The Magic Flute

"This is Opera Holland Park at its most resourceful. Penelope Randall-Davis is well-practised in her two show-stopping arias, Fflur Wyn, as Pamina, exuded sincerity and Jonathan Gunthorpe as Papagano, slipped effortlessly into the informality of the role and I liked his rough-and-ready matter-of-factness.

Callow's decision to take the original stage direction "in Japanese hunting costume" and turn Tamino into a fully fledged prince of Japan (as opposed to Egypt) sat well with the ancient, highly ritualised elements of the piece. Jane Glover's conducting was a model of sound musicality and unbridled enthusiasm."
Edward Seckerson, The Independent

"The opening moments of Simon Callow's new production of The Magic Flute promise something remarkable and thrilling. Andrew Staples (as Tamino) and Tim Mirfin (as Sarastro) are terrific, and Fflur Wyn is an exquisite Pamina."
Tim Ashley, The Guardian

"Jane Glover conducts a performance that is light on its feet, and unusually at Holland Park, the opera is sung in English, the singers making the most of the opportunity to communicate directly. Jonathan Gunthorpe's performance as Papageno has such flair…he's Tommy Cooper one minute, Eric Morecambe the next, but he also sings with genuine charm. Andrew Staples's voice has a wonderfully flexible lightness that makes you warm to the character. Fflur Wyn sings with appealing clarity, while Penelope Randall-Davis gets both venom and pinpoint accuracy into the character of the Queen of the Night.

Designed by Royal Academician Tom Phillips, the sets are economical but striking, they evoke the snakesandladders traps that Tamino negotiates on his journey of selfdiscovery, while the costumes offer a witty melange of styles and eras to make the action as timeless as it needs to be."
Nick Kimberly, Evening Standard

"There's much to enjoy in Callow's knock-about production. Teeming with ideas, brimming with colour and underpinned by Glover's instinctive reading of the score, it is refreshingly unpretentious and unburdened by the weight of Mozart's genius.
Jane Glover's reading of the score was masterly and the playing of the City of London Sinfonia was excellent. Andrew Staples' Tamino was sung with assurance and Mark Le Brocq's Monastatos camped it up unashamedly in a highly entertaining performance. Flur Wyn's enchanting Pamina was prim and proper in her early dialogue but brought genuine passion and humanity to her Act Two aria and final scene with the three boys. Penelope Randall-Davis is a regular as Queen of the Night both in the UK and abroad and showed us why. She and her high-quality trio of ladies (Natasha Jouhl, Carolyn Dobbin, Alexandra Sherman) threw themselves into their roles with abandon. Pippa Goss's Papagena effected her transformations from hag to fifties pin-up brilliantly, and was a charming presence on stage."
Hugo Shirley, Musicalcriticism.com

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