{"id":55685,"date":"2026-09-26T09:30:52","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T06:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=55685"},"modified":"2026-09-26T09:30:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T06:30:52","slug":"israeli-opera-die-zauberflote-the-magic-flute-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=55685","title":{"rendered":"Israeli Opera: Die Zauberfl\u00f6te (The Magic Flute)"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_55686\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-55686\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-55686\" src=\"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Oper-Dortmund_DIE-ZAUBERFLOTE_Morgan-Moody-Papageno_Foto-Bjorn-Hickmann.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Oper-Dortmund_DIE-ZAUBERFLOTE_Morgan-Moody-Papageno_Foto-Bjorn-Hickmann.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Oper-Dortmund_DIE-ZAUBERFLOTE_Morgan-Moody-Papageno_Foto-Bjorn-Hickmann-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Oper-Dortmund_DIE-ZAUBERFLOTE_Morgan-Moody-Papageno_Foto-Bjorn-Hickmann-640x427.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-55686\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Magic Flute &#8211; Oper Dortmund\/Photo: Bjorn Hickmann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Israeli Opera\u2019s 2026 \u2013 2027 season will open with Mozart\u2019s captivating opera <em>The Magic Flute<\/em>. The visually stunning production, based on a staging by Oper Dortmund, is directed by Nikolaus Habjan and conducted by Dan Ettinger. The production was originally scheduled to be presented as part of the Israeli Opera\u2019s 40th anniversary season and although the set had already been installed onstage, and all the international soloists were in Israel and rehearsing with the orchestra, ultimately the decision was made to postpone the performances due to the war with Iran. It will now finally reach the stage, thanks to the cooperation of Oper Dortmund and the soloists, international and Israeli. \u00a0Performances will take place from October 16 \u2013 29, 2026.<\/p>\n<p>A unique aspect of this production is its visual language, which employs gigantic puppets designed and constructed by the opera\u2019s director Nikolaus Habjan. The puppets heighten the relationships between the different characters, as they hover in the balance between dream-like fantasy and imminent danger.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_55687\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-55687\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-55687\" src=\"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Oper-Dortmund_DIE-ZAUBERFLOTE_Hyona-Kim-2-Dame_Konigin-der-Nacht-Puppe_Foto-Bjorn-Hickmann.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Oper-Dortmund_DIE-ZAUBERFLOTE_Hyona-Kim-2-Dame_Konigin-der-Nacht-Puppe_Foto-Bjorn-Hickmann.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Oper-Dortmund_DIE-ZAUBERFLOTE_Hyona-Kim-2-Dame_Konigin-der-Nacht-Puppe_Foto-Bjorn-Hickmann-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Oper-Dortmund_DIE-ZAUBERFLOTE_Hyona-Kim-2-Dame_Konigin-der-Nacht-Puppe_Foto-Bjorn-Hickmann-640x427.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-55687\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Magic Flute &#8211; Oper Dortmund\/Photo: Bjorn Hickmann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The final opera composed by Mozart, with a libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder, The Magic Flute is one of the world\u2019s most beloved and frequently performed operas, a work that combines fantasy and humor with questions of truth and falsehood, love, loyalty and choice. Its imaginative narrative evokes the world of fairy tales, and its captivating music enthralls audiences of all ages, worldwide, and has done so for over 200 years. The Magic Flute is a Singspiel opera, a genre that contains both singing and spoken dialogue.<\/p>\n<p>One of the rare operas in which all ends well, the opera follows the adventures of two main characters: Prince Tamino and Papageno the bird-catcher. Prince Tamino is shown a picture of Princess Pamina, the daughter of the Queen of the Night, and promptly falls in love. The Queen tells him that Pamina has been kidnapped by an evil sorcerer, Sarastro, and Prince Tamino sets out to rescue Princess Pamina, with his new friend, Papageno. Yet once he arrives at Sarastro\u2019s temple, it turns out that all is not as it appears, and in this complex reality, it is not always clear who represents the light. The relationship of two strong women \u2013 the Queen of the Night who demands that her daughter Pamina perform a cruel task, and Pamina, who insists on making her own choices \u2013 drives the plot and presents a complex perspective on issues of feelings, responsibility, and the power balance between the two.<\/p>\n<p>Soloists in the opera: Alla Vasilevitsky (soprano) and Yael Levita (soprano) \u2013 Pamina; George Vibran (tenor) and David Kerber (tenor) \u2013 Tamino; Hila Fahima (soprano) and Nofar Yacobi (soprano) \u2013 Queen of the Night; Oded Reich (baritone) and Jakob Schad (baritone) \u2013 Papageno; Shaked Strul \u2013 Papagena (soprano); Marie Webb (soprano) and Shlomit Leah Kovalski (soprano) First Lady; Anat Czarny (mezzo-soprano) and Daniela Skorka (soprano) &#8211; Second Lady; Shay Bloch (mezzo-soprano) and Rachel Frenkel (mezzo-soprano) &#8211; Third Lady; Anthony Webb (tenor) and Adi Ezra (tenor) \u2013 Monostatos\/Second Priest\/First man in armor; Sava Vemi\u0107 (bass) and Yoav Ayalon &#8211;\u00a0 Sarastro; Pnini Leon Grubner (bass) and Sava Vemi\u0107 (bass) \u2013 Speaker; Yair Polishook (baritone) and Daniel Miller (bass) \u2013 First Priest\/Second man in armor; Neomi Ben Shachar (soprano) and Shirley Lutzky (soprano) \u2013 First Boy; Mike Halperin (soprano) and Shira Sandelman (soprano) \u2013 Second Boy; Maya Kuttner (alto) and Abigail Kaminker (alto) \u2013 Third Boy.<\/p>\n<p>Performances will take place from October 16 \u2013 29, 2026, conducted by Dan Ettinger, Rotem Nir will conduct the performances on October 26 and 29. Tickets and additional information may be found on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.israel-opera.co.il\/en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Israeli Opera website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Israeli Opera\u2019s 2026 \u2013 2027 season will open with Mozart\u2019s captivating opera The Magic Flute. The visually stunning production, based on a staging by Oper Dortmund, is directed by Nikolaus Habjan and conducted by Dan Ettinger. The production was originally scheduled to be presented as part of the Israeli Opera\u2019s 40th anniversary season and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":55686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,3],"tags":[138,110,697],"class_list":["post-55685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","category-theater","tag-israeli-opera","tag-mozart","tag-the-magic-flute"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=55685"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55688,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55685\/revisions\/55688"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/55686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}