UGA’s Opera Theater will present Mozart’s seminal opera The Magic Flute on Feb. 15 and 16 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 17 at 3 p.m. in the Fine Arts Theater. Tickets, $18 for the general public and $5 for UGA students, are available at the box office, by calling 706-542-4400 or online at www.pac.uga.edu.
The three-day engagement will feature the Opera Theater in conjunction with the UGA Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daniel Bara, director of choral activities. Frederick Burchinal, director of opera, is the production’s producer. Opera coach Kathryn Wright is responsible for musical preparation.
The opera will be performed in German with English supertitles provided by Carroll Freeman, who is serving as visiting stage director. Freeman is a professor of opera at Georgia State University. His operatic career includes stage and television, and he has twice received the National Opera Institute Award.
“Carroll is going to bring so many good things to an already great opera,” said Burchinal, the Wyatt and Margaret Anderson Professor in the Arts in the Hodgson School of Music. “Everyone loves The Magic Flute. It’s in nearly every opera lover’s top 10 as it appeals to all ages with its blend of fantasy, virtuosic singing and terrific, satisfying dramatic roles.”
First premiering in Vienna in 1791, the opera follows young Prince Tamino who, using a magical flute, finds himself racing to rescue his love Pamina from the forces of evil in a world of fantasy and mysticism.
The production features UGA students Joseph Michael Brent as Tamino, Elisabeth Slaten/Evelyn Shreves as Pamina and Christopher Voss/Evan Tyor as Papageno the bird catcher. Kelsey Fredriksen and Richard Block complete the cast in the villainous roles of the Queen of the Night and Sarastro, respectively.
“It’s a story about proving one’s worth, to be exalted into one’s own-to show the world that you have the character, virtue and strength to function as a member of society,” Burchinal said. “The Magic Flute is one of the few operas to have all those things.”