Unique Enchantment

Having first been seen at San Francisco Opera in 2012, Jun Kaneko's amusing production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Emanuel Schikaneder's The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte) again graced the company's stage on 17 November 2015. Adorned with additions by veteran translators Ruth and Thomas Martin, San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley's own updated, locally oriented translation guided the audience through the twists and turns of the story. For this totally digitized production, Kaneko even accompanied the overture with projections of advancing lines in puzzle-like abstract drawings that sometimes held the audience in thrall. With the assistance of Paul Pyant's lighting, Kaneko's scenery and costumes captured this opera's unique enchantment...