Like Glyndebourne’s recent Rinaldo, Longborough’s Magic Flute seems to take shape as a young boy’s daydream, or perhaps the world of his storybook coming to life in his imagination. A sense of dreamlike surrealism never quite fades from the stage: magic feels real in Thomas Guthrie’s vivid production, thanks to the skilful use of puppetry throughout the evening, as well as a faithful, traditional approach to the work itself. Though singers eventually take over openly, it feels supremely appropriate for Pamino and Tamina to be puppets, pulled as they are in different directions by the warring influences of Male and Female, of Light and Dark, of Sarastro and the Queen of the Night, before they finally find happiness in unity and love.
