‘It fills me with such happiness,” sings Papageno the birdcatcher as he describes his life. And happiness is what Welsh National Opera’s Magic Flute plainly aims to dispense: Dominic Cooke’s production (first seen in 2005) never forgets that Mozart was commissioned to write the opera for a suburban theatre whose audience required unstuffy entertainment.

The mood is set by the sunny designs (set designer Julian Crouch, costumes Kevin Pollard). The Magritte-inspired set features blue summer skies with little white clouds scurrying across the horizon. Down below, a whole series of busily opening and closing doors admit a giant lobster, all manner of furry, friendly, animals, and colourful human spectacles such as Sarastro’s courtiers, who are dressed from head to foot in orange: the Easyjet colour scheme even extends to their matching umbrellas and bowler hats. A lot of comic business is also incorporated.

Beneath the high jinks lies an unshowy musical interpretation. David Stout’s Papageno seems particularly at home with the comedy atmosphere — portly of bearing, and porty of voice, he has considerable difficulty in choosing between a good dinner and the delicious (in a different sense) Papagena (Claire Hampton). Queen of the Night Laure Meloy (pictured) has brought more depth into her singing since I last saw her in the role two years ago, and Peter Wedd provides a solid, well sung Tamino. But Tim Mirfin lacks the stage and vocal presence necessary for Sarastro — especially when delivering O Isis and Osiris against the distracting backdrop of his bowler-hatted brethren popping up and down through floor trapdoors. Stars of this revival are Elizabeth Watts, in glorious voice as Pamina, and conductor Gareth Jones, who captures all the light and shade in Mozart’s score. As for the darker side of the opera as a whole, that is left aside for another production, another day.