Chorus.
So, there it is. State Opera South Australia’s production under the farsighted eyes and musical baton of Dane Lam of The Magic Flute, produced in collaboration with international partners, and directed by young visionary director Shuang Zou, is a revelation. It has all the sumptuousness of grand opera and all the easy appeal of a lighter musical. It is a joy to watch, and to listen to, and there are two more performances left. It is a perfect introduction to the world of opera, that most magnificent and mysterious of all artforms. This is a show for everyone.
Kym Clayton
When: 28 Aug to 6 Sep
Where: Her Majesty’s Theatre
Bookings: ticketek.com.au
