Works inspired by The Magic Flute

The Magic Flute, an opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder, was composed in 1791 and premiered to great success. It has been an important part of the operatic repertory ever since, and has inspired a great number of sequels, adaptations, novels, films, artwork, and musical compositions.

A production of The Magic Flute at Texas A&M University–Commerce in 2015

Sequels in literature and theatre

There are two sequels named The Magic Flute Part Two. The first is a fragment by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, which was intended to be set to music by Paul Wranitzky. The second was sponsored by Emanuel Schikaneder himself, the opera, Das Labyrinth oder Der Kampf mit den Elementen (The Labyrinth or The Struggle with the Elements), a Singspiel in two acts composed in 1798 by Peter von Winter to a German libretto by Schikaneder.

Adaptations of Mozart's music by later composers
  • "Away with Melancholy" was a popular duet first published in London in the early 1790s, and reprinted in America from 1797 on. The music is adapted from the episode in the Act 1 finale in which Monostatos and his slaves, enchanted by the music from Papageno's magic bells, dance off the stage, leaving Papageno and Pamina in freedom.[1]
  • Beethoven wrote sets of variations for violoncello and piano for two numbers from the opera. His twelve variations in F major on "Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen" (1796) is catalogued as Op. 66 and his seven variations in E-flat major on "Bei Männern" (1801) is catalogued as WoO 46.
  • Guitarist and composer Fernando Sor transcribed "Six Airs from The Magic Flute", Op. 19, for solo guitar around 1820–1821 and wrote his Introduction and Variations on a Theme by Mozart, Op. 9, on the music from act 1 sung by Monostatos and the slaves, or as Sor called it, "O cara armonia".
  • The Canadian national anthem, "O Canada", by Calixa Lavallée (1880) has been noticed for its resemblance to the "March of the Priests" that begins the second act.[2]
  • Flautists Jean-Pierre Rampal and Claudi Arimany have recorded duet arrangements from the opera made by Gerhard Braun.[3]
  • Spanish composer Pablo de Sarasate wrote a violin showpiece, The Magic Flute Fantasy, including many themes from the opera.
  • British composer Jonathan Dove wrote a flute concerto The Magic Flute Dances.
  • Composer Robert Fobbes wrote Fantasy on Mozart's Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute), for flute and orchestra.

Art

Films

Books
  • Dickinson, G. Lowes's The Magic Flute: A Poetic Fantasy, 1920, reinterprets the story as a parable of civilization after World War I.[8]
  • Updike, John, The Magic Flute, a children's book based on the opera with illustrations by Warren Chappell. A. A. Knopf, 1962.
  • Ibbotson, Eva, Magic Flutes (1982), a teen romance period novel, centred around the Viennese opera, and the main performance of The Magic Flute
  • Bradley, Marion Zimmer, Night's Daughter, a novel based on The Magic Flute, 1985. It sets the story in an Atlantis-like world with human-animal hybrid creatures. Bradley enthusiastically agrees with Bergman that Sarastro is Pamina's father.
  • Russell, P. Craig's The Magic Flute, a graphic novel published in 1990 as part of the author's Library of Operatic Adaptation.
  • Trapido, Barbara, Temples of Delight (1990). A novel which, though set in contemporary England, takes its structure very loosely from The Magic Flute. Characters in the novel are analogous to Pamina, Tamino, Papageno and Sarastro although the novel strays heavily from the original plot with the 'Pamina' character ultimately rejecting 'Tamino' in favour of a romantic relationship with 'Sarastro'.
  • Dokey, Cameron, Sunlight and Shadow, (part of the Once Upon A Time series), 2004, a retelling of The Magic Flute for teen readers; Dokey's novel also states that Sarastro is Pamina's father.
  • Amano, Yoshitaka, Mateki: The Magic Flute (2008), an adaptation of the opera illustrated by himself and retold using classic Japanese elements.

Plays
  • Thomas Bernhard's 1972 play, Der Ignorant und der Wahnsinnige (The Ignoramus and the Madman), takes place before, during and after a performance of the opera, at which the prima donna decides to make this, her 222nd performance of the Queen of the Night, her last.[8]

Adaptations
  • Susan Hammonnd and publisher The Children's Group (now part of Linus Entertainment) published an arrangement called Classical Kids: Mozart's Magic Fantasy.[9] The story adds a new protagonist - the daughter of the actress playing the Queen of the Night - who brings the flute with her onto the stage and gets stuck in the story. The album received the 1991 Juno Award for Children's Album of the Year.
  • In 1995, the pianist Joanna MacGregor made an arrangement of the opera aimed at children aged 7 and above, premiered at the Unicorn Theatre in London. The action was condensed, the orchestral score was rearranged for a chamber music including piano, and the plot updated; Tamino is a journalist (aided by the three boys), Sarastro a millionaire environmentalist, the Queen of the Night a failed rock-star formerly married to Sarastro (Pamina is their daughter), and Papageno the Queen's former roadie. The production has been frequently restaged, including at the Bath International Music Festival in 2012.[10][11][12]
  • Pamina Devi is a 2006 dance adaptation of The Magic Flute by Sophiline Cheam Shapiro, originally directed by Peter Sellars, in the style of Cambodian classical dance. It is not entirely based on the same plot and includes elements foreign to the original.[13]
  • The Magic Flute (Impempe Yomlingo) is a 2007 adaptation of the opera as musical theatre. Set in contemporary South Africa, the musical re-interprets the story from a South African perspective. Mozart's score is transposed for an orchestra of marimbas, drums and township percussion.[14]

References
  1. Mattfeld, Julius (1971). Variety Music Cavalcade. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0-13-940718-9.. The music and text may be viewed at .
  2. Colombo, John Robert (February 1995). Colombo's All-Time Great Canadian Quotations. Stoddart. ISBN 0-7737-5639-6.
  3. Magic Flutes, Delos DE 3226. Accessed 29 December 2014.
  4. Papageno (1935) at IMDb
  5. "Operavox" The Magic Flute (DVD). London: Metrodome Distribution. 17 February 1995.
  6. "Branagh to make Mozart opera film". BBC News. 1 November 2005. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
  7. Taylor, Kate (4 July 2006). "Mozart, by way of Sin City", The Globe and Mail.
  8. Branscombe, Peter (1991). W. A. Mozart, Die Zauberflöte. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 167. ISBN 052126491X.
  9. Mozart's Magic Fantasy: A Journey Through 'The Magic Flute'
  10. Bath International Festival press release, May 2012, accessed 25 December 2014
  11. The Magic Flute, website of HOME Arts Centre, Manchester, accessed 25 December 2014
  12. "Magic Sounds" by Reva Klein, TES Newspaper, 10 February 1995, on Tesconnect website, accessed 25 December 2014.
  13. Gia Kourlas, "Mozart Tale With Accent of Cambodia", The New York Times, 11 October 2007, accessed 29 December 2014.
  14. "SA musical wins prestigious Laurence Olivier Award", South Africa: The Good News, 13 March 2008
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