Mozart's final work, magic in Beijing

Mozart's opera The Magic Flute has been staged countless times since its debut more than 200 years ago, tonight a new adaptation of the classic will meet Beijing audiences at the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA).

A cooperative production from the NCPA, Norwegian State Opera and Opera Hong Kong, tonight's performance is the second stop for The Magic Flute in the wake of its Hong Kong debut earlier this month.
The new adaptation boasts an international cast with artists hailing from eight different countries.

Renowned director Paul Curran is at the helm and Jari Hamalainen holds the baton. Hamalainen also served as the conductor of the 12th Beijing International Music Festival's opening opera Macbeth early last month.
Although the original production of The Magic Flute is sung in German, the new collaboration has seen the dialogue translated into English.

"The purpose of the change is to be friendlier to audiences and there will be Chinese subtitles during the performance to cater to local audiences," explained Warren Mok, chief producer of the opera, who is also a celebrated tenor and art director of Opera Hong Kong.

"Mozart tried to be funny when writing the play and we changed the dialogue into English and added extra elements to amuse the audience," Mok said.

"During its Hong Kong debut, the audience often burst into laugher and I promise that audiences here will laugh both in and out of the theater."

Well-known Chinese soprano Huang Ying will play the lead Pamina. Meeting the press Tuesday in Beijing, Huang explained that the current production is her first lead role in an opera in China. She said that she has developed a strong understanding of the role she is playing, making her debut with the New York Metropolitan Opera in their 2006-2007 season as Pamina and playing the character with several companies.
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