Apollo's Fire and The Magic Flute

I have seen the move "Amadeus" more times than I care to count, but it is one of those amazing movies that I can never tire of. No matter how many times I see it, I revel in all of the performances, especially the deliciously envious Antonio Salieri, played to the hilt by F. Murray Abraham. Toward the end of the film, scenes from Mozart's final opera "The Magic Flute" are shown, and it is during this performance that Mozart collapses while playing the glockenspiel in the scene where Papageno is wishing for a Papagena, a suitable mate. There are other scenes from this opera in the film as well and only seeing little bits of it, it was hard for me to figure out just exactly what the whole thing was about since I have never seen it in its entirety, that is, until last night. Kent State had the rare and unique privilege to host the world renowned Baroque orchestra Apollo's Fire, which is based in Cleveland. They put on a staged and costumed version of "The Magic Flute" in the Cartwright Auditorium, which is quite handily across the street from my apartment. I'm not sure I can find words to describe the feelings I experienced last night. Transcendence. Awe. Bliss. Astonishment. Passion. It was like being transported back in time over 200 years. One becomes so accustomed to hearing Mozart performed by a full sized symphony orchestra that when you hear it performed as it should be, by an intimate chamber sized orchestra more appropriate to his time, it makes the music that much more accessible. All of the voices of the singers were brilliant and the youthful cast and orchestra brought their own unique energy to the performance that shone brilliantly. Rachel Copeland, who sang the fiery and difficult "Queen of the Night aria" attacked it beautifully and was a real showstopper for the night. Kelly Markgraf, playing Pagageno was obviously relishing the comic physicality of the role, and the soaring tenor of Tamino, played by Russ Hauck, carried the audience along on his journey to enlightenment. About the only minor flaw in the entire performance was that Edward Crafts, playing Sarastro, seemed to struggle a bit to hit the very, very low notes required of him, but then, the range demanded by all of the singers in this opera is pretty treacherous and demanding. Still, that minor tiny flaw aside, the night was a rousing success and brought the audience to their feet in jubilation at the end, many of us calling out "BRAVO!" as the singers, orchestra and conductor took their bows. It was a night I will most certainly never forget, and now that I have seen this opera in its entirety, I can finally see the movie "Amadeus" and the scenes from this opera, knowing what scene they are from and what is going on. Quite handily, the play "Amadeus" is playing at a professional theatre company here locally in the next week or two, and I definitely plan to see it on top of this delicious performance of Mozart's masterpiece opera. I do hope that Apollo's Fire returns to our University and graces us with another brilliant performance soon.