French actress Julie Depardieu presents at the Lausanne Opera her first production for young audiences, “The Little Magic Flute”, a shortened and interactive version of Mozart’s famous opera. This participatory show runs until November 15.
Actress and theater woman, Julie Depardieu has launched a new challenge by adapting “The Magic Flute”, Mozart’s famous masterpiece, for young audiences. Its version, in French, offers a participatory approach allowing children to get directly involved in the show by singing certain passages, like a giant karaoke. Two public workshops were organized to rehearse certain sung and partially choreographed interventions in advance.
Julie Depardieu’s staging aims to make the story more understandable while preserving the essence of the work. “I forced myself to try to truly understand the libretto, which is not easy. Mozart is a very intelligent guy, a Freemason and we obviously cut and reduced. But it is a joy for human beings, whether they are young or old”, affirms this opera enthusiast in the 12h45 of November 4 and Vertigo of November 7.
Several reading levels
Although designed for children, the show is also aimed at adults. “We are all old children and [la musique de] Mozart is a millefeuille. (…) Opera has many scales [de lecture]he learns to distinguish truth from falsehood. For example, Sarastro looks mean, but he’s actually not. The Night Queen looks like this, but maybe not. It’s just a life lesson that all children and all the big children that we are must do. This music by Mozart is a beautiful way of looking at the world,” underlines the actress.
Train the public of tomorrow
“The Little Magic Flute” is part of a process of democratization of opera, aiming to make it accessible and attractive for new generations. “If we take the children a little by the hand, they follow us. They’re the ideal audience and I didn’t know that. Opera is really for children, and if we don’t train them a little to [cet art]who will be the spectators of tomorrow? Maybe I will be very old, but I find that keeping this music is very important.”
Created at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in February 2024, the show is directed in the Vaud capital by the young French conductor Simon Proust, with the participation of soloists from the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne. “If there are people I admire on earth, it’s opera singers. We can ask them anything!” marvels Julie Depardieu.
“The Little Magic Flute” is a unique opportunity to discover or rediscover this Mozart classic from a new angle, both playful and educational, and perhaps to truly understand it for the first time. Julie Depardieu, for her part, has set herself a goal: “I would like it to make people dream and that, in all modesty, children will remember it all their lives.”
Comments collected by Julie Evard and Pierre Philippe Cadert
Adaptation web: Melissa Härtel
“The Little Magic Flute” after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, directed by Julie Depardieu. Lausanne Opera, from November 5 to 15, 2025.
