The opera novice: Mozart’s The Magic Flute - Telegraph The opera novice: Mozart’s The Magic Flute Is there a more crowd-pleasing opera than The Magic Flute, asks Sameer Rahim. Ekaterina Siurina as Pamina and Charles Castronovo as Tamino in Die Zauberflote at the Royal Opera House Photo: Mike Hoban Follow I’ve been listening to a lot of Wagner recently – partly inspired by Nicholas Spice’s recent stimulating essay in the LRB . That was entitled “Is Wagner Bad for Us?” and while I can't answer that question, I do know that a perpetual diet of heavy Teutonic music can leave you yearning for something lighter. So it’s with relief that I turned to Mozart’s pantomime concoction Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), currently playing at the Royal Opera House in David McVicar’s revived production. Any novices expecting a witty romantic comedy in the vein of the Mozart-Da Ponte collaborations like Le Nozze di Figaro or Cosi fan tutte will be surprised.

The plot of The Magic Flute is more akin to a fairy tale: a noble prince is ordered by the mysterious Queen of the Night to rescue a beautiful princess who has been kidnapped. The Magic Flute, first performed in 1791 in a suburban Viennese theatre, was called a Singspiel on the playbill. Literally meaning Sing-speak, the form combines spoken dialogue with arias and ensembles, and relies on spectacular visual effects to keep the crowd happy. Interestingly in his letters Mozart referred to it as an opera – he evidently took the piece more seriously than the punters seeing it. He wrote the music to the words of his friend Emanuel Schikaneder, an actor, impresario and fellow enthusiast for the freemasons – a group whose rational ideals had a powerful influence on the opera. It opens in the thick of action. A serpent is attacking Prince Tamino, the hero, when three ladies appear from nowhere and save him. This scene, like many in the opera, could as easily be played for laughs or as genuinely scary – the music indicates the latter, I think.

(David McVicar’s Chinese dragon tries scariness without banishing the comic aspect.) These ladies claim to work for the Queen of the Night, whose daughter Pamina has been kidnapped by the evil Sarastro. When Tamino sees her picture he breaks into one of those heart-melting arias (Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön: “This image is enchantingly lovely”) that Mozart seems to have been able to conjure with ease. When we meet the Queen she gives Tamino a magic flute to aid him on his quest. Tamino’s comic sidekick is the birdcatcher Papageno, whose sweet innocence makes him the most endearing of all the characters or – if he’s played badly – the most annoying. It’s arguable that a successful Magic Flute depends on who’s playing Papageno because especially in the second half he almost supersedes the main plot. This oddity made more sense when you realise that in the original production he was played by the librettist Schikaneder. Mozart seems to have been happy to indulge him – and even join in the fun.

In a letter he reports how he liked to sit in the wings and play improvisations on the glockenspiel while his friend was performing. Related Articles The opera novice: La Traviata by Verdi 12 Feb 2013 In a dramatic reversal that seems a touch puzzling (there is a theory that the libretto was throw together in a rush) when Tamino eventually meets the kidnapper Sarastro and his temple-goers, they turn out to be anything but evil. In this production we see the temple’s speaker bathed in an enlightened glow, playing with an instrument that measures the heavens – controlling the Queen of the Night's elemental forces. Sarastro’s music is grave, impressive and, for me, a trifle pompous. The trials he makes Tamino and Pamina undergo – walking through fire etc – before they can marry seem more designed to allow dramatic stage enactment than to be true tests of virtue. Before then the Queen of the Night returns for the opera’s most famous aria . While ordering her daughter to murder Sarastro she pushes the human voice to breaking point by climbing to the highest of high notes. This isn’t Mozart simply gunning for impressive effects: it’s meant to express anger beyond words.

As Julian Rushton writes in the programme here, it is “a direct characterisation of a brilliant but unstable and grasping personality”. Recordings don't do justice to feeling the dangerous physical thrill of those high notes when you're in the theatre. Though she is eventually defeated, her voice echoes into the night. My enjoyment of The Magic Flute was much enhanced by watching Ingmar Bergman’s marvellous film adaptation . Made for Swedish television in 1975 and filmed as though in a theatre, the whole performance is imbued Bergman's delight in all aspects of Mozart’s opera. As the overture plays the camera focuses on the reactions of different audience members. Some are thoughtful, some smiling and others in tears – perfectly in keeping with the music’s nervous energy, oscillating between sadness and joy. We keep returning to one cherubic girl, whose features resemble that of the child Mozart: she becomes an emblem of our inner child. The secret of the film – aside from a genuinely charming Papegeno, Hakan Hagegard – is that Bergman presents the comic parts comically and the serious parts seriously.

When Pamina and then Papagena, thinking their lovers have abandoned them, contemplate suicide in the second act, the music’s dark edge is made dramatically real. There are also sly jokes: the camera goes backstage during the interval and we see Sarastro reading the sheet music for Parsifal and a boy with a Donald Duck comic. In a nod to Bergman’s iconic scene from The Seventh Seal, Tamino and Pamina play chess. Few, I believe, would argue that The Magic Flute was Mozart’s greatest opera. It was designed to be a popular hit in a form of theatre whose conventions have dated badly. And yet with such rough unpromising material he manages to evoke both child-like wonder and rational enlightenment – as well the darker pulsations of life. How does he pull it off? Mozart truly is a magician. The Magic Flute (Mozart) - Synopsis The Magic Flute An Opera by W A Mozart Share this page: Opera in two acts by Mozart; words by Emanuel Schikaneder and Gieseke.

Produced, September 30, 1791, in Vienna, in the Theatre auf der Wieden; Paris, 1801, as "Les Mystères d'Isis"; London, Kings Theatre, June 6, 1811 (Italian); Covent Garden, May 27, 1833 (German); Drury Lane, March 10, 1838 (English); New York, Park Theatre, April 17, 1833 (English). The role of Astrofiammante, Queen of the Night, has been sung here by Carlotta Patti, Ilma di Murska, Gerster, Sembrich, and Hempel.

CHARACTERS SARASTRO, High Priest of Isis .Bass TAMINO, an Egyptian Prince Tenor PAPAGENO, a bird-catcher ..Baritone ASTROFIAMMANTE, Queen of the Night .Soprano PAMINA, her daughter .Soprano MONOSTATOS, a Moor, chief slave of the temple .Baritone PAPAGENA .Soprano Three Ladies-in-Waiting to the Queen; Three Youths of the Temple; Priests, Priestesses, Slaves, etc. French baritone opera singer Lucien Fugère (1848-1935) as Papageno in the 1890 production of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute). Time: Egypt, about the reign of Rameses I. Place: Near and at the Temple of Isis, Memphis. The libretto to "The Magic Flute" is considered such a jumble of nonsense that it is as well to endeavour to extract some sense from it. Emanuel Johann Schikaneder, who wrote it with the aid of a chorister named Gieseke, was a friend of Mozart and a member of the same Masonic Lodge.

He also was the manager of a theatrical company and had persuaded Mozart to compose the music to a puppet show for him. He had selected for this show the story of "Lulu" by Liebeskind, which had appeared in a volume of Oriental tales brought out by Wieland under the title of "Dschinnistan." In the original tale a wicked sorcerer has stolen the daughter of the Queen of Night, who is restored by a Prince by means of magic. While Schikaneder was busy on his libretto, a fairy story by Perinet, music by Wenzel Müller, and treating of the same subject, was given at another Viennese theatre. Its great success interfered with Schikaneders original plan. At that time, however, freemasonry was a much discussed subject. It had been interdicted by Maria Theresa and armed forces were employed to break up the lodges. As a practical man Schikaneder saw his chance to exploit the interdicted rites on the stage. Out of the wicked sorcerer he made Sarastro, the sage priest of Isis. The ordeals of Tamino and Pamina became copies of the ceremonials of freemasonry.

He also laid the scene of the opera in Egypt, where freemansory believes its rites to have originated. In addition to all this Mozarts beautiful music ennobled the libretto even in its dull and unpoetical passages, and lent to the whole a touch of the mysterious and sacred. "The muse of Mozart lightly bears her century of existence," writes a French authority, of this score. Because of its supposed relation to freemasonry, commentators have identified the vengeful Queen of the Night with Maria Theresa, and Tamino with the Emperor. Pamina, Papageno, and Papagena are set down as types of the people, and Monostatos as the fugleman of monasticism. Mozart wrote on "The Magic Flute" from March until July and in September, 1791. September, 1791. September 30, two months before his death, the first performance was given. In the overture to "The Magic Flute" the heavy reiterated chords represent, it has been suggested, the knocking at the door of the lodge room, especially as they are heard again in the temple scene, when the novitiate of Tamino is about to begin.

The brilliancy of the fugued allegro often has been commented on as well as the resemblance of its theme to that of Clementis sonata in B-flat. The story of "The Magic Flute" opens Act I, with Tamino endeavouring to escape from a huge snake. He trips in running and falls unconscious. Hearing his cries for help, three black-garbed Ladies-in-Waiting of the Queen of the Night appear and kill the snake with their spears. Quite unwillingly they leave the handsome youth, who, on recovering consciousness, see dancing towards him an odd-looking man entirely covered with feathers. It is Papageno, a bird-catcher. He tells the astonished Tamino that this is the realm of the Queen of the Night. Nor, seeing that the snake is dead, does he hesitate to boast that it was he who killed the monster. For this lie he is immediately punished. The three Ladies-in-waiting reappear and place a padlock on his mouth. Then they show Tamino the miniature of a maiden, whose magical beauty at once fills his heart with ardent love. Enter the Queen of the Night.

She tells Tamino the portrait is that of her daughter, Pamina, who has been taken from her by a wicked sorcerer, Sarastro. She has chosen Tamino to deliver the maiden and as a reward he will receive her hand in marriage. The queen then disappears and the three Ladies-in-waiting come back. They take the padlock from Papagenos mouth, give him a set of chimes and Tamino a golden flute. By the aid of these magical instruments they will be able to escape the perils of their journey, on which they will be accompanied by three youths or genii. Change of scene. A richly furnished apartment in Sarastros palace is disclosed. A brutal Moor, Monastatos, is pursuing Pamina with unwelcome attentions. The appearance of Papageno puts him to flight. The bird-catcher recognizes Pamina as the daughter of the Queen of the Night, and assures her that she will soon be rescued. In the meantime the Three Youths guide Tamino to a grove where three temples stand.

He is driven away from the doors of two, but at the third there appears a priest who informs him that Sarastro is no tyrant, no wicked sorcerer as the Queen had warned him, but a man of wisdom and of noble character. The sound of Papagenos voice arouses Tamino from the meditations inspired by the words of the priest. He hastens forth and seeks to call his companion by playing on his flute. Papageno is not alone. He is trying to escape with Pamina, but is prevented by the appearance of Monostatos and some slaves, who endeavour to seize them. But Papageno sets the Moor and his slaves dancing by playing on his magic chimes. Trumpet blasts announce the coming of Sarastro. Pamina falls at the feet of the High Priest and explains that she was trying to escape the unwelcome attentions of the Moor. The latter now drags Tamino in, but instead of the reward he expects, receives a sound flogging. By the command of Sarastro, Tamino and Pamina are brought into the Temple of Ordeals, where they must prove that they are worthy of the higher happiness. Act II. In the Palm Grove.

Sarastro informs the priests of the plans which he has laid. The gods have decided that Pamina shall become the wife of the noble youth Tamino. Tamino, however, must prove, by his own power, that he is worthy of admission to the Temple. Therefore Sarastro has taken under his protection Pamina, daughter of the Queen of the Night, to whom is due all darkness and superstition. But the couple must go through severe ordeals in order to be worthy of entering the Temple of Light, and thus of thwarting the sinister machinations of the Queen. In the succeeding scenes we see these fabulous ordeals, which Tamino, with the assistance of his magic flute and his own purity of purpose, finally overcomes in company with Pamina. Darkness is banished and the young couple enter into the light of the Temple of the Sun. Papageno also fares well, for he receives Papageno for wife. There is much nonsense and even buffoonery in "The Magic Flute"; and, in spite of real nobility in the role and music of Sarastro, Mr.

Krehbiels comment that the piece should be regarded as somewhat in the same category as a Christmas pantomine is by no means far-fetched. It lends itself to elaborate production, and spectacular performances of it have been given at the Metropolitan Opera House. Its representation requires for the role of Astrofiammante, Queen of the Night, a soprano of extraordinarily high range and agility of voice, as each of the two great airs of this vengeful lady extends to high F and are so brilliant in style that one associates with them almost anything but the dire outpouring of threats their text is intended to convey. They were composed because Mozarts sister-in-law, Josepha Weber (Mme. Hofer) was in the cast of the first performance and her voice was such as has been described above. The Queen has an air in Act I and another in Act II. A quotation from the second, the so-called "Vengeance aria," will show the range and brilliancy of voice required of a singer in the role of Astrofiammante.

One is surprised to learn that this tour de force of brilliant vocalization is set to words beginning: "Vengeance of hell is boiling in my bosom"; for by no means does it boil with a vengeance. Papageno in his dress of feathers is an amusing character. His first song, "A fowler bold in me you see," with interludes on his pipes, is jovial; and after his mouth has been padlocked his inarticulate and oft-repeated "Hm!" can always be made provocative of laughter. With Pamina he has a charming duet "The manly heart that love desires." The chimes with which he causes Monostatos and his slaves to dance willy-nilly, are delightful and so is his duet with Papageno, near the end of the opera. Tamino, with the magic flute, charms the wild beasts. They come forth from their lairs and lie at his feet. "Thy magic tones shall speak for me," is his principal air. The concerted number for Pamina and trio of female voices (the Three Youths or genii) is of exceeding grace.

The two Men in Armour, who in one of the scenes of the ordeals guard the portal to a subterranean cavern and announce to Tamino the awards that await him, do so to the vocal strains of an old German sacred melody with much admired counter-point in the orchestra. Next, however, in significance to the music for Astrofiammante, indeed, of far nobler character than the airs for the Queen of the Night, are the invocation of Isis by Sarastro, "O, Isis and Osiris," with its interluding chant of the priests, and his air, "Within this hallowed dwelling." Not only the solemnity of the vocal score but the beauty of the orchestral accompaniment, so rich, yet so restrained, justly cause these two numbers to rank with Mozarts finest achievements. "Die Zauberflöte" (The Magic Flute) was its composers swan-song in opera and perhaps his greatest popular success. Yet he is said to have made little or nothing out of it, having reserved as his compensation the right to dispose of copies of the score to other theatres.

Copies, however, were procured surreptitiously; his last illness set in; and, poor business man that he was, others reaped the rewards of his genius. In 1801, ten years after Mozarts death, there was produced in Paris an extraordinary version of "The Magic Flute," entitled "Les Mystères dIsis" (The Mysteries of Isis). Underlying this was a considerable portion of "The Magic Flute" score, but also introduced in it were fragments from other works of the composer ("Don Giovanni," "Figaro," "Clemenza di Tito") and even bits from Haydn symphonies. Yet this hodge-podge not only had great success -- owing to the magic of Mozarts music -- it actually was revived more than a quarter of a century later, and the real "Zauberflöte" was not given in Paris until 1829.

Besides the operas discussed, Mozart produced (1781) "Idomoneo" and (1791) "La Clemenza di Tito." In 1768, when he was twelve years old, a one-act "Singspiel" or musical comedy, "Bastien and Bastienne," based on a French vaudeville by Mme. Favart, was privately played in Vienna. With text rearranged by Max Kalbeck, the graceful little piece has been revived with success. The story is of the simplest. Two lovers, Bastien (tenor) and Bastienne (soprano), have quarreled. Without the slightest complication in the plot, they are brought together by the third character, an old shepherd named Colas (bass). "Der Schauspiel-director" (The Impresario), another little comedy opera, produced 1786, introduces that clever rogue, Schikaneder, at whose entreaty "The Magic Flute" was composed. The other characters include Mozart himself, and Mme.

Hofer, his sister-in-law, who was the Queen of the Night in the original cast of "The Magic Flute." The story deals with the troubles of an impresario due to the jealousy of prima donnas. "Before they are engaged, opera singers are very engaging, except when they are engaged in singing." This line is from H. E. Krehbiels translation of the libretto, produced, with "Bastien and Bastienne" (translated by Alice Matullah, as a "lyric pastoral"), at the Empire Theatre, New York, October 26, 1916. These charming productions were made by the Society of American Singers with a company including David Bispham (Schikaneder and Colas), Albert Reiss (Mozart and Bastien), Mabel Garrison, and Lucy Gates; the direction that of Mr. Reiss. There remain to be mentioned two other operatic comedies by Mozart: "The Elopement from the Serail" (Belmonte und Constance), 1782, in three acts; and "Cosi fan Tutte" (They All Do It), 1790, in two.

The music of "Cosi fan Tutte" is so sparkling that various attempts have been made to relieve it of the handicap imposed by the banality of the original libretto by da Ponte. Herman Levis version has proven the most successful of the various rearrangements. The characters are two Andalusian sisters, Fiordiligi (soprano), Dorabella (soprano; two officers, their fiancés, Ferrando (tenor), and Guglielmo (baritone); Alfonso (bass); and Despina (soprano), maid to the two sisters. Alfonso lays a wager with the officers that, like all women, their fiancées will prove unfaithful, if opportunity were offered. The men pretend their regiment has been ordered to Havana, then return in disguise and lay siege to the young ladies. In various ways, including a threat of suicide, the womens sympathies are played upon. In the original they are moved to pledge their hearts and hands to the supposed new-comers.

A reconciliation follows their simple pronouncement that "they all do it." In the revised version, they become cognizant of the intrigue, play their parts in it knowingly, at the right moment disclose their knowledge, shame their lovers, and forgive them. An actual wager laid in Vienna is said to have furnished the basis for da Pontes libretto. ** Beautiful Poster for The Magic Flute ** A poster for French performance of Mozart's The Magic Flute. Artist: Marc Chagall. Backstage at Utah Opera | The Story and Backstory of writing The Magic Flute Home > Program Notes >The Story and Backstory of writing The Magic Flute The Story and Backstory of writing The Magic Flute The Story and Backstory of writing The Magic Flute Posted by Luke Howard in Program Notes 26 Feb 2013 The plot of The Magic Flute is undeniably complicated. And it’s not the complexity of human relationships that swirl around a basic dramatic premise like “love” (as in The Marriage of Figaro) or morality and politics (as in Don Giovanni). Neither is it a comedy, though there are comic moments. It is truly a head-scratcher from almost any viewpoint.

One of the only criticisms Richard Wagner had of Mozart was that he was willing to set low quality libretti to high quality music (and if that was the worst thing Wagner could say about Mozart, then it was high praise). But if Wagner was thinking about The Magic Flute, then he had a point. Unraveling the plot of The Magic Flute appears to have generated more scholarly research than the music has, as scholars and fans alike try to account for its eccentricities. The opera conductor and part-time Mozart scholar Myer Fredman once remarked on how oddly the plot of The Magic Flute unfolds. “An overture, then a dragon,” he notes, “three ‘cabaret’ ladies, a quasi-folk song, an intensely passionate invocation to a portrait, and a virtuoso tirade. Now follows a padlock, a magic flute, a magic glockenspiel and five singers who step out of character to talk directly to the audience.” And the heroine hasn’t even made her entrance yet! It’s no wonder audiences are confused. Added to this, there is the element of pantomime, the blend of comic and serious, and rapid scene changes (though one can find that in Shakespeare as well).

The staging of The Magic Flute is notoriously difficult without making it look either farcical (overlooking the serious elements) or Wagnerian (overlooking the humor and wit). Karl Giesecke Is The Magic Flute a fairy story, then, a jumble of loosely-Masonic allegories that changed direction half way through, or is it a tightly constructed plot whose twists and ambiguities all serve a unified, higher purpose? A partial answer emerges in the backstory of Schikaneder’s troupe, which had been performing “fairy-tale operas” for several years before The Magic Flute. In 1789, they staged a performance of Karl Ludwig Giesecke’s Oberon, a Singspiel that inspired many of the characters and plot turns in The Magic Flute. (Oberon was itself an adaptation of an earlier fairy-tale Singpsiel, Sophie Seyler’s Hüon und Amande, which was itself an adaptation of an earlier work by Christoph Wieland.) Giesecke was a member of Schikaneder’s troupe, a fellow Mason, and later played the (mostly speaking) role of the “First Slave” in the premier of The Magic Flute.

Jakob Liebeskind’s fairy story “Lulu, or the Magic Flute” also provided inspiration, and was published in a collection titled Dschinnistan just before Oberon was produced on the stage. One of the engraved illustrations from Liebeskind’s Dschinnistan, showing a Sarastro-like high priest, Egyptian statuary, symbols of magic and the occult, and a princely figure. In 1790, Benedikt Schack, another member of Schikaneder’s troupe, pulled together a number of composers (including Mozart) to contribute music for another Singspiel titled Der Stein der Weisen or Die Zauberinsel (“The Philosopher’s Stone”), also based on Liebeskind’s fairy tales. And just a few months before The Magic Flute was staged, a rival troupe in Vienna staged a performance of Joachim Perinet’s Kaspar the Bassoonist, or Die Zauberzither, which shares some similar plot lines with The Magic Flute and was similarly based on Liebeskind’s stories.

The genre of the Zauberoper, “magic opera” or “fairty-tale opera” was, then, at the height of its popularity, and Schikaneder begged Mozart to help him cash in on the current fashion. To an extent, then, the plot line of The Magic Flute was already set by these earlier precedents. At the very least, the two friends created a kind of opera in which complicated plot twists, bizarre narrative developments and ambiguous conundrums either didn’t matter to the audience, or could be explained away by the fancifulness and imagination of the Zauberoper genre itself. The answer to the question of what The Magic Flute is all about depends largely on which authority one consults. Several Mozart scholars have claimed that the direction of the plot changes inexplicably a third of the way through. Did Mozart and Schikaneder decide after composing a substantial portion of the score to switch things around?

It’s an interesting dilemma, because the Queen at the opera’s start does seem to be “good,” and Saratstro “bad.” (In Liebeskind’s fairy tales on which The Magic Flute appears to be based, the Queen is indeed a virtuous figure and the priest is evil.) The Queen’s helpers—the Three Ladies—save Tamino from the serpent (a symbol, perhaps, of Lucifer and deception) and they overtly praise the need for honesty. The Queen is telling the truth when she points out that Sarastro has taken her daughter from her. She gives Tamino a magic Flute and Papageno a magic glockenspiel that ultimately will bring them wisdom and happiness. She provides for them the Three Genii (or Three Boys) who are supernaturally wise and honest. On one level, at least, it would seem that the Queen really did start out as a good character, and was changed in the middle of Act I to an evil character, without recomposing the music or recasting the first part of the story. But other scholars claim that these plot peculiarities can be understood in terms of a larger universal story that untangles the complexities of façade and inner truth.

In this interpretation, The Magic Flute is a sophisticated symbolic vehicle, a lesson in epistemology that represents a philosophical exercise commonly known in German as Sein und Schein (Reality and Appearance). It invites the viewer to look past first appearances, and examine the premises and assumptions on which those appearances are based. In other words, it takes the story much further than a mere fairy tale—where characters are “types” and the distinction between good and evil usually well-marked—and turns it into a more meaningful and profound allegory. Just as Tamino is forced to reconsider some of the allegations, innuendo, circumstantial evidence, rumor and other manifestations of apparent truth, the audience also takes part in this exercise, discovering the true Sein (Reality) beneath the deceptive Schein (or Appearance). This makes the first part of the opera an intentional deception, trying to convince Tamino that good is evil, and evil good. The second Act then pulls the curtain back and reveals the Truth that the Queen had hidden in the opera’s opening. But the key to understanding what’s really being presented on stage is in Mozart’s music itself.

The Magic Flute | opera by Mozart | Britannica.com The Magic Flute singspiel The Magic Flute, German Die Zauberflöte, singspiel in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , with a German libretto by Austrian actor and theatrical producer Emanuel Schikaneder . The opera , Mozart’s last, premiered at the rustic Theater auf der Wieden near Vienna on September 30, 1791, not long before Mozart’s death on December 5. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, portrait by Johann Georg Edlinger; in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, … Sean Gallup/Getty Images Background and context On one level, The Magic Flute is a simple fairy tale concerning a damsel in distress and the handsome prince who rescues her. Beneath the surface, however, the piece is much more complex. It is an allegory of the quest for wisdom and enlightenment as presented through symbols of Freemasonry ; Mozart and Schikaneder were both Freemasons.

Most obvious of the Masonic symbols is the number three: among the cast are three boys, three ladies, and three slaves, and musical passages feature three chords (as those that begin the overture ) or three stanzas, among other instances. Listen: Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus: “ Birdcatcher Song ” from Act I of The Magic … The music of The Magic Flute closely underscores the drama. Mozart used varied musical styles to depict his characters. Folksy birdcatcher Papageno—a role first played by Schikaneder himself—and his late-appearing sweetheart Papagena (the names derive from the German word for “parrot”) are given unpretentious, folklike melodies. By contrast, the deceptive Queen of the Night is portrayed as an Italianate coloratura indulging in both vocal and emotional histrionics.

(The role, written for Mozart’s sister-in-law Josepha Hofer, is famed in opera circles as the highest and perhaps most difficult ever composed, with its light, fast coloratura singing and large intervals between consecutive pitches.) For the young lovers Tamino and Pamina, Mozart composed music that is sweetly romantic yet also harmonically progressive, using at times an unusually chromatic vocal line. Using music to reinforce personality allowed Mozart to create characters that continue to move modern audiences. Similar Topics Listen: Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus: Queen of the Night’s aria The Queen of the Night’s aria “ Der Hölle Rache, ” from Act II of … Like Mozart’s few other German-language operas—including Die Entführung aus dem Serail, The Abduction from the Seraglio—The Magic Flute is a singspiel , a form that includes spoken dialogue between the musical numbers. (See also operetta. ) Works combining spoken words and sung text in local languages— German , French , and English —were fairly common, and these more-accessible works had periods of great local popularity. The Magic Flute, which was successful from the beginning, continues to make frequent appearances on the world’s opera stages.

Cast and main vocal parts Tamino, a prince ( tenor ) The Queen of the Night (coloratura soprano ) Pamina, her daughter (soprano) Sarastro, high priest of Isis ( bass ) Monostatos, chief slave of the temple (baritone) Papagena (soprano) Three Ladies, attendants to the Queen (sopranos, mezzo-soprano ) Three Spirits, boys (treble, alto , mezzo-soprano) Speaker of the temple (bass-baritone) Three priests (tenor, basses) Two men in armour (tenor, bass) Three slaves (tenors, bass) Priests, priestesses, slaves, populace, animals. Setting and story summary Act I Scene 1. Prince Tamino, lost in a wild forest, is being pursued by a giant serpent. He collapses. The Three Ladies, who serve the Queen of the Night, appear and kill the monster. They find the unconscious Tamino attractive, and they argue about who will guard him while the others report to the Queen of the Night; unable to decide, they all leave.

Papageno the birdcatcher enters, singing of the joys of his profession and his desire for a wife. Tamino recovers consciousness , and Papageno claims to have strangled the serpent himself. The Three Ladies reappear and padlock his mouth for lying. They show Tamino a portrait of Pamina; he falls in love at first sight. The Queen arrives. She tells Tamino that Pamina is her daughter, who has been captured by the evil Sarastro. She persuades Tamino to rescue Pamina, promising him Pamina’s hand if he succeeds. The Three Ladies give Tamino a magic flute and Papageno a set of magic bells to protect them on their journey. The Three Spirits will guide them to Sarastro’s temple. Britannica Stories Queen Elizabeth I’s Skirt Found Scene 2. In Sarastro’s palace, his slave Monostatos is trying to molest Pamina when Papageno appears. Monostatos and Papageno are terrified by each other and flee. But Papageno returns and reassures Pamina that her mother has sent Tamino to help her.

She is overjoyed to learn that Tamino loves her, and she sympathizes with Papageno’s longing for a wife. They leave together. Music: Fact or Fiction? Scene 3. The Three Spirits lead Tamino to Sarastro’s temple grove. Tamino is at first rebuffed as he seeks to enter the temples of Reason and Nature, but the speaker of the temple of Wisdom reveals to him that Sarastro is good, not evil. Having learned that Pamina is alive, Tamino plays his magic flute to summon Pamina and Papageno; its sounds tame the animals. Papageno answers with his pipes, and Tamino rushes off to find them. Scene 4. Papageno and Pamina are making their way toward Tamino when they are captured by Monostatos and his fellow slaves. Papageno uses his magic bells to enchant his enemies, making them dance away. Sarastro and his entourage approach. Pamina reassures Papageno and tells him that they must tell Sarastro the truth. She confesses to Sarastro that she tried to escape because of Monostatos’s attentions.

Sarastro is kind, but he says he cannot grant her freedom, because she needs a man’s guidance. Monostatos now enters with Tamino as his prisoner. Tamino and Pamina see each other for the first time and rush into each other’s arms, to the astonishment of Sarastro’s followers. Monostatos seeks a reward, but instead Sarastro punishes him for lusting after Pamina. Sarastro leads Tamino and Papageno to the temple. Act II Scene 1. Sarastro meets with his council. They decide that Tamino and Pamina should marry and that Tamino should succeed Sarastro as their leader, provided he passes the trials set out by the ancient rite. Sarastro prays to Isis and Osiris , asking them to protect Tamino and Pamina. Connect with Britannica Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest Scene 2. A priest warns Tamino that this is his last chance to turn back, but Tamino is determined to proceed. Papageno is not interested in trials; all he wants is food, wine, and a wife. The priest replies that he will get a wife only if he undergoes the trials.

In the first trial, Tamino and Papageno must not speak to anyone. The Three Ladies arrive and try to get them to speak. Papageno cannot resist answering, but Tamino remains steadfast. The priests praise Tamino but scold Papageno, who does not understand why he has to undergo these trials if Sarastro has already found a wife for him. Scene 3. Monostatos approaches the sleeping Pamina and is about to kiss her when the Queen of the Night, who had arrived unseen earlier, frightens him away. Seeking power that can be hers only if Sarastro dies, the Queen awakens Pamina and gives her a dagger, ordering her to kill Sarastro. After the Queen leaves, Monostatos tries to blackmail Pamina by threatening to reveal the murder plot, but Sarastro drives him off and reassures Pamina. Scene 4. Tamino and Papageno are undergoing a second trial of silence. An old woman enters, carrying water. She says that she is 18 years and 2 minutes old. Papageno at first believes she means 80, but the old woman insists she is 18. Papageno inquires if she has a sweetheart.

She replies that she does, and that his name is Papageno. She then disappears. Pamina enters and tries to talk to Tamino, but he refuses to answer. She leaves in despair. Scene 5. In the council room, the priests celebrate Tamino’s success. Sarastro separates Pamina and Tamino for their final trial. Scene 6. Papageno, still longing for a wife, plays his magic bells. The old woman reappears and demands that he promise to marry her, or else he will be alone forever. Papageno reluctantly agrees. She is immediately transformed into a pretty girl: Papagena. As Papageno runs to embrace her, the priests frighten her away. Britannica Lists & Quizzes Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies Scene 7. The Three Spirits come upon Pamina in a courtyard. She is trying to kill herself with her mother’s dagger because she thinks Tamino has abandoned her. They promise that she will see him soon. Scene 8. Two armoured men lead Tamino to his next trials, at mountains gushing fire and water. They recite the credo of Isis that he who overcomes fear will achieve enlightenment.

Tamino is reunited with Pamina. They exchange loving words and enter the trials together. They are unharmed by the water and fire, thanks to the magic flute’s protection. The priests laud their success. Scene 9. In a garden on the temple grounds, Papageno has given up hope of ever finding Papagena again, so he tries to hang himself. But the Three Spirits remind him of the magic bells. He plays them, and Papagena appears. The happy pair celebrate their union. Scene 10. Meanwhile, Monostatos, the Queen, and the Three Ladies attempt to destroy the temple, but they are vanquished and cast into eternal darkness. All ends happily when Sarastro unites Tamino and Pamina in marriage. Sarastro’s followers praise the couple and give thanks to the gods. Amore Opera Readies ‘Das Labyrinth’ for American Premiere - The New York Times The New York Times Music |A Sequel to Tempt ‘Flute’ Fans Search A Sequel to Tempt ‘Flute’ Fans Amore Opera Readies ‘Das Labyrinth’ for American Premiere Critic’s Notebook Continue reading the main story Pamina is in trouble.

The Queen of the Night and her three ladies have abducted her in the midst of her greatest trial. Who will help Tamino rescue her so that he can be reunited with her under the benevolent eye of Sarastro? Don’t count on Papageno. He’s fallen prey to the bewitching sister of Monostatos, that cunning slave. With her marriage to Papageno in doubt, Papagena is jealous and alone; perhaps the time is ripe for Monostatos to make his move. Pamina may just have to rescue herself. But first: more glockenspiel! It’s no accident if the plot to “Das Labyrinth,” which will receive its American premiere in a production by Amore Opera on Wednesday, sounds familiar. First presented in 1798 in Vienna’s Theater auf der Wieden to great popular acclaim, this sequel to “The Magic Flute” brought together key players from the same winning team — minus Mozart. “Das Labyrinth oder Der Kampf mit den Elementen” (“The Labyrinth, or The Battle With the Elements”) was conceived and written by the impresario Emanuel Schikaneder, who wrote the libretto for “Flute” and was the original Papageno.

Mozart died in 1791, the year “Flute” was first performed, so Schikaneder brought in Peter von Winter (1754-1825), a German composer and violinist. Although Winter was a respected Kapellmeister in Munich and the author of highly successful operas, his brief in this case was clear: to make the work look and sound as much as possible as the original opera by Mozart. “He had kind of a thankless task,” said Nathan Hull, the president of Amore Opera, who prepared a performance edition by drawing on published sources and manuscripts in European libraries. He also directs the production, which is performed mostly in German, is conducted by Gregory Buchalter and runs concurrently with Amore Opera’s new English-language adaptation of “The Magic Flute.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story “Not only do the characters continue, but Winter references Mozart’s music,” Mr. Hull said. “There is a huge bow to what the audience expected: the magic flute and glockenspiel. A fiery coloratura aria for the Queen of the Night that goes up to a high F.

Papageno has a couple of patter songs.” “You had to live up to expectations but have enough new things to surprise and delight,” he said. Photo Alexis Cregger as the Queen of the Night in Amore Opera’s “Labyrinth.” Credit Richard Termine for The New York Times Among the delightful details is a flock of birdlings in a scene in which Papageno is reunited with his parents and siblings — all named Papageno and Papagena — until the pa-pa-pa stutter grows into a chorus. “It’s not Mozart,” Mr. Hull said, “but then again, Donizetti is not Mozart, nor Rossini. There are some great things in here.” Mozart’s own view of Winter, whom contemporaries described as a naïve giant who was terrified of ghosts and never left the house after dark, was dim. “A child in his conduct and a beast in his way of life,” Mozart described him in a letter in 1781, “who has always been my worst enemy.” But the chief interest of “Das Labyrinth” is the light it sheds on the figure of Schikaneder (1751-1812) and his astute grasp of popular taste.

The son of domestic servants, he received a good Jesuit education on a scholarship and later joined the Freemasons. As an impresario, he knew how to exploit the intersection of popular entertainment and aesthetic trends. The enormous success of “The Magic Flute,” which by 1798 had been performed some 200 times, sprang in great part from the way it grafted a traditional mystery play onto an Enlightenment canvas. Here, virtuous behavior is rewarded in this world, not the next. Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up Privacy Policy One of the earliest attempts to write a sequel to “The Magic Flute” was by none other than Goethe, beginning in Weimar in 1795. Together with his future brother-in-law, the dramatist Christian August Vulpius, Goethe produced more than 80 performances of a greatly edited version of Mozart’s opera in which some of the Enlightenment elements were toned down and the conflict between Sarastro and the Queen of the Night turned into a family squabble.

But Goethe produced only draft fragments of a sequel, not only because he could not find a suitable composer to team up with but also because Schikaneder got wind of the Weimar plan and pre-empted it. With the proceeds from “The Magic Flute” and “Das Labyrinth,” Schikaneder was able to build his own theater in Vienna, the Theater an der Wien, in 1801, equipped with the kind of stage machinery that allowed for even more spectacular sets and effects. “Das Labyrinth” ends with the Queen of the Night and her allies being thrown into an erupting volcano. “It was done on a grand, grand scale,” Mr. Hull said. “It was the equivalent of mounting ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ today.” But Schikaneder’s new theater also had room for Beethoven, whose “Fidelio” had its premiere there. A comparison with Mozart or Beethoven is unkind to any composer. But by presenting “Das Labyrinth” alongside Mozart’s “Magic Flute,” Amore Opera allows audiences to make their own judgment on Winter’s music. According to Mr.

Hull, there are hints of Beethoven in the choruses of “Das Labyrinth.” “Some are gorgeous,” he said. “This is where Winter thought he could spread his own wings.” Correction: October 15, 2013 An earlier version of this article included a caption that misidentified the singer in the role of Queen of the Night. She was Alexis Cregger, not Elizabeth Treat. Amore Opera will present “Magic Flute II: Das Labyrinth” from Wednesday through Oct. 26 at the Connelly Theater, 220 East Fourth Street, East Village; (866) 811-4111, amoreopera.org. A version of this article appears in print on October 16, 2013, on Page C1 of the New York edition with the headline: A Sequel To Tempt ‘Flute’ Fans. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

Question: Who wrote the opera "The Magic Flute"?
Answer: Mozart