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Special thanks to our education community partners: ContentsCharacters | 3Synopsis | 4Composer | 5Program notes | 6Director’s notes | 6Artist Q & A | 8Additional resources | 9

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Characters(In order of vocal appearance)

Tamino | tenorThe hero; a young prince who sets out on an adventure to find and rescue his princess. At the beginning of the opera, he’s kind of a wimp (he can’t even slay a dragon by himself), but that’s the point of the opera — so he can find himself.

First Lady | soprano[The Three Ladies] are the Queen’s minions. Much like the minions of Despicable Me, they do what they are told, but add a little of their own flavour.

Second Lady | sopranoProudly in service of the Queen of the Night, perpetually jealous of the First Lady and habouring a major crush on Tamino.

Third Lady | sopranoThe Third Lady is just a bit sassier than the other two. She has cour-age but is awkwardly outspoken which adds to the comedy of the trio.

Papageno | baritoneA birdcatcher who sells his catch to the Queen of the Night. He’s a simple guy who dreams of finding his true love.

Queen of the Night | sopranoShe’s not as nice as she seems. Her famous aria, which climbs to the highest of notes, isn’t just to be impressive, but to express an-ger beyond words.

Monostatos | tenorThe mean and greedy servant of Sarastro. He goes after anything he wants, and the Queen can convince him to do her bidding.

Pamina | sopranoThe daughter of Sarastro and Queen of the Night. She falls in love with Tamino and fears for his life when she discovers he must un-dergo trials, But she is strong, and her love and strength guide him through the trials until they both come out on the other side.

Spirit One, Two & ThreeSent to guide Papageno and Tamino on their journey.

Sarastro | bass-baritoneThe high priest of the Temple of Wisdom and the head of an en-lightened society. He is kind but just, firm but caring.

Papageno |sopranoShe first appears as an old woman, but transforms into a beautiful lady who loves Papageno.

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SynopsisBy Stephan BonfieldACT I – Tamino, a prince from a faraway land, enters pursued by a snake. He faints from fear, and the Three Ladies appear and magically slay the monster. Each Lady quarrels with the other over the handsome Tamino as to who should claim him for her own. They finally leave together.

Papageno, who catches birds for the Queen of the Night, enters. When Tamino awakens, he assumes that it is the strange Papageno who killed the monster. When Tamino identifies himself as a prince, Papageno casually brags that he killed the serpent. The Three Ladies overhear the lie and arrive to punish Papageno by placing a padlock on his mouth. They show Tamino a portrait of the Queen’s daughter, Pamina. He falls in love with her immediately. When the Queen of the Night arrives with great ceremony, she overwhelms the prince, and pleas for Tamino to save Pamina from “the evil enemy” Sarastro, who she claims abducted her daughter. Tamino agrees to the quest, and Papageno, now free from the padlock, is ordered to accompany him. The Three Ladies present Tamino with the Magic Flute, and to Papageno, a set of magic bells. The Ladies explain that the Three Spirits will guide them to Sarastro’s fortress.

Meanwhile, in Sarastro’s palace, Monostatos, a slave to both Sarastro and his own lusts, has just captured Pamina as she was trying to escape. A nonchalant Papageno, wandering around the castle, frightens Monostatos and he runs off. Papageno explains to Pamina that the Queen, her mother, has sent help to rescue her.

Tamino, meanwhile, is guided to the three temples by the Three Spirits, but he is rebuffed by voices of the priests when he tries to enter the first two temples. However, at the third temple a Speaker emerges and challenges Tamino’s knowledge of his own quest. Incredulous and defiant, Tamino learns from the Speaker that the Queen has deceived him and that Sarastro is not the tyrant she made him out to be. Tamino, confused by this revelation, is told that if he wants to learn the truth, he must seek wisdom among the brotherhood of the temple, and join them through their initiation rituals.

Papageno and Pamina are re-captured by Monostatos, but they escape when Papageno hypnotizes the slaves with his magic bells. No sooner than Papageno and Pamina begin celebrating their newfound freedom, Sarastro and his people are heard arriving with great majesty. Papageno fearfully asks Pamina what she will tell the mighty Sarastro when he catches her again, and she announces “the Truth!” As she

confesses to Sarastro that she tried to escape, Monostatos brings in Tamino. Tamino and Pamina seem to recognize one another though they have never met before. When they embrace, people react in shock. Monostatos expects his due reward for preventing Pamina’s escape but is instead punished by Sarastro for his shameful behaviour toward her. Sarastro is praised for his justice as he announces that Tamino and Papageno must be taken to the Temple of Trials to be prepared for the tests they must face.

ACT II – Sarastro and his priests pray that Tamino be successful in his trials. If Tamino joins the Brotherhood, he could be of service in defending them against the Queen of the Night, who seeks to destroy the priests. During the trial of silence, Tamino and Papageno are tempted by the Three Ladies.

Monostatos tries once again to violate Pamina, but he is frightened off by the unexpected arrival of the Queen. She gives her daughter a knife and demands she murder Sarastro. After she leaves in a fury, Sarastro arrives and explains to Pamina that in his land there is no vengeance, only love. Meanwhile, Monostatos defects to the Queen who promises her daughter to him in marriage after he helps the Queen defeat Sarastro.

Tamino and Papageno continue their trials. Papageno has little success with self-discipline, to the consternation of Tamino. While musing on blissful thoughts of home and hearth accompanied by a spouse, Papageno unexpectedly meets an old woman who introduces herself as his future wife.

Pamina finds Tamino, but is aggrieved when he does not speak to her, not knowing that he is still under a vow of silence. Brokenhearted, she vows to commit suicide.Meanwhile, the old woman transforms into a young girl, before Papageno’s eyes. When she vanishes, he runs off to find her.

The Three Spirits arrive in time to prevent Pamina’s suicide and instead lead her to Tamino, who has finished all but his final trial. Beckoned by the Armed Men, Pamina leads Tamino through the final trial of fire and water.

Papageno, despondent at not being able to find Papagena, decides to hang himself. However, the Three Spirits tell Papageno to play his magic bells. Papagena re-appears and the two rejoice, proclaiming how many little Papagenos and Papagenas they will have together.

Meanwhile, the Queen of the Night, the Three Ladies and Monostatos break into the temple to destroy it, but they are blinded by light and are destroyed. Along with Sarastro, all hail Tamino and Pamina, victorious over the trials of the temple, and of life.

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In 1784, Mozart became a Freemason, and it became an influence on his music as well. The spiritual overtones in The Magic Flute were not only new territory for Mozart, but for opera in general at the time.

In December 1787, Emperor Joseph II appointed Mozart as his chamber com-poser — a position that was not only an honour, but intended as incentive to keep Mozart in Vienna. Mozart still travelled, trying to stabilize his finances and popularity, but was unsuccessful. Historians believe that his periods of hysteria, coupled with spells of hectic creativity, may be evidence that he had some form of bipolar disorder.

He was quite productive between 1790 and 1791, however, producing works that revived much of his public notoriety.

Mozart died of illness on Dec. 4, 1791, in Vienna. Despite the speculation sur-rounding his death, including poisoning by the Italian composer Salieri, histori-ans suggest there is little evidence to prove that Mozart and Salieri’s relationship was anything more than a professional rivalry. Mozart was buried in a common grave, which was standard at the time for most Viennese, and the exact location remains unknown.

Even by 16th-century standards, Mozart died at a young age. And yet, in half a lifetime, he composed over 600 pieces of music, including operas, symphonies, concertos and single pieces for the piano — there were few branches of music he did not touch.

Composer

Born on Jan. 27, 1756 in Salzburg, Austria, the composer Mozart was baptized as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart.

He learned to play the piano by watching his older sister receive lessons from their father, who was a court musician and composer. By the age of five, he was composing and could also play the clarinet and violin. Starting in 1762, Mozart’s father took the two siblings on the first of several European tours, where the children performed in various courts.

At the age of 17, Mozart was appointed assistant concertmaster for the Royal Court of Salzburg, but later fell out of favour with the Archbishop von Colloredo when he wanted to find more prosperous employment.

This resulted in Mozart relocating to Vienna, where he composed as a freelance musician. He had become accustomed to a lavish lifestyle, however, and coupled with the Austro-Hungarian war, often struggled to pay the bills.

He married Constanze Weber in 1782, against the wishes of his father, who felt the marriage would cause an interruption in Mozart’s career. Constanze’s mother strongly encouraged the marriage, however, and the couple wed on Aug. 4, 1782. They had six children, although only two survived infancy.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1756 – 1791

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Program notesBy Mark Morris

There is nothing in all opera quite like The Magic Flute’s mixture of serious operatic forms, pantomime, popular touches, stratospheric vocal heights, ingenuousness, na-iveté, sophistication and playfulness, all moulded together — indeed, as if by magic

— into a score of genius. No wonder it holds such a special place in the hearts of all opera lovers.

It was written for theatrical circumstances very different from those of the aris-tocratic court theatres we normally associate with operas of the period. Emanuel

Director’s notesThe Magic Flute has always been one of those pieces that has been a challenge for me. Don’t get me wrong — I love the music, but it is the story that has always left me feeling like I am not quite smart enough to understand it. I always feel as though I should know more about the Masons and Masonic rites before taking on a production of this opera. I understand it is a fantasy, but I guess I just want to understand the point of Papageno and Tamino’s journey a little better than I usually do.And then Edmonton Opera approached me about directing a new production of The Magic Flute. I am always up for a challenge and so I set forth to figure out how to best tell this story and to make it as powerful as possible. I started to study the music and the text closely. I continually went back to the Masonic symbolism but I just could not make sense of why it was important to the tell-ing of the story — other than the obvious “Three” symbolism. I know very little about the Masons — I would guess that I am in the majority on this — and focusing on that element seemed to diffuse the relevance of the story. After several weeks of research, I came to realize that the Masons and their traditions were not central to the story, but rather that The Magic Flute is essentially about a journey to higher enlightenment, a rite of passage to the discovery of love:

brotherly, paternal, maternal and yes, romantic, sensual love. This opera is filled with life lessons, the small things that we overlook that are still applicable today. Within the character of Monostatos for example, we are shown someone who is misunderstood and alienated; he is a character not belonging to any place or any one. The other characters in the piece represent many other themes that are also present in our everyday lives: friendship, trust, love, desire, greed and power. When working with the designers, we were all on board in making this produc-tion colourful and exotic. Bollywood was our inspiration, though not our final destination. Our goal was to create a world of layers and colours where pop-up storybook images set the stage upon which these vibrant characters could come alive.In the end, I wanted to ensure one main thing — that all of the elements would help to support the telling of this beautiful and magical tale. The story of a journey where friendships are formed, love is discovered, life lessons are learned, challenges are faced and conquered, and trust and honesty are shown to be the basis of an enlightened life.

– Rob Herriot

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Schikaneder (1751–1812) was the epitome of the roguish theatrical man: actor, singer, musician, writer, producer, entrepreneur and the manager of Vienna’s Theater auf der Wieden. This theatre catered to a more populist public, who enjoyed the spectacular, the exotic, the humorous and a touch of the farcical; especially successful was the Zauberoper, the “magic opera,” in which events were aided by some magic object or another.

Schikaneder was also a friend of Mozart, and some time in 1791 (or possibly 1790), when his theatre needed a popular hit and Mozart needed the money, Schikaneder approached Mozart to collaborate on a Zauberoper. Mozart composed much of it in a little wooden summer-house (which survives) in the grounds of the theatre, interrupted by the commissioning of the Requiem and the writing (in 18 days!) of the opera La clemenza di Tito for the coronation of the King of Bohemia. The Magic Flute was completed on Sept. 29, 1791, a day before the first performance in which Schikaneder himself played Papageno.

The origins of the libretto are to be found in a story, Lulu, or The Magic Flute, by Jakob Liebeskind, contained in Weiland’s popular anthology of such stories. For its development, it draws on a French novel, Sethos, by Abbé Jean Terrasson, set among the mysteries of Isis and Osiris in Egypt. There has been much discussion about who actually wrote the libretto, with various candidates put forward, mostly well after the event. I personally am sure Schikaneder is the sole author: he was a consummate man of the theatre, particularly versed in fairytales and fantastical stories, and this one has his stamp on it.

The libretto has, though, provoked much controversy, particularly among musicolo-gists. Some have wondered how such sublime musical genius could lower itself to such base material. Goethe had the best riposte to that, commenting, “More knowl-edge is required to understand the value of this libretto than to mock it.” As early as the decade in which the opera was written it was seen as a political allegory, notably as a parable of the French Revolution, still looming so large in the European con-sciousness. Louis XIV is represented by the Queen of the Night, the French people by Tamino and Freedom by Pamina.

More recently, Professor Chailley in his 1968 book The Magic Flute, Masonic Opera exhaustively examined a possible link with Masonic ritual, although he was not the first to put forward the idea. Mozart and Schikaneder were both Freemasons, as was another influence on the libretto, their friend Baron Ignaz von Born, who had himself drawn on Sethos for an article on Mason ritual. In this interpretation there is a hidden Masonic allegory in the story (and in the music) which represents the less the opposition of Good and Evil than that between Man and Woman, as well as the

initiation rites of the Lodge. Much of the strange imagery and twists and turns of the plot thus reflect Masonic symbolism. The evidence is too convincing to doubt this interpretation, and it seems more than likely that Schikaneder drew on Born’s article for details of imagery. It is a complex subject, but those who are interested will enjoy Chailley’s book, and will never see The Magic Flute in quite the same light again.

However, we do not need knowledge of Masonic ritual to recognize in the work the kind of archetypal imagery endemic to both folk-tales and dreams — the kind of imagery Schikaneder’s theatre regularly used, and which his audience appreciated. We now understand how such imagery can affect us subconsciously, and that, as in dreams, these effects are powerful enough to accept the seeming incongruity of the surface story. In this light, the story is a hero-adventure in which Tamino makes the journey from teenager to man. Initially he is under the care of his mother (the Queen of the Night), but has to break away from her (which is why she turns against him). He needs to find his own sense of adult masculine self (Sarastro), as well as his feminine side (Pamina) — or, if you like, his soul-mate. He is threatened by his own fears (Monostatos), he meets the kind of old men (in the Temple) and boys who often accompany such journeys in dreams and in tales, and he has to undergo tests. He is accompanied by a parallel figure, Papageno, who is what he might become if he fails to make the transformation, but everything turns out well as he reaches the light of self-knowledge at the end.

For when if comes down to it, what fairytales give us is what director Rob Her-riot has so aptly described in his director’s notes as “the many themes that are also present in our everyday lives: friendship, trust, love, desire, greed and power.” The fairytale basis means that the opera responds to strong, evocative, symbolic visual imagery that, like fairytales themselves, is more effective if it isn’t literal: the “colour-ful and exotic” that this production has aimed at.

None of this, of courses, is possible without the marvellous music. In the first pro-duction, Mozart himself played the glockenspiel behind the scenes, as Schikaneder, playing Papageno, mimed playing on stage. In one performance, as Schikaneder paused, Mozart suddenly improvised an arpeggio. Another pause came up. Schikaneder waited, sure that the mischievous Mozart would do it again. But no, silence.

Schikaneder raised his sticks to go on, and suddenly there was another chord from the back of the stage. Schikaneder hit his stage glockenspiel in frustration, and shouted (to the delight of the audience), “Shut up!”

Mozart was indeed in his element.7

Q & A with The Magic Flute artistsWe asked the artists a couple of questions, to help our audiences get to know the personalities on stage. Biographies of the artists can be found at edmontonopera.com.

Betty Waynne Allison | soprano, First Lady

What character would you love to play in an opera?Hands down Rusalka! There are countless Russian and Czech roles I dream of doing.

Which composer is your favourite, and why?It’s hard to decide. Top two are Dvorak and Tchaikovsky.

Tanya Roberts | soprano, Second Lady

Is there a particular part of The Magic Flute that you’re looking forward to?I’m looking forward to the final scene in which the Three Ladies appear. We try to sneak into the temple, only to meet doom and our destruction! I don’t know what the director has in mind, but I hope it involves lots of smoke and lightning.

Which composer is your favourite, and why?I adore Mozart because when I listen to his music, I can’t think of a single possible improvement that could be made.

Catherine Daniel | soprano, Third Lady

Did you have a former career?When I am not singing I am teaching in the classroom.

What first interested you in opera?My mother forced me to join a youth choir (Schola Cantorum) when I was in high school. I’ve been hooked on classical music ever since.

Jessica Muirhead | soprano, Pamina

Have you performed in Edmonton before?This will be my first time with Edmonton Opera. I have been to Edmonton only once as a baby when my parents were looking for somewhere to settle in Canada (we are from England originally). My parents loved Edmonton and Toronto, so looked for work in both cities. Toronto was the first place they found work, otherwise I could be saying I grew up in Edmonton!

Which character would you love the opportunity to play in an opera?Don Jose in Carmen. I love his character development and think he gets some of the best rage lines ever in opera!

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Additional resourcesDiscussions from Mozart at the Mercer (Opera 101) can be found on our YouTube channel (Edmonton Opera), as well as archived with the other Opera 101 lectures from previous productions and seasons.http://www.edmontonopera.com/discover/opera101

A discussion with Stephan Bonfield, musicologist, about the plot and complexity of The Magic Flute, the characters and music, as well as other aspects of the opera, can be found in the audio/music section of the Ed-monton Opera app (search Edmonton Opera in the app store) starting Jan. 28, 2015.

The Opera Blog offers everything you need to know about The Magic Flute in a easy-to-read format. A listening guide in the form of a video, featuring Opera Australia’s associate music director, is also included.http://www.theoperablog.com/cheat-sheet-the-magic-flute/

Seattle Opera has listed a variety of places where references to The Magic Flute are found in pop culture.http://www.seattleoperablog.com/2011/04/magic-flute-in-pop-culture.html

And former general director at Seattle Opera, Speight Jenkins, provides audio insight to The Magic Flute. http://seattleopera.org/discover/archive/production.aspx?productionID=94

From the Royal Opera House: a look at one of opera’s most famous arias, the Queen of the Night’s Act II aria.http://www.roh.org.uk/news/accessible-arias-the-queen-of-the-nights-act-ii-aria-from-the-magic-flute

Mozart biography: http://www.biography.com/people/wolfgang-mo-zart-9417115

Neil Craighead | bass-baritone, Sarastro

Do you have a personal connection with The Magic Flute and/or role you are peforming?The Magic Flute was the first opera I ever sang in. This will be my fifth time singing Sarastro and I’ve grown quite fond of it. Flute is unique in so many ways, there really isn’t another op-era like it. The music is pure genius.

Is there a particular part in The Magic Flute that you’re especially looking forward to?I always enjoy my first entrance to the stage. There’s a lot of pomp with a chorus and brass instruments, usually a bright lighting cue. I also really enjoy the fugue at the beginning of the armed guards’ duet in the second act.

Rob Herriot | directorWhat first interested you in opera?The scale of it. The fact there was so much of everything working together to make theatre. The fact that it went to all lengths to help ex-press the human condition. Sometimes in life we have no words to express our pain, our joy, our longing. If we were to try and express it it might be like a crying out. Opera is the exten-sion of that emotion, the human cry, the voice calling out.

Is there anything else we should know about you that is interesting?I use a lot of aviation references when I direct. I talk a lot about character arcing being like any given flight. You take off, you hit turbulence and then you land. Or I will ask the chorus to please leave the stage as if evcuating from an airplance, calm but quickly.

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