Season 1, Episode 1
1h 52m | Musical | Episode aired 24 January 2007
Prince Tamino and Papageno are sent by the Queen of Night to save her daughter Pamina from the clutches of the evil lord Sarastro.
Director: Gary Halvorson, Julie Taymor (stage)
Conductor: James Levine
Stars: Matthew Polenzani, Ying Huang, René Pape, Nathan Gunn, Erika Miklósa, Greg Fedderly.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0956790/
Premiere 1791, 2 months before Mozart's death
Sung in English.
Colorful costumes and (some) sets. Puppetry is not as dominant as the poster might suggest, but is pleasantly prevalent. Visuals enhance the fairy tale aspect of the story.
However, it still took several attempts before I actually finished watching this. (Started on the Met on Demand service, had bad connectivity, ordered disc because this was the first production that felt consistent between story and sets/costumes; yay Julie Taymor.) Even with all the color, and Papageno's humor, and the English lyrics, I don't like all the sing-speak, nor is the story very interesting to me.
Rated 8.5 (43)
MetOpera, cond. Levine; 7
