The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on September 30, 1791 at Schikaneder's theatre in Vienna, just two months before the composer's premature death.
In the opera the Queen of the Night persuades Prince Tamino to rescue her daughter Pamina from captivity under the high priest Sarastro; instead, he learns the high ideals of Sarastro's community and seeks to join it. Separately, then together, Tamino and Pamina undergo severe trials of initiation, which end in triumph, with the Queen and her cohorts vanquished. The earthy Papageno, who accompanies Tamino on his quest, fails the trials completely but is rewarded anyway with the hand of his ideal female companion Papagena.
Cast:
Tamino : Nicolai Gedda
Pamina : Gundula Janowitz
Papageno : Walter Berry
Königin der Nacht : Lucia Popp
Sarastro : Gottlob Frick
Sprecher : Franz Crass
Erste Dame : Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Zweite Dame : Christa Ludwig
Dritte Dame : Marga Höffgen
Papagena : Ruth-Margaret Pütz
Monostatos : Gerhard Unger
Erster Geharnischter : Karl Liebl
Zweiter Geharnischer : Franz Crass
Erster Priester : Gerhard Unger
Zweiter Priester : Franz Crass
Erster Knabe : Agnes Giebel
Zweiter Knabe : Anna Reynolds
Dritter Knabe : Josephine Veasey
Philharmonia Chorus (dir. Wilhelm Pitz)
Philharmonia Orchestra
Otto Klemperer
Studio recording, London, 1964
