The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: On Saturday “The MET Live in HD” will feature Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute.” Also, UW trombonist Mark Hetzler’s concert is TONIGHT (NOT Saturday) as is a concert of Mozart’s music for piano-four hands

CORRECTION: The Stravinsky concert by UW trombone professor Mark Hetzler and friends is TONIGHT at 8 p.m. in Mills Hall – NOT Saturday night as incorrectly listed in the posting yesterday. For more information about the performers and the program, go to:

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2017/10/12/classical-music-uw-trombonist-mark-hetzler-explores-stravinsky-with-alumni-musicians-in-a-free-concert-on-saturday-night-plus-you-can-hear-free-brahms-at-noon-this-friday/

ALERT: The Ear received the following word from early music specialist Trevor Stephenson: “Tonight, my distinguished colleague from France, Marcia Hadjimarkos, will join me for a program of Mozart’s thrilling music for piano four-hands.

“The concert will be held at the Madison Christian Community church, 7118 Old Sauk Road. The acoustics there for the fortepiano are really wonderful. Tickets are available at the door. They cost $20 for the general public and $10 for students.”

By Jacob Stockinger

The broadcasts of “The Met Live in HD” don’t usually fall in consecutive weeks.

But this weekend is an exception.

Last Saturday and then again on Wednesday, the current season premiered with a critically acclaimed  production of Bellini’s “Norma.”

This Saturday, a new production of the ever-popular “The Magic Flute” by Mozart will be featured.

The three-hour show starts at 11:55 a.m. on Saturday at the Marcus Point Cinema on the far west side of Madison and the Marcus Palace Cinema in Sun Prairie.

Encore performances at both movie theaters are this coming Wednesday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

The full-length opera will be sung in German with English surtitles.

Tickets are $22 for the public, and $18 for seniors.

The production promises to be special for two reasons: the elaborate, colorful staging and innovative costumes by director Julie Taymor, famous for her oversized puppet-like costumes in “The Lion King”; and vibrant conducting by longtime Metropolitan Opera artistic director and now emeritus conductor James Levine. (You can hear the upbeat Overture in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

Below are some other photos to give you a taste of the production:

Here is a link for notes about the production, including several videos:

http://www.metopera.org/Season/2017-18-Season/zauberflote-mozart-tickets/

And here is a link to a synopsis and notes about the cast:

http://www.metopera.org/metoperafiles/season/2017-18/operas/zauberflote/hd_syn_Zauberflote_global_and_usa_dates.pdf