Mozart's Die Zauberflote as a Phenomenon

            Die Zauberflote is an opera in German by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Schikaneder, the piece as first performed in 1791 and became an incredible success in German operatic repertoire. Die Zauberflote is a fantastical story that tells of a young man named Tamino adventuring through a veritable fairyland eventually leading him to his love interest Pamina. The work is full of mythological royalty, singing birds, priests and a host of colorful characters.  The work is also significant for its Masonic overtones which is noted by the author Thomas Bauman in the Oxford text: “The novel musical and visual layer of hieratic solemnity in Mozart’s opera, whose roots in the world of Freemasonry cannot be doubted, redefined the operatic notion of ‘serious’ in a way to which German Romantic opera readily indebted itself.” It should be noted, that if a piece were to have serious social or political overtones, a fantastical story would be a way to go about softening the blow to an audience that might feel as if they were being preached to.

            Die Zauberflote came on the heels of some serious failures in national German Singspiel. The project was started by Joseph II in 1778 and lasted until 1783; the Oxford text notes that it’s disappointment lie mostly in its inability to generate a “significant outpouring of new German operas from local composers.” The two composers that succeeded the most in this time were the two giants at court, Mozart and Salieri. I remember this relationship from the fictionalized account rendered in the Milos Forman film Amadeus, which despite its historical controversy contains some very worthwhile scenes of opera production (albeit translated into English).  Mozart’s biggest success prior to Zauberflote was Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail (performed in 1982) whereas Saleri’s was Der Rauchfangkehrer. There were also other composers working at the same time, some of their works contained fantastical mythology such as Paul Wranitzky’ Oberon, Konig der Elfen, which added to the climate of the farce-comedies.

           I fall into the category of people who, when they think of Die Zauberflote, think of the Queen of the Night’s aria. I remember a PBS Metropolitan Opera concert which Beverly Sills was hosting, she said that she thought of Mozart as a rather cruel individual who, if he only studied voice would have understood how difficult that piece was. This was all said in a very comedic fashion but it does go some length to show the link between virtuosity and a well written piece of music. Some pieces become a phenomenon because they are difficult, and thus the numbers of individuals who are capable of executing the work become less. We see examples of this in some of the instrumental literature of the Romantic period. However; the Queen of the Night aria is a work that is instantaneously recognizable not only in its intensity but the staccato vocal pops done in the upper stratosphere of the soprano range. I don’t mean to ignore the contribution of the rest of the opera, I find the Bass arias as well as the trio of girls pieces to be very enjoyable, but the Queen of the Night aria stands out to me as something that makes Mozart a very special composer as being able to write for the masses and still having a profound intellectual backbone to his music.