Which, with the aid of the flute’s magical melodies, is exactly what happens.Įssentially, it’s the age-old story that Joseph Campbell would later codify as “The Hero’s Journey,” with a heavy dollop of Masonic symbolism. Furthermore, he wants the lovers to undergo the purification of trials by fire and water so that they can marry and replace him as equal rulers of the Temple of the Sun.

Shortly after arriving at the temple, Tamino realizes that he has been played and that Sarastro actually wants to end the Queen’s reign of eternal night and usher in a new age of light, wisdom, and brotherhood.

Arming Tamino with the titular flute and Papageno with a set of magic bells, they summon a trio of Spirits to lead the lads to Sarastro’s temple. The Queen and her three Ladies con the young prince into believing Sarastro is an evil wizard from whom Pamina must be rescued. The protagonists are Prince Tamino and Princess Pamina, who find themselves and the less-than-heroic bird catcher Papageno caught up in a war between The Queen of the Night, Pamina’s mother, and Sarastro, High Priest of the Sun. Written towards the end of the composer's sadly brief life (Mozart had only a few months to live when it premiered in September of 1791), “The Magic Flute” is a singspiel-the 18th century equivalent of a present-day musical-set in a mythical land of monsters and magic. Louis (OTSL) has had a long and mostly happy history with Mozart’s final opera “The Magic Flute.” The current production, which runs through June 26th, is the fifth in the company’s 47-season history and one of the most entertaining, even if it does flirt with revisionism a bit.

Lyric opera magic flute review