(Credit: Iko Freese)

In celebration of its 50th Anniversary Season Des Moines Metro Opera (DMMO) will present Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” on March 5 and 6, 2022 at the Des Moines Civic Center.

Singing their DMMO debut roles are soprano Raven McMillon as Pamina and tenor Aaron Blake as Tamino. Soprano Audrey Luna returns to the DMMO stage to sing the role of The Queen of the Night. Baritone Andrew Wilkowske sings the role of Papageno alongside soprano Denis Vélez as Papagena. Bass Christian Zaremba portrays Sarastro, tenor John Robert Lindsey sings Monostatos. Mathilda Edge, Sun-Ly Pierce, and Kathleen Felty will perform the roles of first, second, and third lady, respectively.

Stage Director Erik Friedman leads the acclaimed 2012 Komische Oper Berlin production by Barrie Kosky and Suzanne Andrade. The hand-drawn animations are designed by Paul Barritt and the scenery and costumes are by Ester Bialis. Christopher Allen conducts the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra.

The 1920s, silent film-inspired version of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” has been described as “surreally enchanting” by LA Weekly. DMMO’s General and Artistic Director Michael Egel says “This is not your run-of-the-mill Magic Flute. Our city has never seen anything quite like this.”

The opera will be sung in German and have projected English supertitles.