Die Zauberflöte - Program Notes

Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Premiered 30 September, 1791 in Vienna


Die Zauberflöte, or The Magic Flute, is one of Mozart’s most well-known operas, and one of his final works, premiering just months before his death.  This two-act opera has a libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder, an interesting character in his own right.

Schikaneder was an accomplished Shakespearian actor and played the role of Papageno in the opera’s premiere.  He used the success of Die Zauberflöte to open his own theater, the Theater an der Wien, which still stands today.

Written in singspiel, a dramatic style incorporating both spoken words and sung dialogue, Die Zauberflöte tells the story of Tamino, a handsome prince, who is on a quest to rescue his love, Pamina, from the evil Sarastro.  He is accompanied on his quest by Papageno, a birdcatcher, with only a set of magically protective bells and a magic flute, a flute with the power to change men’s hearts.

Intended to appeal to the masses, rather than a strictly royal audience, Die Zauberflöte is very light on its surface, containing a healthy dose of silly comedy.  In some ways, Die Zauberflöte is a precursor to latter-day slapstick comedies.  While intended to be very silly on the surface, beneath that surface lies layers of hidden meaning and complexity.

The libretto incorporates many fairy tale-like and Masonic themes and is considered by most to be one of the more convoluted and confusing of operas, yet its hidden meaning is open to much interpretation.  In his writings on the opera, Stephen W. Seifert of the Colorado Opera suggests several different layers upon which the opera can be interpreted, every where from its well-known Masonic meanings to comparing it to a tarot deck or, believe it or not, George Lucas’ Star Wars trilogy.

While there are countless modern-day methods of analyzing the opera, its most famous and universally accepted connection is with freemasonry.  Both Mozart and Schikaneder were freemasons (although some freemasons view Schikaneder’s association with the brotherhood more a tool for profit than a true belief of Masonic ideals), and the opera is filled with Masonic symbolism.  Freemason Gino L. Guarnere enumerated several examples and uses of the number three in the opera, a significant number of Masonic teachings.  Among these are the opening chord of the overture, which is repeated three times, the three temples of wisdom, truth, and nature, the three doors of the temple, the three ladies who attend the Queen of the night, and the three boys who guide Tamino and Papageno.  Even the key of the opera has Masonic symbolism.  It is written in E-flat, which contains three flats.

Regardless of its hidden meanings, there is no mistaking the fact that Die Zauberflöte was one of Mozart’s most successful operas, delighting audiences for hundreds of performances.  Often described as a musical journey of self-discovery, it stands as one of Mozart’s most enduring, and most beloved, operas.  As challenging for performers as it is beautiful for audiences, Die Zauberflöte has taken its place as one of the most important of Mozart’s operatic works.