IL Flauto Magico (The Magic Flute) was produced by Operaestate, an international student opera company, in the courtyard of Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza, Boromini's 17th century Baroque church in Rome.
Costume designer Kathryn Rohe and I visually created Mozart's magical opera with costumes, props, and light, using the magnificently fanciful architecture of Boromini's Sapienza and the stars above as scenery. Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza (Saint Ives of Wisdom) literally became Mozart's temple of wisdom. Flanked by live palms, Boromini's architecture with its multi-layerd symbolic detail was a wonderfully dimensional backdrop to explore with light. Its incredible size gave the production a visual scale to match the sound of the symphony orchestra and chorus before it.
The lighting design, built around the conflicting forces of night and day, cycles between the bright, warm, and fanciful and the cool, dark, and ominous. The Queen of the Night sparkled, the stars in her costume reflecting the stars in the sky. Sarastro and his priests glowed with inner radiance as the two-hundred and fifty foot facade of the church was illuminated behind them.
The design challenges were many. Limited power,
ancient equipment, a very large space, and a lack of technical rehearsal
time were but a few. Even simple tasks like buying hardware became day-long
adventures. Nothing can compare, though, with the excitement of producing
great opera for such enthusiastic audiences in this historic and well
traveled location steps from the wild nightlife of Piazza Navona.
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Link Index:
Magic Flute Production Photographs
Sant'Ivo alla
Sapienza
Architectural
Research
Architectural
Photos
Lighting
the Architecture
Onsite
Production Photos