Vocal Student, Victoria Tee gives insights into the Trinity Laban performance of Mozart’s opera, The Magic Flute.
Take part in the activities below to test your knowledge and to have a go at designing your own set!
Pre-concert talk and performance by Trinity Laban Vocal students
Credits
Director: Toria Banks
Musical Directors: Robert Bottriell & Kelvin Lim
Pianist: Robert Bottriell
Queen of the Night: Megan Strachan
Tamino: Stephen Brown
Papageno: Ben Weiland
First Lady: Lucia Mendez Bayo
Second Lady: Victoria Tee
Third Lady: Yixuan Qian
Videographers: Kit Venables & Thibault Blanchard
With special thanks to Lucy Drever (mentor) and the Trinity Laban Learning and Participation Team.
Jargon Buster
Quintet – a musical composition for five instruments or voices
Aria – an accompanied song for a solo voice, which you would typically find in an opera
Coloratura – elaborate ornamentation of a vocal melody, especially in operatic singing
Intervals – the space between two notes (the bigger the space, the bigger the interval)
Performance translation
The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte) was originally written in German. Please expand the link below to read the translation of the sung text.
Click to expand
Enter QUEEN OF THE NIGHT
QUEEN Don’t be afraid, my dearest son!
For you are noble, blameless, strong.
So hear a mother’s pleas, do not ignore me,
A wilderness of sorrow, lies before me.
Alone, abandoned and forsaken,
How I recall that dreadful day,
The day I saw my daughter taken,
The day I saw my daughter taken.
A wicked man, A wicked man stole her away.
In waking, in sleeping
I still hear her weeping,
Her trembling, her shaking,
Her poor heart was breaking.
I saw her sorrow all too plainly,
“Ah, help, ah, help!”
I heard my daughter say.
Alas she pleaded with me vainly,
For all my power had drained away,
For all my power had drained away.
You, you, you are chosen to defend her.
Soon you must hasten to her side, yes,
Soon you must hasten to her side.
And when success is crowned in splender
Then you may take her for your bride,
She’ll be your bride.
Ah…
Yes, your bride,
She’ll be your bride
She’ll be your bride.
Exit QUEEN and LADIES
PAPAGENO Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm!
Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm!
TAMINO Poor Papageno, I can see
You have been commanded not to speak.
PAPAGENO Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm!
Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm!
TAMINO Alas, I’m powerless to free you,
The spell is strong and I am weak.
PAPAGENO Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm!
TAMINO I cannot tell…
PAPAGENO Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm!
TAMINO …how I can help you.
PAPAGENO Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm!
TAMINO The spell is strong and I am weak.
PAPAGENO Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! / Hm! Hm! Hm!
Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm!
Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm!
Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm!
TAMINO I don’t know how to help you speak,
The spell is strong and I am weak.
ENTER 3 LADIES
LADY 1 The Queen of Night has ordered me
To break the lock and set you free.
PAPAGENO Now Papageno’s free to chatter.
LADY 2 But falsehood is another matter.
PAPAGENO I’ve done with lying, I repent.
LADIES You won’t forget this punishment.
PAPAGENO I won’t forget this punishment /
Forget this punishment.
LADIES No, no, you won’t forget this punishment.
LADIES & PAPAGENO & TAMINO A world of love could be created,
If only lying tongues would cease.
Deceit and greed would be frustrated
And we would live our lives in peace.
Deceit and greed would be frustrated
And we would live our lives in peace.
LADY 1 Oh Prince, receive this gift I bear,
The Queen consigns it to your care.
Whatever dangers fate may send you,
Its magic music will defend you.
LADIES For when it plays it sings so sweetly
That evil ways are changed completely.
The man of vice will sin no more
And hearts of ice begin to thaw.
ALL Who can guess its power
And who can estimate its worth?
It will fill the world with love
And build heaven here on earth,
Build heaven here on earth,
Build heaven here on earth.
PAPAGENO Though it’s sad to leave such beauties,
Ladies, I’ll be going now.
LADIES No true man can shirk his duties
And there’s work for you to do.
To Sarastro we must send you,
Papageno will attend you.
PAPAGENO Thank you very much indeed,
That’s the last thing that I need.
I have heard this pagan priest
Is as fierce as any beast.
He is a savage, he’s a sinner,
And he’ll have me for his dinner,
Guest of honour at his feast.
LADIES Your place is at the Prince’s side,
He’ll be your guardian and your guide.
PAPAGENO I bet he’s planning to deceive me.
What dangers lie ahead?
He’ll try to rob me by the roadside,
And then leave me for dead.
LADY 1 These magic bells we give to you.
PAPAGENO To me? Let’s have a look at them.
LADIES They will protect you on your mission.
PAPAGENO Can they be played without tuition?
LADIES Of course they can you foolish man!
ALL Magic music, mystic powers
Will be yours/ours when danger lowers.
Fare you well, we’ll meet again!
So farewell, farewell till then,
So farewell, farewell till then.
TAMINO Stay mystic ladies, fair and wise.
PAPAGENO And say which way the fortress lies.
TAMINO & PAPAGENO Yes tell us, pray,
Yes, tell us pray,
Which way Sarastro’s fortress lies.
LADIES Three boys will soon be here to guide you,
Through doubt and fear they’ll stay beside you,
To keep you safe and lead the way,
When they command you must obey.
TAMINO & PAPAGENO Three boys will soon be here to guide us,
Through doubt and fear they’ll stay beside us.
LADIES To keep you safe and lead the way,
When they command, you must obey.
TAMINO & PAPAGENO And so farewell, farewell till then,
And so farewell, we’ll meet again.
ALL And so farewell, farewell till then,
And so farewell, we’ll meet again.
LADIES We’ll meet again.
TAMINO & PAPAGENO We’ll meet again.
LADIES We’ll meet again.
TAMINO & PAPAGENO We’ll meet again.
Exit ALL.
Questions for Reflection
Once you have listened to the pre-concert talk and have watched the performance, have a go at answering the questions below. There is no right or wrong answer but you may wish to discuss your answers with friends and family.
- After listening to the aria, what type of character do you think the Queen is?
- How do you think the Queen might be feeling?
- How do you think the three ladies are different to each other?
- Which character would you want to be? Why?
- Would you go and save Pamina? Why?
- After listening to these scenes, what do you think Mozart was trying to say?
Quiz – test your knowledge
Once you have listened to the pre-concert talk and have watched the performance, have a go at answering the questions below. You can find the answers further down this page.
True or False?
Design your Own Set
The Magic Flute has been staged and performed all of the world, in a variety of different ways. How would you design the stage for the Aria and Quintet that you’ve seen? You are welcome to download the template as a guide.
Answers to the Quiz
Who is the queen looking for?
Her daughter, Pamina
What has happened to Papageno?
He has had his mouth padlocked
Which instrument is magic?
The flute
What animal is Sarastro as fierce as?
A tiger
What instrument has Papageno been given?
A Glockenspiel/Magic Bells
Who have the three ladies dressed as?
Boys
Sources and further reading
Julian Rushton, “Die Zauberflöte” in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie, 4 vols. (London and New York, 1992), Volume 4, pp. 1215–18, and in “Mozart” in volume III of the same dictionary, pp. 489–503.
Macpherson, Jay (October 2007). “‘The Magic Flute’ and Freemasonry”. University of Toronto Quarterly. 76 (4): 1080–1083. doi:10.3138/utq.76.4.1072.
Condee, Newcomb. “Brother Mozart and The Magic Flute“. Archived from the original on 14 August 2003.
Jacobs, Arthur; Sadie, Stanley (October 21, 1996). The Wordsworth Book of Opera. Wordsworth Editions. ISBN 9781853263705 – via Google Books.
“The otherworldly feeling of Mozart’s magic” by Louise Schwartzkoff, The Sydney Morning Herald, 28 July 2009
Cantoni, 2014. The Magic Flute. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Magic-Flute
Landon, Howard Chandler Robbins (1990). 1791: Mozart’s Last Year. London: Flamingo.
Solomon, Maynard (1995). Mozart: A Life. New York: Harper Collins.
ENO. https://eno.org/discover-opera/eno-baylis/resources/explore-the-magic-flute/the-context/
Buch, David J., 1992 . “Fairy-Tale Literature and ‘Die Zauberflöte'”. Acta Musicologica. 64 (1): 32–36. doi:10.2307/932991. JSTOR 932991.
Buch, David J., 2004. “Die Zauberflöte, Masonic Opera, and Other Fairy Tales (PDF Download Available)”.