Embracing the Power of Rituals in Wiccan Spirituality: Sacred Practices and Their Significance

Wiccan spirituality is based on a set of fundamental teachings that guide practitioners in their beliefs and practices. **1. The worship of nature**: Wiccans believe in the inherent sacredness of nature and its elements. They see the earth, sky, sun, moon, and all living beings as manifestations of divine energy. **The focus on nature is a central aspect of Wiccan spirituality.** **2.

This Papageno is cut from less fanciful cloth than usual. Toting a step ladder, he is attired in grubby clothes and wears a battered blue and yellow vinyl jacket. This bird-catcher, Thomas Oliemans, who was making his Met debut, however, was the star of the show.

Through movement alone the actors created emotion, especially laughter, as when Papageno crumbles up a single piece of paper and throws it on the floor in frustration. Posted Jun 03, 2023 at 2 27 pm by Noone I m no one and this version of the Magic Flute is why I will never go to another opera the Met is more concerned with abstract negative creativity than art, music, or anything related to opera.

** **2. The worship of the goddess and god**: Wiccans believe in the existence of a divine feminine and masculine energy. They worship a goddess and god, who represent the principles of creation, fertility, and balance.

New York Classical Review

For those who equate Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with color and fantasy, Simon McBurney’s concept, which premiered at the Metropolitan Opera on Friday evening, is going to come as a shock. There’s plenty of laughter and wonderful singing, but the production is almost unremittingly dark, with a techie vibe. Director McBurney also packed it with stage business, at times to the point of overload.

McBurney updates the action of Die Zauberflöte to the present, but doesn’t appear to have a unified concept. Sarastro is as much the leader of a mystical cult, as he is a CEO-like figure. The Queen of the Night is elegantly dressed in a star-studded dress as described in the libretto, but her lust for power has drained her vitality. The Three Ladies, Tamino and others who appear in battle fatigues are only pawns in their struggles. To his credit, McBurney adheres to the libretto, but overwhelms it with visuals that muddle more than clarify the scenario. Cohesion is not this production’s strong suit.

Stepping into the auditorium, you knew immediately that this Magic Flute was going to be something big as McBurney had commandeered the entire hall. The curtain was raised and the whole stage was on view. There were also two installations on either side of the proscenium: one a prop station with video equipment and the other a bar of sorts stacked with bottles and some vegetables lying about.

Another twist was that the orchestra was raised to the same level as the audience, just as it would have been in Mozart’s time, but not a common sight at the Met. The first three chords of the overture came unexpectedly, as conductor Nathalie Stutzmann had slipped onto the podium unnoticed by almost everyone. People were still finding their seats and the houselights were up when they sounded. That wasn’t the only musical surprise of the evening.

A large suspended platform at centerstage served as the arena for the battle between the forces of good and evil. Its precariousness underscored that the outcome was not a foregone conclusion. The platform also serves as the boardroom table where Sarastro and his men agree to permit Tamino to undergo the trials which will lead to his enlightenment.

Video effects are an important component of McBurney’s concept, most created in real time by Blake Haberman sitting on one side of the stage. On a chalkboard, he provided details about the opera and the ordeals facing Tamino (all in German), as well as rough drawings of scenery, such as the mountains where Tamino encountered huge, realistic projections of a snake.

One of the most magical effects was also the simplest: sheets of paper carried by actors that flutter like birds, which were at times comforting and at others menacing. They also combined to create a photograph of Pamina which the Three Ladies show Tamino. Through movement alone the actors created emotion, especially laughter, as when Papageno crumbles up a single piece of paper and throws it on the floor in frustration. One of the actors retrieved and revived it.

The forces that wage battle in the search for truth, reason, love, and enlightenment are attired in gray, black and white. Sarastro and his followers were portrayed as staid, sensible corporate types. Color is the preserve of Papageno, the bird catcher who has no desire to obtain anything but a wife.

This Papageno is cut from less fanciful cloth than usual. Toting a step ladder, he is attired in grubby clothes and wears a battered blue and yellow vinyl jacket. This bird-catcher, Thomas Oliemans, who was making his Met debut, however, was the star of the show.

Oliemans’s Papageno was robust and coarse. In what may be a Met first, he urinated on stage, although with his back to the audience. McBurney, however, gave him a surfeit of stage business. He went into the audience in search of a mate and displaced an entire row, all of which was projected live via video stream on stage. He conducted the bells in “Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen” with a head of celery, to sounds produced by Foley artist Ruth Sullivan from the side of the stage.

When Bryan Wagrorn wasn’t at his place to play the glockenspiel, Oliemans did the honors to summon Papagena. Once Wagorn took his seat, he just sat back and sipped coffee from a classic NYC Greek to-go cup. Ashley Emerson, who first appeared as a tottering old hag, then entered as a burst of youth and beauty in hot pink.

As Tamino, Lawrence Brownlee was seen in everything from military fatigues to his underwear. His lyric tenor had a captivating coppery, burnished sound that filled out Mozart’s musical lines beautifully. Met principal flutist Seth Morrison followed Tamino about on stage playing his magic instrument.

Erin Morley as Pamina and Kathryn Lewek (background) as the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte at the Metropolitan Opera. Photo: Karen Almond / Met Opera

Erin Morley was a clear audience favorite as Pamina. Her voice was rich and resonant and carried effortlessly into the hall

The stage was consumed with projections of flames and a deluge, as Tamino and Pamino underwent their trials by fire and water. When they emerge unscathed, Morley and Brownlee took flight in an aerial ballet. It was one of the more magical moments that McBurney pulled out of an imagination that runs on overdrive.

Katheryn Lewek’s Queen of the Night was an old woman in a wheelchair. She dispatched both of her treacherous arias with energy and flare, although her top F’s in “Der Hölle Rache” had to be taken as a matter of faith. Rather than being cast into darkness, Lewek’s Queen emerged youthful and glamorous at the end of the opera.

Stephen Millings’s Sarastro was properly sonorous and imposing. Brenton Ryan was a standout as Monostatos. First seen as a corporate lackey in a business suit, Ryan slithered his way through the opera. In his final appearance as one of the Queen of the Night’s beleaguered forces, Ryan looked as if he had been given a good going over by Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter books.

The Three Ladies—Alexandria Shiner, Olivia Vote, and Tamara Mumford—had a grand time lusting after Tamino. Their attire ran from camouflage to sheer, black robes that left nothing to the imagination. Rather than youthful sprites, the Three Boys—Deven Agge, Julian Knopf, and Luka Zyllik—were tottering old spirits supported by canes. It was amazing to see youth so effectively depict old age, the fragility of which they captured in their light, airy voices.

Stutzmann was game for anything that McBurney threw her way, but the score emerged in all of its beauty and brilliance. The spoken dialogue was amplified throughout the house, but the singing was not. Stutzmann got the balance just right, as she did between orchestra and singer. The latter was all the more impressive given the placement of the orchestra and the fact that Morley and Brownlee have relatively light voices. As in Don Giovanni, which Stutzmann is also conducting at the Met this month, she intuitively knows how to showcase a singer to their best advantage.

With this production of Die Zauberflöte, it seems like the Met wanted to erase the fantasy and color of past productions by Julie Taymor, Marc Chagall, and David Hockney, which still linger in the memory of many. (Taymor’s abridged, child-friendly version will still have a Christmas run in the 2023/24 season.) If that was the goal, the Met succeeded. One was braced for boos when McBurney and his team appeared on stage, but instead there were only cheers.

Die Zauberflöte runs through June 10. metopera.org

26 Responses to “Met’s new “Zauberflöte” more muddled than magical”

1. Posted May 20, 2023 at 10:46 pm by Bob Mesaros If I were there, I would have booed the production team…and loudly too! I listened to the performance on SIRIUS XM with my orchestral score in hand. Some of the best singing of the evening came from the three boys. I remember hearing Flute at the Vienna Staatsoper and the parts were sung by members of the Wiener Sangerknaben. These fellows were equally good, especially in the notoriously difficult passage near the end of Act II.
2. Posted May 21, 2023 at 9:59 am by Katerina Thank you for this review. This production is a disgrace.
3. Posted May 21, 2023 at 3:43 pm by JR It wasn’t a first pee on the Met stage. I saw a Figaro (all I remember is that Marie McLaughlin was the Marcellina) when the Basilio and Bartolo strode to the back of the stage and pretend-peed on a wall.
4. Posted May 21, 2023 at 11:02 pm by Paul Hardly a disgrace. A bit too much business, all the writing joking through/competing with the overture, for example. The Foley corner, from which some effects, e.g., flood, did not even seem to come. These were a Taymor-ish, Broadway-ish “look at me; I’m more interesting than the opera” distraction and excessive. I could not understand the extended applause for the queen not hitting her high notes repeatedly. Working that aria in a moving wheelchair might not have been the best idea. But, on balance, a laudable improvement over the last one and, let’s face, it a contemporary version of the singspiel.
5. Posted May 22, 2023 at 11:56 pm by Russell Parkman I thought this production was terrific, funny, clever, moving and beautifully sung. The echos of the modern world brought the story to life and made many of the situations heartbreaking.
6. Posted May 28, 2023 at 12:08 am by David It was a complete waste of talented voices. The camouflage costumes matched perfectly with the drab stage setting of a floating board, florescent light and a ladder. I hope the Met doesn’t continue down this path…..nothing more to say.
7. Posted May 28, 2023 at 8:58 pm by Mshenna Lewek hit her high notes (albeit a bit squeaky) when we saw her last night. Musically I have no issues–just lovely. But whoever tuned in on Sirius FM, you dodged a massive dumdum bullet. I don’t see the point of a set that looked like East Germany in the 70s crossed with a corporate boardroom, & the charm of Papageno/Papagena was entirely lost. This is a perfect example of why audiences complain so bitterly about modern settings
8. Posted May 29, 2023 at 9:15 am by Ferenc Pécsi True theater, Mozart would love it. (Seen on 22.05l.
9. Posted Jun 03, 2023 at 2:27 pm by Noone I’m no one and this version of the Magic Flute is why I will never go to another opera…the Met is more concerned with abstract negative creativity than art, music, or anything related to opera. I’m so sorry that the Met would have a performance as bad as this. If you have to explain it…what is it…nothing.
10. Posted Jun 03, 2023 at 5:26 pm by Dr Thomas verich It could have been sponsored by Nike fashion.
11. Posted Jun 03, 2023 at 6:12 pm by Ilona I Kalviste Horrible stage setting. It ruined this beautiful opera. Don Giovanni was bad enough, but this production topped it in drabness with no pleasure of viewing an opera. The Met might be trying to lure a younger audience, but it is losing many traditional opera attendees.
12. Posted Jun 03, 2023 at 6:44 pm by Leslie in Montana Excellent review by Rick Perdian. I fell asleep at least twice while watching in HD today. The staging is totally lacking in color and the costuming is almost non-extistent. Lewek’s high aria was delightful. The performers deserved a better set and fanciful clothing!
13. Posted Jun 03, 2023 at 6:54 pm by A. Davey If his Tamino is any guide, Lawrence Brownlee lacks the necessary repertoire of facial expressions for any major operatic role. Simply put, he can’t act.
14. Posted Jun 03, 2023 at 7:29 pm by Sara jane Magnificent and beautifully produced. We were thrilled by the singing as well as the acting. A great privilege to see amazing artists at a price we could afford. Thank you all.
15. Posted Jun 04, 2023 at 12:11 am by Henry Listened on radio. The tempo was too sprightly for my taste. Yes, singspiel etc. But the March of the Priests sounded like incidental music, not the stately anthem of the Enlightenment as in 2003 Royal Opera House McVicar production, my personal best.
16. Posted Jun 04, 2023 at 11:37 am by Peter Oliver I would have thought it impossible to make a gem like “The Magic Flute” boring so this has to be a first. Terrible from start to finish. I’ll bet Mozart was spinning in his grave! Shame on everyone involved in this mess!
17. Posted Jun 04, 2023 at 3:29 pm by Marty This production was so much fun and well-sung by all. I’m so glad I was able to see this version. Let’s all not forget that opera can be fun and at times a bit frivolous. New perspectives and new ideas will bring in new audience members who will grow an appreciation of opera and see the benefit of supporting this wonderful art form for years to come.
18. Posted Jun 04, 2023 at 4:16 pm by Margaret Junia Corcoran Costumes of suits and underwear. A slab of ? that rises and falls, and a stepladder. How not magical is this? A cost-cutting opera that is worthy of Scrooge. Loved the singing (better if you close your eyes).
19. Posted Jun 04, 2023 at 9:03 pm by Judy Alexander I saw the production in the Cinema. It was visually UGLY and unpleasant and the numerous stage devices were distracting. To enjoy it at all I had to close my eyes and just listen.
20. Posted Jun 05, 2023 at 8:25 am by David McKenna This septuagenerian was moved and entertained, on Saturday evening here in Ireland, by the Live from the Met relay of the most inventive, clear-sighted and true-to-the-spirit production of the opera which I’ve ever seen.
21. Posted Jun 07, 2023 at 11:54 am by Bennett Die Zauberflote ranks as one of my favorite operas and I have seen it many times at the Met. I would have thought it impossible to ruin. But after seeing the Met production last night I was proven dead wrong. The director egotistically injected such an overwhelming variety of trite and distracting theatrical tricks that it was impossible, for me at least, to enjoy the wonder and beauty of Mozart’s musical masterpiece. This was a sacrilege.
22. Posted Jun 11, 2023 at 12:24 am by Yelena German The beautiful, funny opera has been ruined in this production.
23. Posted Jun 11, 2023 at 7:36 am by Richaard Thompson Laurence Brownlee did not look the part. Too short and round. At least a foot shorter than Zarastro. Act 2 is hard to sit through. Too much pious philosophising. Original needs to be cut
24. Posted Jun 14, 2023 at 6:29 pm by STUART A LEWIS I agree that the staging was too “busy”–and too dark, especially the innocent young children turned into ugly old men. There were some interesting touches, but they drew our attention away from the music. The one thing I liked about it was that at the end Pamina still loves her mother, and she and Sarastro hug. This fit with the way that the Queen of the Night was portrayed, as a woman who was justifiably upset when her daughter was stolen away from her. It appears that Ms. Lewek was the audience’s favorite performer. Let’s face it, this is an ugly story–a cult leader kidnaps a young woman because he believes that only men know how to raise children, and he forces people to risk their lives in order to join his cult. Moreover, he says he would not mind if they die while trying. The music is great, but Mozart deserved a better libretto for his last opera. It’s too bad that DaPonte did not stay around.
25. Posted Jun 14, 2023 at 7:33 pm by Bob Jamison Oh thank god, I thought I was the only that hated this production. It was incredibly disappointing 🙁 I was so excited to see my favorite opera at The Met, and it was just terrible. Made me regret spending all that money to go, and I’ve been feeling like a crazy person reading the reviews, because it seems like a lot of people loved it?!
26. Posted Jun 23, 2023 at 9:37 am by Lawrence Goldyn A Magic Flute devoid of magic, enchantment, or charm. What an ugly disappointment.

**The worship of the goddess and god forms the core of Wiccan spirituality.** **3. The celebration of seasonal festivals**: Wiccans celebrate eight major festivals known as Sabbats. These festivals mark the changing of seasons and the cycles of life. Through these celebrations, Wiccans connect with the rhythms of nature and the spiritual significance of each season. **The celebration of seasonal festivals helps Wiccans stay attuned to the natural world.** **4. The practice of magic**: Wiccans believe in the power of magic to influence their lives and the world around them. They practice spells, rituals, and divination to tap into their inner strength and connect with spiritual energies. **The practice of magic is a means for Wiccans to manifest their desires and deepen their spiritual connection.** **5. The concept of personal responsibility**: Wiccans adhere to the principle of "Harm None," which emphasizes personal responsibility and the avoidance of causing harm to oneself, others, and the environment. They believe in the law of threefold return, where any energy put out into the world will be returned threefold. **Personal responsibility is a guiding principle in Wiccan spirituality.** **6. The importance of community**: Wiccans value the power of community and often gather in covens or other groups to practice and celebrate together. They understand the importance of shared knowledge, wisdom, and support in their spiritual journeys. **The sense of community is an integral part of Wiccan spirituality.** In conclusion, Wiccan spirituality encompasses the worship of nature, the goddess, and the god; the celebration of seasonal festivals; the practice of magic; the emphasis on personal responsibility; and the importance of community. These teachings provide a framework for Wiccans to connect with the divine, the natural world, and their own spiritual power..

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