The Magic Flute - Festival d'Aix-en-Provence 2026 - Die Zauberflöte - Festival d'Aix-en-Provence 2026

Description

A new production by the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence
in co-production with the Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg and Opera Ballet Vlaanderen

Mozart is inextricably linked to the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and it is his final opera, The Magic Flute, that opens the 2026 edition of this Provençal opera festival with a new production helmed by director Clément Cogitore.

The Magic Flute is a hybrid work—some see it as a children's fairy tale, others as a story of initiation steeped in Masonic symbolism, while others still hear a popular work blending noble ideas with childish antics. Clément Cogitore embraces this hybrid nature to highlight every dimension of Mozart’s opera, ranging from comedy and ritual to a love story. In The Magic Flute, "everything is both itself and its opposite": the cheerful Papageno (Sean Michael Plumb) can deliver profound and moving sentiments; one can laugh with the stern Sarastro (Brindley Sherratt); the formidable Queen of the Night (Sabine Devieilhe) can be as terrifying as she is deeply affecting; and the director aims to "take the characters to places where one might not necessarily expect to find them."

Above all, Clément Cogitore intends to delve deeper into the opera’s theme of initiation. He envisions the journey of Tamino and Pamina (Mauro Peter and Ying Fang) as a universal story of their "entry into the adult world" – a journey that begins in childhood when the two heroes might have crossed paths, followed by a period of separation, before they reunite as they step into adulthood. On stage, the director’s interpretation aims to return to the roots of Mozart’s opera: a work that seeks to dazzle the audience with visual effects and dynamism – featuring sets that appear and vanish rapidly, as if by magic, to match the score’s brisk pace.

Beyond the production’s aesthetics, the director also focuses on the work’s underlying message, deeply rooted in Enlightenment philosophy – an era defined by Western civilization’s profound faith in science, politics, community, and reason, all embodied by the character of Sarastro. Yet, in the director’s view, these moments of deep conviction and peace are incredibly fragile; Clément Cogitore explores how this – at times blind – confidence harbors the seeds of its own destruction and unraveling, and how grand political projects can collapse and "give rise to monsters."

Further information is available on the Festival’s official website.