Rome Opera Tickets

Much has been written about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s final opera The Magic Flute having a connection with masonic ideals. Composed at a time when freemasonry was held in suspicion, The Magic Flute is Mozart at his cheeky best. Rather than argue for the power of good over evil, the opera’s central message appears to be that we should always be careful not to make assumptions.

On one level, the story is a classic fairy tale in which a prince rescues a damsel in distress. But the wonderful thing about the plot of The Magic Flute is its subtle differences from traditional narratives. Initially it is the prince, Tamino, who needs rescuing – from a rabid snake. The Queen of the Night, whose aides have saved him from a certain death, offers him her daughter Pamina’s hand in marriage if he can save her from the supposedly evil priest, Sarastro.

Accompanied by the bird catcher, Papageno, and aided by a magic flute to stave off further dangers, Tamino enters Sarastro’s temple. Pamina is being tormented by Monostatos, the man who oversees all affairs in the priest’s domain. When Sarastro tells Monostatos to leave Pamina alone, both audience and the other characters begin to see the priest in a different light.

Sarastro makes the same offer to Tamino as the queen, but first he must prove himself worthy of the princess by successfully completing a series of trials confronting the elements. Pamina faces an even greater test when her mother presents her with a dagger, urging her to kill the priest. Meanwhile, Papageno has to trust that the elderly woman he encounters is, in truth, the beautiful Papagena, the only chance he will ever have of love.

Sarastro makes the same offer to Tamino as the queen, but first he must prove himself worthy of the princess by successfully completing a series of trials confronting the elements. Pamina faces an even greater test when her mother presents her with a dagger, urging her to kill the priest. Meanwhile, Papageno has to trust that the elderly woman he encounters is, in truth, the beautiful Papagena, the only chance he will ever have of love.

The Magic Flute was first performed at the now long-gone Theater auf der Wieden on 30 September 1791. One can imagine how much fun Mozart had with it. Its librettist, and the theatre’s impresario, Emanuel Schikaneder, played the part of Papageno while Mozart conducted the orchestra. The work, a singspiel with song and spoken dialogue working in tandem to create an entertainment designed to appeal to the widest possible audience, is hailed by some as one of the great creations in the classical canon.

Boasting the Queen of the Night’s famous aria, “Der Hölle Rache” (“Hell’s Revenge”), audiences who go to see The Magic Flute at the Teatro Costanzi this season will find Mozart at his imperious best: mischievous, provocative and revelling in the sheer joy of making superb music.