English Touring Opera's new production of The Magic Flute contains no outstanding vocal or dramatic performance; still less does it tell us anything radically new about one of Mozart's most problematic masterpieces. Yet the production is grounded in a solid musical and theatrical vision. Underpinning the performance is Martin Fitzpatrick's deft and purposeful conducting of the 26-piece orchestra. He draws real warmth from the players, especially in Pamina's second act aria, but it is his astute pacing over the course of both acts that is most convincing.
Fitzpatrick carefully characterises each of the dramatic contrasts that drive the opera: from Sarastro's sunlit certainty to the Queen of the Night's darkly glittering realm, and from Papageno's carefree wit to Tamino's heartfelt longing.
Daniel Slater's direction is alert to the ambiguities of the drama. Instead of glossing over the sometimes overt misogyny of Sarastro's creed, he emphasises the libretto's uncomfortable connotations. When one of Sarastro's priests warns Tamino against women's lies, there is a palpable sense of the nastiness behind a facade of supposed wisdom. The dramatic effect is to disrupt the perception of Sarastro representing pure good, any more than the Queen of the Night represents pure evil. Slater even manages to subvert the ending of the opera: the final image of this production is of a grieving Pamina, separated from Tamino, lamenting the death of her mother, the Queen of the Night.
Of the singers, Anna-Clare Monk's Pamina and Dean Robinson's Sarastro are most versatile in combining stage and vocal presence. But even though Richard Burkhard's Papageno grows in personality as the opera progresses, he never masters the blend of humour and pathos the role requires.
It is a bonus to have a Tamino who can play the flute, as the character is supposed to charm the wild animals with it. But although Eugene Ginty's musical multitasking is remarkable, it is his vocal performance that ultimately lets him down: his first aria lacks any suppleness of phrasing, and he becomes more forced throughout the opera. Laura Meloy's coloratura sees her through the famously stratospheric heights of her two arias. Uneven as the cast may be, they are carried by the momentum of overall good musical and dramatic sense.
• At Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury (01227 787787), until Saturday, then touring to Weston-Super-Mare, Bath, Wolverhampton, Wycombe, York and Buxton.
