The first time I heard something about The magic Flute It was in the 80s, on Spanish television, and he talked about Mozart's opera putting a lot of focus on the figure of Papageno and his ability to hunt birds. I remember that they were very simple drawings although the music, the instruments used, the voices, the atmosphere, everything was attractive and full of magic.
I think The Magic Flute is the first opera CD that I bought, and I still keep it with love because this Mozart play, you can say that it is a tale about beauty, wisdom and love. It has many moments that can be adapted to bring them closer to childhood and that is why it should always be attentive because there are many productions around the world in which they are represented fragments of the work adapted for children. At school, thanks to the music teacher that we have already mentioned here, my daughter has learned to recognize fragments of Mozart's operas and also, at least, the adventure of Papageno and Papagena sounds in The Magic Flute.
In Amazon they have a comic based on The Magic Flute called The Magic Flute that can serve as an introduction of the kids to this great work. And on YouTube you can see many interpretations of many fragments although one of the most attractive, and accessible to children, is the meeting of Papageno and Papagena that can be seen below.
There is a twitter account dedicated to Mozart Spain in which you can read the opinion of Alfred Einstein, a German music critic specializing in the dissemination of Mozart for all audiences.
"It is a work that enchants the child, moves the mature man and excites the wise," Alfred Einstein, musicologist, about The Magic Flute.
In my opinion The magic Flute It is a work in which the divine stories, represented by the love of Tamino and the beautiful Pamina and the obstacles that mark the Queen of the Night and Sarastro to stimulate the wisdom of Tamino. Only when all obstacles and conspiracies overcome will the two lovers enjoy their love. And there are the earthly stories, much more simple and fresh, represented by Papageno, a cowardly bird hunter, and Papagena, an extremely smart and passionate girl.
When Mozart premiered The Magic Flute was thirty-five years old and he only had five months to live. The magic flute is written in German and although the critical voices speak of the opera should be sung in Italian, I think its history and its music relegate the language to the background. The work is first represented in 1791 and it appears, briefly, in that movie that fascinated my generation called Amadeus by Milos Forman and that has not gone unnoticed by our fellow Blog Blogs.
Update (June 2013): there is a version of The Magic Flute directed by Ingmar Bergman from 1975 called Trollflöjten and that can be seen on YouTube enterita. I am almost certain that those images were also included in the documentary that I commented at the beginning of the article and that fascinated me when I saw them with few years on Spanish television.
The Magic Flute: v. 1: The P. Craig Russell Library of Opera Adaptations
Today in Amazon for € 97.77
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