25 May 2017
The Magic Flute
King’s Head Theatre, Islington
*****
Reviewed by John Watson
Charles Court Opera, specialists in putting on opera in small places, is ideally suited to the Kings Head. This production, directed by John Savournin, cuts the work to the bone. The orchestra is replaced by a piano. The running time is reduced to 135 minutes. To describe it as “less than Mozart”, however, is to do it an injustice. It is a first rate evening’s entertainment.
The young professional cast is highly talented and there are some changes in those playing the principal characters from night to night. When I saw it, Oliver Brignall was Tamino and Nicola Said the Queen of the Night. High points of an exceptional evening included Julian Debreuil’s Sarastro, his voice particularly stunning on the low notes, and Emily Jane Thomas as Pamina. Still, in the end it was Matthew Kellett as Papageno who contributed most to the pace and style of the production – an exceptional performance and great singing too.
It is evenings like this which make you remember how lucky we are to have the Kings Head, producing this quality of performance at a very reasonable price. It runs until 4 June. Go and see it.
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