Libretto of The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is a celebrated opera composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart employed a libretto written by his close colleague Emanuel Schikaneder, who was also the director of the Theater auf der Wieden at which the opera premiered in the same year. (He played the role of Papageno as well). This article discusses the sources that were used, or believed to be used, in the preparation of the libretto.
Schikaneder was 39 at the time, and was already an very experienced man of the theater who had many sources to work with. Modern scholars have located a remarkable range of materials that seem to had some influence on his libretto. These fall into four categories: works of literature, earlier productions of Schikaneder's theater company, Freemasonry, and the 18th century tradition of popular theater in Vienna.
Literary sources
- Owen and Branscombe (1991) note strong resemblances between the various scenes of The Magic Flute and episodes of the medieval romance Yvain by Chrétien de Troyes (c. 1177). This work attracted attraction in Mozart and Schikaneder's time and appeared in a 1786–7 German translation by K. J. Michaeler, a member of the same Masonic lodge as Mozart.[1]
- A major source appears to have been the 1731 novel Sethos ("Life of Sethos, taken from private memoirs of the ancient Egyptians") by the French author Jean Terrasson. The work appeared in a German translation by Matthias Claudius in 1777–8.[2]
- The play Thamos, King of Egypt by Tobias Philipp von Gebler, premiered in Vienna in 1774. Between 1773 and 1780, Mozart wrote incidental music, K. 345/336a, for this work.
- The long essay "Über die Mysterien der Ägypter" ("On the mysteries of the Egyptians"), published by the Vienna scientist and Freemason Ignaz von Born in the first issue of the Masonic journal Journal für Freymaurer in 1784.
- A fairy tale by Christoph Martin Wieland entitled "Lulu, oder die Zauberflöte" ("Lulu, or the Magic Flute"; 1789).[3] Branscombe takes the view that this work provided nothing more than the title.
Earlier theatrical productions
The Schikaneder troupe prior to the premiere of The Magic Flute had developed considerable experience with performing fairy tale operas with similar plots, characters, and singers. Two bear a particularly strong relationship to The Magic Flute:
- Oberon, a romantic Singspiel in five acts by Friederike Sophie Seyler, premiered in a plagiarized version by Karl Ludwig Giesecke, later the first First Slave in The Magic Flute (see below).
- Der Stein der Weisen oder Die Zauberinsel, premiered 1790.
Freemasonry
For discussion of the role of Freemasonry in the libretto, see the main article on The Magic Flute.
Viennese popular theater
The Hanswurst character was a mainstay of the popular theater tradition in Vienna, dating back decades before 1791. This character is earthy, wily, and charming, and Papageno survives in modern times as the best known representative of his type. Viennese popular theater in this tradition often included improvisation, and there is evidence that Schikaneder did indeed improvise some of his part when he premiered the role of Papageno.
See also
Notes
- ↑ D. D. Roy Owen and Branscombe, in Branscombe (1991)
- ↑ Branscombe (1991). Branscombe suggests that modern directors attempting a new production should consult this work carefully for the hints it provides concerning what Mozart and Schikaneder would have wanted in terms of production and stage design.
- ↑ The Victor book of the opera; stories of seventy grand operas with three hundred illustrations & descriptions of seven hundred Victor opera records, p. 189 (Victor Talking Machine Company 1912).
References
- Branscombe, Peter (1991) W. A. Mozart: Die Zauberflöte. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521319164