“There are a lot of special moments in this opera, but I’m going to have to say the queen arias are my favorite,” said Frederick Ballentine. “If you have a good queen, those things are so exciting.”
Ballentine, who serves as this season’s Opera Theatre of Saint Louis Thelma Steward Young Artist, portrays the role of armed guard in the company’s staging of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” – which will hold its final performance on Saturday afternoon.
“When it’s done really well, you want to sit and scream the whole time like you’re watching a really exciting sports game,” Ballentine said. “‘Is she going to make it? … She made it. Oh, my God, she did it again.’ That’s what happens when you have a good queen – and we have a great queen.”
But the strength of the show ripples far beyond Claire De Sevigne’s role as the Queen of the Night. It is reflected in nearly every nuance of the contemporary staging of Mozart’s 18th-century classic.
The genius of Mozart is by no means lost in repackaging that makes the production easily devoured both by its core audience and an entirely new demographic.
OTSL’s captivating presentation of “The Magic Flute” was pulled off by two individuals in particular who are considered geniuses in their own right.
World-class conductor Jane Glover and director/costume designer Isaac Mizrahi, an icon of the modern fashion scene, were a force to be reckoned with.
“He is just brilliant,” Ballentine said of Mizrahi. “He has these great pictures in his head and was able to bring them out and put them on stage for the world to see.”
Neither of their respective areas of expertise was lost in “The Magic Flute.” Mizrahi’s color and glitter popped as much as the pounding percussion in the orchestration led by Glover.
“Jane Glover is a really famous conductor of Mozart, and the feedback she gave us for that production – I’m going to take with me for the rest of my life,” said Ballentine, who also understudied for the male lead in the production.
Audiences won’t soon forget the experience of Mozart led by Mizrahi and Glover either.
They work together to share with modern audiences what is ultimately a fairy tale – set to and performed through classical music – that includes a host of characters who play a role in illustrating the power of love, virtue, courage and wisdom.
The costuming is utter perfection, particularly the blue glittery diva-esque house coat worn by the queen in the opening scene that flows from the second story set and threatens to stretch into the audience.
Opening instrumentation unapologetically gives the orchestra time to flourish before singers take the stage and up until the performers open their mouths. That sets the bar for the musical elements of the show, and the singers fearlessly leap to successfully match it.
Everyone rises to the challenge in even the minutest of roles, which Ballentine admits is no easy task.
“Mozart was brilliant, but he was not merciful when he wrote for the armed guards,” Ballentine said. “Because I’m singing the most ridiculously high notes I can sing for the longest period of time.”
He shows up in the second act for a couple of selections alongside his fellow armed guard Zach Owens, and the two sing in tandem. After a few notes of traditional baritone, listeners are blindsided with a vocal register that does not seem humanly possible – especially among male singers.
“Every night you see the house to the right lose their minds for half a second because they are having high notes just shouted at them, and it doesn’t stop the entire time I’m on stage for that scene,” he said.
“You can see on their faces that the audience goes, ‘What? Where did that come from?’ One night I was really worried that I had given this kind little lady to my left a heart attack.”
Ballentine encourages new audiences – African Americans, in particular – to check it out.
“Just sit through your first opera. Try it. It’s a really an amazing thing to connect with when you give it a chance,” Ballentine said.
“If you go into an opera wanting to understand what’s happening and wanting to learn something new, I guarantee you will come out wanting to see another opera.”
Opera Theatre Saint Louis’ presentation of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” continues on Saturday June 28 at 1 p.m. The season concludes on June 29 with “Twenty-Seven.” Productions of “The Dialogues of the Carmelites” continue tonight (June 26) and Saturday, June 28. For tickets or more information on the final weekend of the OTSL season, visit www.opera-stl.org or call (314) 961-0644.
