This August, I performed the roles of Sprecher, Papageno, 2nd armored guard, and I understudied Sarastro. That was fun but a TON of work! Granted, it was a concert version so I could use the score, but that’s still was a lot to learn over the summer. Studying and performing all these roles gave me insight into the whole work itself.
First let’s start with the two minor roles of Sprecher and Second Armored Guard. Vocally, these characters require powerhouse singers for fifteen minutes. The second armored guard is a duet that leads into quartets and the vocal parts require powerful singers in both armored guard parts. The tenor armored guard fits for a heldontenor and it sits in the high part of his range. The bass second armored doesn’t go as high and sits mostly in the lower part of his range. Although it’s not technically difficult, it requires a singer to give power in his lower register in order to balance with the tenor armored guard. Sprecher is the ideal bass-baritone role. It requires power and the tessitura sits in a very nice place for bass-baritone singers.
Musically, these parts are way different from the rest of the opera. The second armored guard starts with a very slow, dramatic, legato duet then leads into a trio than a quartet. The transitions are really cool and the music is awesome! Sprecher has a eight minute duet that’s basically recitative and a beautiful duet between two priests. Sprecher is the only type of recitative in Die Zauberflote and the duet is one of the shortest opera duets ever! However, all this musical is really unique and adds such flavor to the show!
Now, as characters, they aren’t that interesting. The second armored guard basically tells them that the trials will be difficult and Sprecher helps guide Tamino and Papageno. Between the two, I think Sprecher has a little more character because of his concern and care for Tamino and his interaction with Papageno. Basically, he’s almost like a mini Sarastro (except he has this very anti-woman sentence he sings that doesn’t look great nowadays). Although they lack in character, musically they are both real treats in the opera.
Sarastro and Papageno are main roles in the opera. Vocally, these are very different parts. Although I was only covering Sarastro, I ended up singing all of Sarastro during rehearsals multiple times. It’s a short part, but requires great voice every time. The hardest part for me was the trio. If Tamino is a spinto tenor or lower, it becomes a very diffiicult role to manage. Sarastro sits in the lower part of his voice for the majority of this trio while the tenor sits in the top part of his voice the entire time. It’s like the second armored guard. It doesn’t go super high, but Sarastro has to give a lot of voice in the lower part of his voice in order to balance with Tamino and Pamina. This trio is the reason bass-baritones don’t sing this part too often. That’s why Rene Pape won’t beat Kurt Moll in this role.
Papageno is a challenge for bass-baritones. It’s not that it goes very high or low, it’s the higher tessitura of the entire part. It has three arias, two quintets, two duets, two trio, and some transition type sections. Although individually those pieces are no issue, it’s the entire show that makes it very difficult. The tessitura is perfect for a high baritone, which explains why singers ,like my teacher Mark Oswald, make perfect Papagenos. Actually, my teacher debuted Papageno at the Met because the bass-baritone Bryn Terfel canceled (and after singing the role, I understand why he canceled!). Sir Geraint Evans was the only famous bass-baritone that really excelled in this role, and that was at the beginning of his career. Most bass-baritones sing Sprecher because of this.
Musically, these roles are amazing. Sarastro has fantastic entrance music, beautiful arias, and a nice trio. Papageno has catchy arias, funny quintetts, and wonderful duets. I would take Sarastro’s arias over Papageno’s arias, but Papageno’s ensembles are the best! He has a beautiful duet with Pamina, an iconic duet with Papagena, and funny trios. Papageno’s quintets are by far the best parts in the opera! They are hilarious, musically brilliant, and so fun to sing!
As a child actor in California, I enjoyed performing characters that I could really sink my teeth into. That’s the issue with these two characters. They don’t really develop throughout the opera. Out of all the characters in the opera, Papageno is the most relatable character and most enjoyable to perform. He’s hilarious, makes very valid points, and has no filter! Audiences love him! However, he lacks character development. The most he transforms in the opera is in his suicide aria. He realizes it’s his own fault (because he can’t stop talking) that he can’t be with his wife and contemplates suicide. He’s depressed, and he realizes he’s wrong. But that’s the extent of his development. Papageno doesn’t change his ways in order to be with his wife. He basically gets sympathy by threatening to commit suicide and that’s why he gets a second chance with Papagena. I love performing Papageno and he is very entertaining, but he lacks that transformation that grasps my full heart while playing this role.
If I was to review Die Zauberflote as a whole, I would say it’s musically brilliant, but lacks in it’s story. Unlike Le Nozze di Figaro, all the characters aren’t real enough and they don’t truly develop by the end of the opera. In Le Nozze di Figaro, I would say all the characters transform by the end and they grow as people. However, what makes Die Zauberflote so amazing is Mozart’s music: the tune smith like quality, Mozart’s ability to transition from one section to the next, and the musical colors he uses in order to express thoughts in notes. I enjoy performing all these roles, but it’s because musically this opera is genius! I listened to this opera for a month every day with three different casts and it never got old! It’s an incredible opera and truly a blessing to have in the opera world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdmOlHsSx7k&feature=em-share_video_user
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHLcmQSE9zA&feature=em-share_video_user
