MUSIC REVIEW

Masonic temple is fine home to Mozart

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and Opera in the Rock co-staged Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera The Magic Flute, steeped in Masonic symbolism, in the auditorium, full of Masonic symbols, of downtown Little Rock's Albert Pike Memorial Temple.

Mozart would have been right at home. The opera certainly was.

Top-notch singers from hither and yon, a "full" 30-plus piece chamber orchestra and an array of astonishing backdrops and Masonic-robe costumes make this production a magnificent Masonic-musical nonpareil.

The show kicked off the orchestra's spring 2015 Intimate Neighborhood Concerts season. And it's the first fully staged, multiact opera in nearly a decade, at least since Wildwood stopped producing them in 2006.

The piece's hero and heroine, fine voices both, are "officially" Prince Tamino (tenor Vernon DiCarlo) and Pamina (soprano Bonnie Frauenthal), daughter of the Queen of the Night (soprano Dana Pundt), but baritone Darren Drone comically stole most of the show as Papageno the bird catcher.

Bass Nicholas Nelson scraped plenty of melodic barnacles as Sarastro, chief priest of the Temple of Wisdom, and kudos are due to tenor Daniel Folts-Morrison as the villainous Monostatos, soprano Genevieve West Fulks as Papagena, Papageno's true-love-to-be, and the three Ladies (Maria Fasciano DiCarlo, Stephanie Smittle and Kelley Ponder). Pundt was technically superb but insufficiently overwhelming as the coloratura queen.

Arkansas Festival Ballet dancers provided a nice added touch as birds and woodland creatures. Supertitles bolster the clunky English translation of Emanuel Schikaneder's German libretto.

Singers, dancers, orchestra and conductor Philip Mann will do it all again at 7 p.m. today at the temple, East Seventh and Scott streets, Little Rock. The show is sold out, but in case there are turnback tickets, you can call (501) 666-1761, Extension 100, or visit the website, ArkansasSymphony.org.

Metro on 01/23/2015

Upcoming Events