"In an opera the poetry must perforce be the obedient daughter of the music." – Wolfgang Mozart in a letter to his father, 1782.
The final opera Mozart composed was Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute) which opened in Vienna just months before his death in 1791. For this work Mozart collaborated with Emanuel Schikaneder, a longtime friend and dramatist. For a decade the two men became increasingly more involved with each other's lives, from playing an air rifle sport called Bolzlchiessen every Sunday to Mozart composing many frivolous works for Schikanederos acting troupe. At that time, European countries were experiencing great change: the American Revolution; the French Revolution; the Industrial Revolution; the Enlightenment. All of these in their own way rose up the commoner and brought down the aristocracy. Mozart and Schikaneder, Masonic brothers and dear friends, wrote Die Zauberflote as a fairy-tale opera encompassing several Masonic elements and fairytale themes. They knew that the Viennese wanted an uplifting work, filled with innocence and happiness. Schikaneder excelled at the art of singspiel, which included singing and spoken dialog, although many modern performances eliminate or alter the spoken words as they are deemed to be sexist or racist. Fanciful costumes, playful duets, and magical themes of good and evil, as well as love conquering all, spoke to the heart of the Viennese and quickly the opera became the most popular, with over three-hundred performances in its first few years alone. Some of Mozart's lodge brothers performed, and Schikaneder took one of the lead roles, that of Papageno, who dressed in a colorful feathered bird costume and played a belled instrument called a glockenspiel. Mozart wrote to his wife, Constanza, while she was at the spa in Baden. He loved to tell her about the multiple encores they were inclined to play at the end of performances due to the outcries of the appreciative audiences. He also wrote to her about his playful prank during one of their performances: "During Papageno's aria with the glockenspiel I went behind the scenes, as I felt a sort of impulse today to play it myself. Well, just for fun, at the point where Schikeneder has a pause, I played an arpeggio. He was startled, looked behind the wings and saw me. When he has his next pause, I played no arpeggio. This time he stopped and refused to go on. I guessed what he was thinking and again played a chord. He then struck the glockenspiel and said 'Shut up'. Whereupon everyone laughed. I am inclined to think that this joke taught many of the audience for the first time that Papageno does not play the instrument himself." This fanciful masterpiece, according to Opera America, was the eighth most frequently performed opera in North America during the 2007/2008 season. And to think this work was composed in less than a month!
This color coordinated collection of fashion fabrics was first featured in our Vogue Fabrics By Mail Winter 2010 catalog of swatches. Subscribe to receive home delivery of these catalogs every other month.
The final opera Mozart composed was Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute) which opened in Vienna just months before his death in 1791. For this work Mozart collaborated with Emanuel Schikaneder, a longtime friend and dramatist. For a decade the two men became increasingly more involved with each other's lives, from playing an air rifle sport called Bolzlchiessen every Sunday to Mozart composing many frivolous works for Schikanederos acting troupe. At that time, European countries were experiencing great change: the American Revolution; the French Revolution; the Industrial Revolution; the Enlightenment. All of these in their own way rose up the commoner and brought down the aristocracy. Mozart and Schikaneder, Masonic brothers and dear friends, wrote Die Zauberflote as a fairy-tale opera encompassing several Masonic elements and fairytale themes. They knew that the Viennese wanted an uplifting work, filled with innocence and happiness. Schikaneder excelled at the art of singspiel, which included singing and spoken dialog, although many modern performances eliminate or alter the spoken words as they are deemed to be sexist or racist. Fanciful costumes, playful duets, and magical themes of good and evil, as well as love conquering all, spoke to the heart of the Viennese and quickly the opera became the most popular, with over three-hundred performances in its first few years alone. Some of Mozart's lodge brothers performed, and Schikaneder took one of the lead roles, that of Papageno, who dressed in a colorful feathered bird costume and played a belled instrument called a glockenspiel. Mozart wrote to his wife, Constanza, while she was at the spa in Baden. He loved to tell her about the multiple encores they were inclined to play at the end of performances due to the outcries of the appreciative audiences. He also wrote to her about his playful prank during one of their performances: "During Papageno's aria with the glockenspiel I went behind the scenes, as I felt a sort of impulse today to play it myself. Well, just for fun, at the point where Schikeneder has a pause, I played an arpeggio. He was startled, looked behind the wings and saw me. When he has his next pause, I played no arpeggio. This time he stopped and refused to go on. I guessed what he was thinking and again played a chord. He then struck the glockenspiel and said 'Shut up'. Whereupon everyone laughed. I am inclined to think that this joke taught many of the audience for the first time that Papageno does not play the instrument himself." This fanciful masterpiece, according to Opera America, was the eighth most frequently performed opera in North America during the 2007/2008 season. And to think this work was composed in less than a month!
This color coordinated collection of fashion fabrics was first featured in our Vogue Fabrics By Mail Winter 2010 catalog of swatches. Subscribe to receive home delivery of these catalogs every other month.
