Well, this looks like something to look forward to!
Since Kenneth Branagh burst on the scene in 1989 with his adaption of Henry V, probably the greatest adaptation of a Shakespeare play on film (and oy, how I regret that I never got a chance to see it on the big screen!), I've been a big fan of his. I doubt that this will be a "traditional" production set in ancient Egypt or some generalized "mystical" setting or even, like many productions, set roughly in the time of the opera's composition. After all, neither Branagh's version of Much Ado About Nothing or Hamlet take place in the 16th Century, and he updated Love's Labour Lost (which I haven't seen) to make it a 1930's musical. Since the first two films were brilliant - in fact, I would say Much Ado About Nothing is one of the most beautiful, joyous, life-affirming films of the 1990s, even a time-transplanted Flute shouldn't be a problem. Interestingly, one report referred to Pamina's mother as "Queen Elizabeth of the Night", so Branagh might be putting this in an Elizabethan setting. This might actually work - remember that the Queen of the Night is a critical allegory of the Empress Maria Theresa, and Elizabeth was just as much a tyrant (albeit a somewhat more benevolent one) as she was. As long as this film has the sense of fantasy, wonder and mystery which is essential in this opera, we shouldn't have a problem.
And remember how I said that Stephen Fry would be a wonderful librettist for a Harry Potter opera? Well, now he'll have the experience, as he is adapting the libretto here. As I said in that post, he is a big classical music fan and one of the classiest, wittiest people in the business. I only hope even he can do something with lines like "Great Sarastro, we admire your wise discourse" (I don't remember the German here - that's the Ruth and Thomas Martin translation.
The starriest names in the cast are likely René Pape (the real "divine René") as Sarastro and Lyubov Petrova, whose Met roles include Zerbinetta, Oscar and Sophie in Werther, as the Queen of the Night. Joseph Kaiser, a member of the Lyric Opera (of Chicago) Center for American Artists and a winner of this year's Met Auditions, will sing Tamino. He sang "Dies bildnis ist bezaubernschön" at the Auditions Concert, and while the voice is a little nasal for my taste, he's a superb actor. Russian opera, such as Lensky's aria "Kuda, kuda", seems to suit him a bit better vocally. He also sang Rodolfo in Baz Luhrmann's Broadway version of La Boheme.
The others are perhaps a little more cause for concern. Ben Davis, who sings Papageno, is like Kaiser a former member of Baz Luhrmann's Boheme, but his only other credits are in Broadway musicals (Les Miserables and Thoroughly Modern Millie) and I'm not sure this is necessarily the right voice for an opera, especially considering the extensive miking that goes on on Broadway today. Amy Carson, who is described only as a "newcomer" will be singing Pamina.
No word on remainder of cast, conductor, orchestra, or release date as of yet. Stay tuned.
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