(MENAFN - Muscat Daily) This week the Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM) will host the first interactive opera of its kind in the region for children and family! We have chosen Mozart's sublime Singspiel lit. sung play written in 1791 Mozart's final year due to its suitability for all ages.

The work is a spiritual journey towards Enlightenment truth purification and quest for knowledge but for children it is also a fairytale about magic triumph of good over evil tolerance over hatred and clemency over vengeance.

The opera is an allegory set in no real locality or historical period but Ancient Egypt is evoked through the character of the wise Sarastro mysticism and his three temples. Mozart's The Magic Flute is a story of gripping power fantasy fairytale and magic. Surely magic is no stranger to opera; the first operas ever written in Italy by Jacopo Peri and Claudio Monteverdi for example were all based on the magical power of Orpheus' musical instrument the lyre. In The Magic Flute Tamino's flute is able to tame the wild animals by the sound of his playing.

A symbolic opera

As a fairytale the opera centers on binary polar opposites; good vs evil light vs darkness real vs fantasy spiritual vs temporal. The characters are a bizarre mixture of various backgrounds; Papageno is a 'bird catcher' who lives by eating and drinking. He catches birds for the starry Queen of the Night and thus counters the noble origin of Tamino a Javanese prince. Likewise the wise Sarastro is priest of the Sun and stands in opposition to the evil Queen of the Night. But if the Queen is the source of evil her daughter Pamina is her antithesis; the strongest force for good and a complement to Tamino. Falling short of Enlightenment the earthy Papageno and his mate Papagena are happy with their sensual pleasures of food and drink and unlike Tamino and Pamina they do not aspire to higher values of wisdom truth and spirituality.

As usual Mozart gives prime importance to his female characters. They are often the power that directs the action and even in the spiritual vain our spiritual path involves the rediscovery and guidance of feminine wisdom. To this end Tamino and Papageno are incomplete without Pamina and Papagena. Only with them side by side are they able to be led back to their true spiritual destination. Together they represent God's manifestation of a complete image. In the duet between Papageno and Pamina (Bei Mnnern welche Liebe) we hear 'Husband and wife and wife and husband reach towards the divine.' The duet epitomises the opera's moral story of Love which is the result of growth trial and overcoming. It's a sign of mutual relationship and the merging of two lives into one.

The music of Mozart is designed to appeal to all ages but its complex layers of symbolism and numerology can equally be enjoyed by amateurs and connoisseurs. Symbolism and numerology play important role in The Magic Flute; the opera has three ladies three spirits three trials; and three temples (nature reason and wisdom). Likewise its music is centered on keys with three flats (C minor and E-flat major) and the overture commences with three majestic opening chords.

Educational project

This production by the Teatro Sociale di Como in Italy is especially designed for family and children. The opera is in abbreviated form that caters to children's attention span and it is made relevant in the form of a child's dream obsessed with his video game. The protagonist is a boy who also must confront his own monsters and demons. In this production our students and children will sing and accompany Tamino in his journey towards light.

The opera is interactive in many ways; as a part of our education and outreach mission at the Royal Opera House Muscat we have collaborated with several schools public and private and worked over the last five months with hundreds of students and their teachers to familiarise them with the plot and the music of the opera. During their performances they will interact with the characters sing and actively participate in carrying the action. We are thrilled to host more than 2400 students in three of our morning performances that do not appear in our published program along with college students and various non-profit organisations. Their participation in the show goes beyond the passive attendance to the more engaging part of performing.

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Mozart's Magic Flute: A spiritual journey for all ages