The Classical Music Book

134

M

oza rt’s The Magic Flute,

a two-act opera first

performed in Vienna in

September 1791, marked the peak

of the development of singspiel

(“sing-play”), a uniquely German

opera genre that combined music

with spoken word.

Based on a libretto by Mozart’s

friend Emanuel Schikaneder, the

opera is set in ancient Egypt and

tells the story of a prince, Tamino,

who strays into the realm of the

mysterious Queen of the Night

where he is attacked by a serpent.

Rescued by the queen’s three

ladies-in-waiting, he falls in love

with a portrait they show him of

the queen’s daughter, Pamina, who

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Opera in German

BEFORE

1770 Johann Adam Hiller’s

comic opera Die Jagd (“The

Hunt”), one of the most popular

18th-century singspiels opens.

1789 The premiere of Oberon,

König der Elfen (Oberon, King

of the Elves) by Czech Paul

Wranitzky sets a trend for

Zauberoper (“magic opera”).

AFTER

1805 Beethoven’s only opera,

Fidelio, a singspiel, has its

first performance in Vienna.

1816 E.T.A. Hoffmann’s

Undine, a Zauberoper about

a water spirit, opens in Berlin.

1821 Carl Maria von

Weber’s Der Freischütz

(“The Marksman”), a Romantic

singspiel with a supernatural

theme, premieres in Berlin.

WE WALK, BY THE

POWER OF MUSIC,

IN JOY THROUGH

DEATH’S DARK NIGHT

THE MAGIC FLUTE ( 1791 ),

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART

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