The Magic Flute is not exactly an opera. It is a singspiel or in other words, a play with singing in German – an entertainment genre, extremely popular during Mozart's time. Its vocal performances coexist with sustained conversational parts: Sometimes a singspiel is called a musical of the 18th century. It allows for presenting a fantastic story – with machine effects and all theatrical magic. It is a fantastic and fairy tale story that Emanuel Schikaneder, the entrepreneur and librettist, offered to Mozart.
British directors have come up with The Magic Flute in the steampunk style for the Ural Opera. This word comes from the English "steam". At the end of the 20th century, the steampunk became a genre of science fiction: the Victorian England of the 1850’s; people rave about the scientific progress that will lead humanity to the eternal bless; the industrial boom has started in the world, labyrinths of pipelines are arranged everywhere, steam engines and fantastic mechanisms are in operation.
All of this has formed an unexpected theme with the outline of the story for The Magic Flute, where Tamino, the main character, literally undergoes fiery trial, water and copper pipes (Russian idiom, meaning "go through thick and thin") for the sake of happiness with his beloved Pamina. To prevent the viewer from being distracted from the action for even a moment, Daniel Slater, the director, has rewritten conversational dialogues and Aleksandr Cherepanov, the artist from Yekaterinburg, has drawn the accompanying comic action.
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