135
See also: Orfeo ed Euridice 118 –119 ■ C.P.E. Bach’s Flute Concerto in A major 120–121 ■ Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G
minor 128–131 ■ The Barber of Seville 14 8 ■ Der Freischütz 149 ■ Tosca 194 –197has been abducted by Sarastro,
high priest of the gods Isis and
Osiris. Tamino vows to rescue
Pamina. He, his comic companion,
Papageno (the queen’s bird-
catcher), and Pamina undergo a
series of ordeals, armed only with
a magic flute and magic chimes.
Light eventually triumphs over
darkness, bringing a happy ending.Popular appeal
Mozart wrote 20 operas in all, in
three genres: opera seria, opera
buffa (both sung throughout), and
singspiel. Opera seria, the grandest
form of opera—a style that includesMoza rt’s Idomeneo (1781) and La
clemenza di Tito (1791)—often drew
its stories from the mythology and
history of ancient Greece and
Rome. Opera buffa was comic,
with Mozart’s The Marriage of
Figaro (1786) an outstanding
example of the genre.
Singspiel had its roots in early
18th-century Vienna, where the
imposing Theater am Kärntnertor
specialized in popular musical
dramas. Unlike the Italian operas
performed for the court and nobility,
these entertainments were for
Viennese of all social backgrounds.
From Vienna, singspiels spread to
Germany, where in the mid-century
they gained in popularity due to
the influence of French opéra
comique and English ballad opera.
Both these genres mingled spoken
dialogue, often satirical, withCL ASSICAL 1750 –1820
songs. John Gay’s The Beggar’s
Opera (1728) was the most famous
ballad opera, but it was Gay’s
Irish contemporary Charles Coffey
who had the greatest impact in
18th-century Germany. His ballad ❯❯Mozart’s The Magic Flute remains
hugely popular. The opera drew more
than 400,000 spectators at Austria’s
Bregenz Festival during a two-year
run in 2013 and 2014.I’ve just got back from the
opera; it was as full as ever ...
you can see [it] continuing to
rise in people’s estimation.
Wolfgang
Amadeus MozartUS_134-137_Mozart_Magic_Flute.indd 135 26/03/18 1:00 PM