The Magic Flute is an opera with two acts by W.A. Mozart. The story of this opera begins with a handsome prince, Tamino, is fighting with a serpent. Three ladies attendants of the Queen of Night kill the serpent, save Tamino, and show him the portrait of the daughter of the Queen of Night, princess Pamina.
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.
Analysis Of Mozarts The Magic Flute. Research Oh Susanna: The Wise Women of Mozart In Mozart's operas, as in his life, says Anat Sharon of the Department of Literature, Language and the Arts at the Open University, women rather than men are the ones who come out on top and who win our hearts. Mozart loved and valued women in his personal life and this was reflected in his operas.
The Magic Flute, for example, is a German opera with both serious and comic implications, and Don Giovanni is a serious Italian opera that includes several comic episodes. The Marriage of Figaro is a delightful romp that nevertheless addresses serious political concerns of the emerging middle-class audience of late eighteenth-century Vienna.
The Magic Flute Synopsis ACT ONE Scene One. A young prince named Tamino is being chased by a serpent through a valley. After he falls unconscious, three ladies emerge from a temple and kill the snake. Tamino awakens and assumes the snake was killed by a good-natured bird catcher named Papageno who has just arrived on the scene.
KEY STRUCTURE IN THE MAGIC FLUTE As I have discussed in the Overview essay on The Magic Flute in this Magic Flute (North) section of the website, there is a remarkable cohesion of musical structure in this opera. This cohesion can be found in recurrences within Mozart’s melodies and also in the progression of key centers in the work.
The Magic Flute, one of Mozart’s most praised works, is an enduring allegory about the dichotomy of good versus evil. This well-known opera tells the story of a young prince who searches for true love, while another character, Papageno, acquires pleasures such as food and wine to gain happiness (Sherrane).
A celebration of love and forgiveness that exhibits a profound appreciation for the artifice and spectacle of the theater, The Magic Flute is among the most exquisite opera films ever made. This scintillating screen version of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s beloved opera showcases Ingmar Bergman’s deep knowledge of music and gift for expressing it cinematically.
Mozart wrote The Magic Flute in 1791, just after the French Revolution and just before he died. Haydn had introduced Mozart to Freemasonry, and the opera is full of the ideas (the autonomy of the individual, self-determination, appalling sexism), the ideals (power, wisdom, beauty), and the symbols (aprons, hammers, compasses, a pyramid with an all-seeing eye) of the Masons.