Word: tamino
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Operagoers at the opening of The Magic Flute at Prague's National Theater last week were scarcely settled in their seats when they were startled by three thunderclaps from the drums. The curtain rose on a Tamino dressed in a flamboyant sports outfit. He was presently joined by the Queen of the Night, who arrived in a carriage drawn by several men in tail coats and top hats. Thus prepared, the audience was scarcely surprised to see Sarastro roaming the Temple of Wisdom in a business suit, or later sitting on Pamina's bed in a modern bedroom...
...comical birdman; partly thanks to Ruth and Thomas Martin's competent translation, he put across his role with almost Broadway-like punch. Soprano Lucine Amara (Pamina) sang beautifully, and Roberta Peters (Queen of the Night) did her bell-like best despite a cold. But Tenor Brian Sullivan (Tamino) was dry-voiced and stiff-backed; Basso Jerome Hines, while he hit all of Sarastro's low notes, failed to be really moving. Not one of the slim, attractive Americans could match the musical excitement so often provided by the Met's derided, plumpish divas...
...stage. There, relay conductors glued their eyes to his baton and conducted the singers. Probably the most remarkable fact of all: more than on any stage. The Magic Flute's fairy-tale plot seemed perfectly at home on TV, the medium of Disneyland and space cadets (in fact, Tamino's costume resembled a space suit...