About the opera
- Run time: 3hrs 00min, 1 intermission
- Sung in: German
- Subtitles: English, German and other languages
- Opera house: Vienna State Opera
Die Zauberflöte, Mozart's only opera written specifically for a popular audience, is as delightful as it is complex. It can be enjoyed as a fairy tale, with its magic flute and bells, its animals, clown, and romantic couple. But it is also rife with symbols of Freemasonry and as such, promotes virtue, love, and wisdom. The opera is best known for its catchy melodies, the most famous being the Queen of the Night's show-stopping arias, with their furious high F's.
Ticket information
- Select a date an book
- E-Ticket (Print@home)
Vienna State Opera
Opernring 2, 1010 Vienna View in Google Maps
How to get there:
Subway: U1, U2, U4 to Karlsplatz
Trams: 1, 2, D, 62, 71 to Opernring
Conductor Franz Welser-Möst
Sarastro Georg Zeppenfeld
Tamino Julian Pregardien
Sprecher Jochen Schmeckenbecher
Königin der Nacht Serena Sáenz
Pamina Slávka Zámečníková
Papageno Ludwig Mittelhammer
Papagena Ilia Staple
Monostatos Matthäus Schmidlechner
The son of a Salzburg court musician, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) showed prodigious ability from his earliest years. The young Mozart spent much of his childhood touring Europe with his father, performing before nobility. He went on to compose in all musical genres of his day and excelled in every one. Mozart's operas in particular represent the peak of his genius and remain unsurpassed in terms of beauty, vocal challenge and dramatic insight. Mozart died only a few weeks after the premiere of Die Zauberflöte, his last opera.
An old friend of Mozart, Emanuel Schikaneder (1751–1812), wrote the opera’s libretto, staged the work, and sang the role of Papageno at the premiere. The libretto draws on several literary sources, and is further strongly influenced by the ideas of Freemasonry, by earlier productions of Schikaneder’s theater company and by the tradition of Viennese popular theatre.
