A note on The magic flute for reviewers who refer to the plot as ‘muddled’, ‘confusing’, or ‘silly’.

Pamina’s nameless father (one might call him King of the Day) is dead before the opera begins, but plays a crucial role. He was close to Sarastro and was in dispute with his own wife (Queen of the Night). Before dying (perhaps he was poisoned, or otherwise done away with, by her – we learn later that she does not stop at murder), Pamina’s father did two significant things. He made the Magic Flute for her, and he told his wife that, after his death, the seven-point sun-disc – the emblem and symbol of his power – must pass to Sarastro and his Order, and that she and Pamina must submit themselves to these ‘wise men’.

Apart from a passage about the origins of the Flute, made in a magic hour and cut from a thousand-year oak, sung by Pamina (Act 2 – ‘Es schnitt in einer Zauberstunde / Mein Vater …’), it is possible for a production to omit some of the crucial elements of the story. For instance, we learn from more unset dialogue at the beginning of Act 2 that, according to Sarastro, the gods have ordained that Pamina is to marry Tamino, and that it was for this reason that Sarastro took her from her mother.

So much for the ‘hidden’ aspect of the story. The actual opera relates the Queen of the Night’s unsuccessful attempts to use, first a giant serpent and her three ladies, then Tamino and the Magic Flute, and finally Pamina herself, to destroy Sarastro in order to retrieve the magic sun-disc and, with it, gain ultimate power.

That the Queen of the Night sings ravishing and brilliant music might mislead some into thinking that she was at least an injured party, if not a force for good. However, we know that in Mozart ravishing music is not necessarily a sign of sincerity – in fact, often just the opposite.

In view of Sarastro’s disparaging remarks about women, albeit conditioned by
his opinion of his enemy, the Queen of the Night, it is notable that when Pamina and Tamino submit at the end to the life-tests of fire and water, it is Pamina who sings:

Ich selbsten führe dich,
Die Liebe leite mich.

I myself will lead you,
May love lead me.

(21.9.2014)