Programs · Episode

MOZART: The Magic Flute

Program: At the Opera
Aired: Saturday, September 22, 2018 @ 6:00 pm
Hosted by Lisa Simeone

A quick look at the story of Mozart's Magic Flute might suggest that it's a great opera for the kids.  And it is!  But it's also a very adult look at the conflict between lightness and dark, and how difficult it often is to tell the difference.  On At the Opera, we'll hear the drama in two outstanding recordings, both featuring instruments and performance practice the composer himself might have recognized.  One is led by René Jacobs with Berlin's Academy for Ancient Music, and in the other William Christie leads Les Arts Florissants.

FEATURED RECORDINGS:

William Christie, conductor
Les Arts Florissants
(Erato 0630-12705-2)

CAST: Rosa Mannion (Pamina); Natalie Dessay (Queen of the Night); Hans Peter Blochwitz (Tamino); Anton Scharinger (Papagano); Reinhard Hagen (Sarastro); Linda Kitchen (Papagena); Anna-Maria Panzarella (First Lady); Doris Lamprecht (Second Lady); Delphine Haidan (Third Lady); Steven Cole (Monostatos)

René Jacobs, conductor
Academy for Ancient Music, Berlin
RIAS Chamber Choir

CAST: Marlis Petersen (Pamina); Anna Kristiina Kaappola (Queen of the Night); Daniel Behle (Tamino); Danile Schmutzhard (Papagano); Marcol Fink (Sarastro); Sunhae Im (Papagena); Inga Kalna (First Lady); Anna Grevelius (Second Lady); Isabelle Druet (Third Lady); Kurt Azesberger (Monostatos)

MORE ABOUT THE OPERA:

Do you remember The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown's mega-bestselling novel from back in 2003? Sure, most people do. But what about his next book, The Lost Symbol? Though not as famous it did pretty well in its own right, and that grimly portentous novel that an interesting connection to Mozart's shrewdly playful opera, The Magic Flute.

The Lost Symbol features the same, somewhat unlikely central character as The Da Vinci Code — a dashing, heroic "symbologist" named Robert Langdon. In the earlier book, Langdon was found decoding timeless legends of the Knights Templar. In the newer novel, he again tracks the age-old mysteries of an ancient order. This time, it's the Freemasons, a fraternity famous for secret rites and rituals — which in the novel threaten to bring down the entire U.S. government!

Of course, writing about Masonic ceremonies can be dicey. The only people familiar with them are the Masons themselves — and they're sworn to secrecy. So the rest of us are kept guessing as to how much actual fact might be present in Dan Brown's sensational fiction.

Opera lovers have long been in the same position when it comes to The Magic Flute. Both Mozart and the opera's librettist, Emanuel Schikaneder, were

devoted Freemasons. But at the time, the Masonic order was frowned upon by the authorities and mistrusted by the public. Its meetings were mysterious to outsiders and the order was believed to be connected to the principles of the Enlightenment, so it made established political leaders nervous and the Austrian Emperor restricted its activities.

Thus, while Mozart's drama fell into the general category of "magic opera" — works based on folk tales, with plenty of stunts, scene changes and spectacular stage effects — it was also a political statement in disguise. Mozart and Schikaneder crammed all kinds of veiled Masonic symbolism into The Magic Flute, and people have been trying to figure the whole thing out for more than 200 years. (Maybe, in a future novel, Brown could have Robert Langdon decode the opera for us?)

Still, while many have speculated about the Masonic allegory in Mozart's opera, one of its messages seems fairly clear. The story introduces a mysterious brotherhood, supposedly headed by an evil man. But by opera's end, the brotherhood turns out to be benign — even benevolent — and the leader seems like a pretty decent fellow. Perhaps that was perhaps Mozart's way of saying Freemasonry wasn't the ominous force some folks thought it was.

On At the Opera, host Lisa Simeone brings us The Magic Flute in two, top-notch recordings — both using instruments and performance practice that look back to Mozart's time. In one, William Christie leads Les Arts Florissants. We'll also hear the Academy for Ancient Music of Berlin, led by René Jacobs.

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