Vi fick en pratstund med Roberto Recchia som regisserar Trollflöjten sommaren 2019.

How do you feel about coming to Opera på Skäret this summer?

I am very thrilled. I’ve discovered this secluded spot last summer and I’ve found it magical.

The location, the atmosphere, the friendly people, the venues, the bar…everything work perfectly to create a unique place. Last time I stayed there for just one day as a tourist. I’m looking forward to be staying there for the rehearsal period.

What does Mozart and Die Zauberflöte means to you?

Zauberflöte is a special opera under every point of view. I feel like I’ve ever known it, even before I became an opera lover many many years ago.

Who doesn’t know the super high notes of the Queen of the night or has never sung “Pa… Pa pa… Pa…” even without knowing who Papageno is?

But then, like all the masterpieces, you start and listen to the full score, and you discover that it’s not just a mine of wonderful tunes after a very funny libretto, but you can find new aspects and details every time you face it.

And yet, whatever you find, no matter how deep you go, the result is a very joyful and cheeringly opera, that can be read on multiple layers.

It’s a sort of Alice in wonderland set to music, where the fantastic, the magic, the comedy and the tragedy, the good and the evil cohabit in a very natural way, as in dreams.

That’s why I thought to leave behind all the hidden meanings and symbols and to imagine that all the characters and all their deeds are part of a dream of Tamino. Pamina, Sarastro, the Queen of the night, Papageno… they are all part of the real life of Tamino and they are transfigured in their new shape by Tamino’s brain, in a magic world (or underworld) where everything is possible.

After all, what is Die Zauberflöte but Tamino’s coming of age, his journey toward adulthood?

And what’s more, an opera that speaks about transformations looks a perfect choice for Skäret, where the transformation of the old sawmill, lost in the middle of nowhere, in a modern Opera house needs a touch of magic to be believed.

What project are you working on right now?

I am working on a new Italian play (“Tutto quello che volevo”) that will open next May in Milan, on a new opera (“Mettici il cuore”) that will premiere in Novara next Septemper and I will be back to the next Wexford Festival Opera with a new production of “Le Docteur Miracle” by Georges Bizet.

Vi ser fram emot nästa sommar. Gör som 3000 andra redan gjort, köp biljetter till årets föreställningar!