Sat. 1 pm. ET – Singspiel and The Magic Flute, one of the last and greatest works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. A beautiful princess is imprisoned by a powerful ruler. A brave prince with a goofy sidekick takes on an impossible quest. A wicked queen uses her magic to lure the hero into evil. And every now and then, someone breaks into song. For the second year, WRUU is live broadcasting and streaming Saturday’s matinees. 12/29/2018
Singspiel and The Magic Flute
A beautiful princess is imprisoned by a powerful ruler. A brave prince with a goofy sidekick takes on an impossible quest. A wicked queen uses her magic to lure the hero into evil. And every now and then, someone breaks into song.
Unlike many operas, in which all dialogue is sung, The Magic Flute alternates musical numbers with spoken dialogue, much like a contemporary Broadway musical. This style of opera is called a singspiel, and it makes The Magic Flute very accessible to first-time opera goers, especially since the opera’s also full of memorable melodies, fairy-tale adventures, and special effects.
Mozart and the Enlightenment
The Magic Flute was one of the last and greatest works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a composer from music’s Classical period. The Classical period refers to European music from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a period that overlaps with an influential philosophical movement called the Enlightenment. During the Enlightenment, European thinkers believed that natural morality and thoughtful reasoning could solve problems like class inequality and create a just society.
Mozart knew a lot about social inequality. Though he was one of the most talented musicians of his time, he spent much of his life poor and frustrated, trying to eke out a living working for controlling, wealthy aristocrats. Mozart wrote symphonies, string quartets, piano works, and other pieces that display Enlightenment ideas through music. His pieces celebrate reason by following a satisfyingly logical musical structure, and they celebrate natural morality by featuring accessible, tuneful melodies.
