E. Schikaneder. Die Zauberfloete. (Ed. W Zentner 1962)

     E. Schikaneder. Die Zauberfloete. (Ed. W Zentner 1962) The complete libretto in German, with a couple of scenes from Goethe’s projected Part 2. The story of this opera is sillier than usual, partly because it appears to have been radically restructured in the writing, so that the plot points adumbrated in the first few scenes are contradicted or simply dropped later on. This I did not know before reading the introduction. The story is relatively simple: Tamino finds himself in a strange place dominated by the Queen of Night, whose daughter Pamina is held by Sostrato. He has to undergo a series of trials, which appear to consist mostly of not talking, in order to become an initiate. Later, Pamina also becomes an initiate, they marry and live happily ever after. Along the way, Tamino picks up Papageno, a commedia-style clown, who provides comic relief (and the only realistic character).
      The script is presented in typical continental format, with scenes changing with the entrances and exits of characters, not with changes in location. I found this format peculiar and irritating even before I encountered the English one, because some “scenes” are only one or two speeches long. I suppose it has its roots in rehearsal styles and schedules or some such; or else it’s another one of those unreasonable rationalities the French are so fond of and have foisted on their imitators.
     The verse is for the most part numbingly banal and sometimes silly, with sadly rare signs of wit. The higher philosophy expressed by Sostrato and his priests consists of New Age guff.
      If it weren’t for Mozart’s music, this opera would long ago have been forgotten. Salieri-like, I wonder how such silly stuff could have been joined to such sublime music. As it is, probably far more people have heard the music than have heard the opera. I heard it when I was around 11 in Graz, and all I remember was Papageno, who was costumed like a giant green parrot, very impressive. He also had the funny songs, but it’s the music I recall, not the words. Opera lovers claim that the music is what matters in opera, but my taste is for good strong stories that depend on and are enhanced and nuanced by the music. A Wagnerian idea, I know, and I do not like Wagner at all! Auden claims that the sound of the verse must be adapted to the music, hence what we look for in poetry we should not expect to find in a libretto. I can accept that, but the verse should tell a clearly plotted story, and preferably one with some sense. * (2004)

La Diva by Natalie Choquette.

     La Diva by Natalie Choquette. A one-woman show about opera. Lots of fun. If you get a chance, go see and hear it. Choquette sings the familiar hits in different costumes with commentary in different accents to suit the sources of the songs. She sings beautifully, and can conjure the scene and mood so well that we don’t notice the absence of the production values that seem to play such a huge role at the Met.
     Most of the songs were more or less happy or romantic, but Un bel di vedremo from Madame Butterfly was seriously affecting. At several points, Choquette came into the audience and focussed on one person, or brought him on to the stage. I don’t usually like this kind of audience participation, since it can feel forced, but Choquette does it so naturally that it works. Disclaimer: I was one of the lucky ones, and thoroughly enjoyed it . It was easy to follow her lead.
     Here is Marie’s e-mail to our friends’n’family:
     The link at the end is to a sample of the show we saw by Natalie Choquette, la Diva. She is an opera singer with a big voice. She loves to interact with the audience. She talked, and talked, in many exaggerated accents. She changed costume 4 or 5 times. All costumes were exaggerated and stunning.
      When she first came out in her multi-layered big dress with hooped over skirt and scarf, she told us she was a Diva and the audience must yell "Bravo, Brava" and throw flowers at her, "like this" (and she threw out a bunch of flowers). Her Queen of the Night solo was great!
     The first person she chose from the audience was Dennis Jacques. She brought him on stage and had him take off his jacket and help her shed her big dress and hooped skirt, while she sang. Underneath she had a close fitting sequined gown.
     The only back-up person travelling with her was the piano player who first came out suited in tails, wearing a gray, fuzzy wig. (In real life he is an organist and choir director).  Later he changed to a Liberace wig and had extra lace, candles, rose etc. The Diva made many attempts to "distract" the piano player, while he was playing and she was singing.
     In the Moscow Olympic set he wore his shaved head and a black tank so he could show his muscles.  For that set, Natalie wore a short, red athletic dress and bare feet. She climbed on the piano to sing, lay down and did a head stand, all while singing.
     Her Madam Butterfly solo was beautiful. Later she summed up the story and told how it could have had a better and happy ending. "The trouble is the women always die in opera... That is why I sometimes like to sing the tenor parts". She spoke for the DLM or "Diva Liberation Movement". Her happy ending for La Boheme was for the artist to get enough money to buy aspirin to cure Mimi. She chose Ron Gauthier to be the artist. She gave him a floppy hat, a big smock and a pencil and easel. He drew while she sang.
     The piano player got to play "his music" when she was off stage. One good piece was Bach's Toccata and Fugue on piano!
     While she was walking among the audience she chose Wolf to be her partner for the tango part. She wore a black, knee length dress which was open from waist down and showed a pink and gold lining and ruffled white pantaloons. She chose Pat Fortino to come to stage at the very end and dance with her while she sang. She made each man the romantic-centre-of-attention while he was on stage.
There's a video of “Nessun dorma” and others on YouTube.
    A great evening. ****

Update 2025-06-21: Choquette has a new version of her show "... et le Maestro", and issued several CDs.