There is no doubt that a story as weird as that of The Magic Flute lends itself to almost any kind of treatment. Linda Kitchen and her team took the story into the edge of science fiction. It had to be in English, and it worked brilliantly.
It is a fresh and exciting production, with plenty of humour, profundity, romance and melodrama. And, of course, Mozart's wonderful music.
The first thing that struck me was the production's integrity. Everything fitted. The many singers, young, old and middle, were well cast, the set, costumes and lighting were vivid, and even the strange effects were right for the situations. There were times that I found the humour touching on buffoonery, and the ending, apart from the final chorus, appeared confused. However, criticism must be put aside when it comes to the music. This was without exception superbly performed.
The Magic Flute contains some of Mozart's most demanding music. One always anticipates with interest the Queen of the Night's famous aria in Act 2, and Emma Pearson sang this as I have never heard it before, with an anger driven to surreal intensity by the stark setting.
James Benjamin Rodgers and Rebecca Ryan as the central characters, Tamino and Pamina, carried their roles through with consistent conviction. Jared Holt and Anna Argyle, as Papageno and Papagena, infused some charming touches of humour into their simple characterisation.
The Christchurch Symphony Orchestra played superbly and with style, and the boys, girls and the Solid Energy Chorus were strong and well-balanced.
I put much of the first-night success of this performance as the result of confidence - confidence that the team was working well, and that everyone knew their part well.
With the somewhat complicated production that this was, there was much that could go wrong, but it didn't. Even the technology of the Star Trek noises and screens all worked. The production has surprises in store form the start, and the large audience loved it.