The first half-dozen performances of Martin Duncam’s production covered a very short period straddling Christmas and were greeted with general delight. There were a further ten performances in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Newcastle scheduled for the new year (with some cast changes) and it was revived very quickly as well as being borrowed by Covent Garden.
Somehow, none of these subsequent runs quite matched the initial enthusiasm. The designs were not to everyone’s taste – unusual shades of purple and yellow predominating. The first run was conducted in an enjoyably sprightly manner by Nicholas McGegan, known more for his Handel than his Mozart. The cast contained some excellent performers, including Paul Nilon and Susannah Waters as Tamino and Pamina, Jennifer Rhys-Davies as an unusually reliable queen and the incandescent Susan Chilcott leading the trio of ladies. However, there can be no doubt that the prime factor that made the production memorable was the superbly confident and individual first interpretation of Papageno by Simon Keenlyside. It had the athleticism, the wit and the underlying seriousness the part requires, as well as a beautifully judged set of bird-like mannerisms.
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