Episode 7: The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Who needs yoga when you got a flute?! In this famous opera, Mozart and his librettist Emanuel Schikaneder give us some valuable life lessons.
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MUSIC CREDITS:
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Work: The Magic Flute, K.620
Performer: Georg Zeppenfeld, Bernard Richter, Mandy Fredrich, Julia Kleiter, Markus Werba, Elisabeth Schwarz, Rudolf Schasching, Concentus Musicus Vienna
Conductor: Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Year: 2012
Venue: Salzburg Festival
Song: Eye of the Tiger
Songwriter: Frankie Sullivan and Jim Peterik
Performer: Survivor
Year: 1982
Label: EMI
Courtesy of Silver Screen Records Ltd
With thanks to Emilia Strachevskaia.

[@enminghee2926]

The Magic Flute is basically the world's first Disney musical.

[@RachelDeRosier010894]

2:47 What can I say except "You're welcome!"

[@user-mk1hi8fz2c]

Meanwhile Disney's top lawyers are finding a way to sue Mozart for plagiarism

[@oldcowbb]

they even have the goofy sidekick

[@casenowlin1245]

So true

[@donnaquixote7538]

Maybe that's the reason I loved it so much when I was 11. I still do, but I kept watching a recording of a 1986 Savonlinna Opera Festival version of it in Finnish, even though I couldn't make out half of the things they sung both high and low, even if it was performed in my mother tongue. I just really loved the music and I loved Papageno, the comic relief character, and identified with Pamina.

[@thepedrothethethe6151]

This channel is a hidden gem, guarded by a huge volcano

[@JadeSilvestris]

Yep

[@grisha4167]

Indeed

[@ClassicsExplained]

Cannot tell you how much we appreciate this comment :))

[@royvictor2589]

I realize I am kinda randomly asking but do anybody know a good website to watch newly released movies online?

[@phillipdarwin3214]

@Roy Victor Try FlixZone. Just search on google for it =)

[@frogdogworm5963]

After watching this I have decided that Shrek was based off The Magic Flute. Shrek is Tamino, Fiona is Pamina, Donkey is Papageno, Farquaad is the Queen of the Night, and the Dragon is. Sarastro/Papagena. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

[@ClassicsExplained]

Haha!! Love this comment - great observations

[@InsaneLaughter01]

Who is fairy god mother?

[@rayati2284]

You left out a message from this work which I believe is very important: Papageno technically failed his trials, and yet he still gets the happy ending he wanted. He couldn't care less about the trials and virtues and all that, he just wants a simple life (and a wife). He explicitly demonstrates how you don't necessarily need to be enlightened to earn a happy ending, and you may want to aim to live a simple life instead.

[@ClassicsExplained]

Thanks for this. We did refer to Papageno failing his trials, yet still getting the happy ending he wanted, but you're correct. The thing with The Magic Flute is that the are endless interpretations that often conflict with each other. There are also so many other issues that we just didn't have time to allude to including the fact that Monostatos appears in blackface, even in so many productions today, and also that Sarastro isn't in fact the most enlightened...Some people nowadays think him a bit misogynistic.

[@Tr1sh4Lynn]

@@ClassicsExplained I didn’t realize that the Monstatos part was originally in blackface. Is there any literature on if it was an art direction choice due to it being in the sun kingdom?

[@lindacowles756]

@@Tr1sh4Lynn In some of the text, he is referred to as a Moor, who was a darker-skinned person.

[@ClassicsExplained]

@Trisha Lynn Derek B Scott's "Musical Style and Social Meaning: Selected Essays" looks at it. This article too if you can access: www.theguardian.com/music/2008/jul/09/classicalmusicandopera.comment

[@donnaquixote7538]

@@ClassicsExplained Yup. There's the racism problem with the Magic Flute. I've seen a Finnish recording of the Magic Flute from 1986, and as a kid I didn't see a problem with the fact that Monostatos was played by a tenor in blackface and ethnic type clothing, but nowadays it feels really wrong. There are even the lyrics "a black man is ugly", when Monostatos is pining for Pamina. I think modern performances of the Magic Flute tend to keep the lyrics intact if they are performing them in the original German but the costumes aim to be non-racial. I think I've seen a picture where Monostatos was dressed up like some Jabba the Hutt type of monster.

[@YahBoiCyril]

This sounds like the period equivalent of an anime.

[@ClassicsExplained]

ha! Yes you are so right

[@virtuousvibes2852]

I agree

[@johanneswerner1140]

One of my friends called him "the DJ Bobo of his time" (even though René is Swiss).

[@riograndedosulball248]

Ghibli anime perhaps

[@tinyguy9398]

8:25 I don't know why, but my favorite part of your videos is whenever your charters do this bizarre dance. It's rather endearing.

[@ClassicsExplained]

:)

[@rashnadalal3054]

Didn’t know how much ‘fun’ this piece of music was till I heard the story - so well done!!

[@ClassicsExplained]

Thanks so much Rashna!!

[@irgendein1]

You are doing a fantastic job ! One can literally feel the passion for this project and I am amazed by how much I can learn from you although I consider myself a regular opera visitor. I hope that there will be many more videos to come. Sending you my love from Germany

[@ClassicsExplained]

Omg, this is so heartwarming! Thank you! And yes, we are now working on more videos.

[@irgendein1]

@@ClassicsExplained And I am so glad that so many great composers came from German speaking countries... this way we can enjoy your German accents to the fullest. ;) Love it !

[@jarekwrzosek2048]

Guys, You've gotta cover "Marriage of Figaro" AND "Don Giovanni" as well!

[@SuperRobot17]

And Carmina Burana opera too

[@Flame-rp6yq]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart called himself Wolfgang Amadè Mozart with many variations Baptized as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart Played with his older sister Maria until she was 18 and married off, died after Mozart and was a teacher for the last few years of her life and many of her piece sadly died with her. And a few of Wolfgang's letters to his sister telling her about how beautiful and wonderful her works are. He also met Bach's son Johann Christian Bach or "The London Bach" when he was about 8 with his father Leopold and a young Beethoven played for him and saw much potential in the boy and wrote many parts in Così fan tutte for an opera singer he hated and he knew that she lowers her head on low notes and raise on high so he wrote many highs and lows so that her head would "bob like a chicken" wrote an entire overture the morning of it's premier a piece that translates to "kiss my @$$" or "lick me in the @$$" wrote "a musical joke" and died on the 7th bar of Lacrimosa in the requiem writing "The day of tears and mourning" before passing on December 5th 1791 at age 35 after spending 4weeks in bed from an illness in Vienna, just 300kilometers (186.411miles) from his hometown of Salzburg "The taste of death is upon my lips. I feel something that is not of this earth" It is said that Antonio Salieri hated Mozart so he poisoned him and many other accusations surrounding his death and sudden illness. Yet he mourned at Mozart's funeral and later taught his son

[@austinvoelker9270]

Oh my god! A new video by you guys. In almost under a month! Pinch me, I'm dream! Hooray!

[@gnosticpsych8914]

I love this channel. You guys are like a breath of fresh air that blows away all of the dust of neglect that has built on classical music due to the fixation on what is new and trendy in musical genres. Keep the videos coming!

[@ClassicsExplained]

Thank you so much - that's the idea :)

[@mariaochenas3634]

The Magic Flute needs to be adapted into an animated (2D of course) movie somehow, a movie that can be understood and loved by people of all ages.

[@trebledown6713]

It was, bbc animation the magic flute 22 min search in yoo toob.

[@RichardBunbury]

Brilliant! I wish these had existed when I was teaching general music in schools and later music appreciation in college and university.

[@ClassicsExplained]

Thanks so much!!

[@hoorooblu]

So mote it be! Mozart would have loved this explainer. Triple star rating.

[@ClassicsExplained]

Thanks!

[@amagiordi2615]

I can't even count the amount of time I heard this as a kid

[@hayleysteindorf670]

I remember watching a version of The Magic Flute in elementary school and my mind was blown. It was a family version by Julie Taymor, who also directed the Broadway sensation of Disney’s The Lion King. I am so inspired and excited to see The Magic Flute this holiday season!

[@lutek1]

Oh how wonderful. This time you didn't end by advising to listen to the piece, but tomorrow I surely will.... yet again.... I have about 80 versions to choose from. :) Thanks!

[@ClassicsExplained]

the video was already too long :) Though you'll find this recommendation in the description below the video :)

[@NickBatinaComposer]

Oh, honestly, Mason imagery makes a lot more sense after thinking of the plot in a much more condensed format, dang y’all! Nice catch with the birds btw, look up images of Slavic witchcraft and the tree of life, they’re really bird heavy!

[@ThomasSyre65]

Wonderful video👍

[@rashakor]

This is criminally under-rated! Great synopsis.

[@ClassicsExplained]

Thank you :)

[@chip715715]

This channel is god tier! Also such a charming little tale is the magic flute

[@ClassicsExplained]

Thank you SO much - what a lovely comment. Glad you enjoyed!

[@teddythemlgcorgi7309]

One of the best videos on this channel!!

[@ClassicsExplained]

Thanks so much :)

[@meganlewis2377]

@@ClassicsExplained I was hoping for this episode to be based on Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio because the Janissary chorus was the inspiration of the intro song for Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego. Also you’ll promise to make Bolero, Pines of Rome, The Bartered Bride and Pastoral Symphony right?

[@James.D.B.]

4½ minutes in and I already know this is gonna help me for Academic team next year

[@cvproject3684]

Suddenly appeared due to recommended algorithms... Keep this series going, man!!

[@ClassicsExplained]

Thanks so much for the encouragement :)

[@grisha4167]

Oh boy I really love the magic flute. Thank you now I can always watch a summary version

[@ClassicsExplained]

Thanks :)

[@FunFilmFare]

One of my favorite operas! Wonder how much it inspired "Moon Knight"... 1. A vengeful ruler of the night (Khonshu/The Queen of the Night) 2. Hero sent by said ruler of the night on a quest to defeat a cult leader (Marc Spector/Prince Tamino) 3. Reluctant cowardly comic relief who accompanies the hero, ends up saving the day, and gets a girlfriend (Steven Grant/Papageno) 4. Cult leader who worships Egyptian gods (Arthur Harrow/Sarastro) 5. Ladies dressed like birds who end up with the comic relief guy (Layla el Faouly/Papagena)

[@hardtfelt]

Never knew how interesting the story was - the opera department did this when I was in college and I couldn't be bothered, now I wish I'd seen it.

[@ClassicsExplained]

Thank you :)

[@kirbyculp3449]

Go see it

[@Packless1]

12:35 ...the balance of the force...! ;-)

[@Baccatube79]

Love that Papageno shows Pamina Tamino's pic on "Zunder" - which is exactly the German word for tinder.

[@ahsenmughal9675]

I've been binging this, please don't stop!

[@lutek1]

Oh dear ! the opera that got me into....err.... into opera..... Quick, get a beer (even though I was just off to bed)…. I think I know a lot about this but I'm sure I will be educated thoroughly still. And have fun watching it. Here we go. :)

[@adammiller6299]

It's also the opera that got me into . . . opera (which I would have previously professed hating.)

[@viggos.n.5864]

Yay another Video!

[@aarondaguio7179]

I’m a Freemason, and I think your assumption is spot on!

[@MeghanaUppala-Flute]

I just found this channel, and ive been binging all your videos... theyre hilarious, great job! This channel is so underrated!

[@ClassicsExplained]

❤️❤️❤️

[@TJ042]

Sarastro seems like a nice guy.

[@IceOfPhoenix88]

9:00 that's the most accurate depiction of the queen of the night I've ever seen

[@MegaPrincessbear]

These videos are such a breath of fresh air. Looking forward to working my way through the whole collection. As a "somber clarinetist" and "Mozart was a subversive feminist" tin foil hat wearer, this one made me all warm and tingly.

[@d4rkness455]

im so addicted to this. i have non stop watch all of these videos

[@markhughes7927]

Lovely

[@eduardovieira7001]

Wow!

[@sibtainshaikh3149]

Enlightening video❣

[@ClassicsExplained]

Thank you so much :)

[@rickyhailpern1866]

Bravo......To see a Production of The Magic Flute is a must....Brilliance...

[@olgusenol2109]

I love this channel very much!

[@ClassicsExplained]

Thanks so much - we love YOU

[@jonathanhermina1165]

Incredible channel, criminally underviewed

[@ClassicsExplained]

Thanks so much!! We'd like to think so too ;)

[@TristanMA]

This is Mozart's most famous work for Halloween apart from Don Giovanni, Symphony no. 40, and his unfinished Requiem.

[@gregghurst4285]

Fantastic !!

[@ClassicsExplained]

Thanks :)

[@amyvillanueva3442]

I read a comic adaptation of the Magic Flute and than saw it on stage at the Metropolitan Opera. The comic adaptation took some inspiration from the Ingmar Bergman movie because Sarastro is Pamina's father there. Other than that it does stick more closely to the orginal libretto.

[@lowheadvarney158]

Queen of the Night doesn't like clarinets, apparently lmao 4:58

[@gamerpianist3851]

Great videos!! I subscribed!!

[@superchaserbr]

This is great 👏👏👏👏👏

[@martinm3076]

Genial!

[@ClassicsExplained]

merci!

[@sonicfan9588]

I’m with that angel at 1:48 when Mozart dies. Why did he die so young 😥

[@lindacowles756]

He became very ill due to varied causes.

[@Rgoid]

And poor Antonio Salieri got blamed.

[@richardrose2606]

A candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long.

[@LilyLawn]

Great video, congrats! I

[@michaelferto6588]

...This is the first time, that I understand and liked some opera stuff....

[@ClassicsExplained]

Amazing! Love to hear this

[@spl2285]

can't believe i just discovered your channel. instant sub!

[@americana3555]

Love the video ❤️ First learned of this piece from the Magic Tree House series. I would love to see a Daphnis et Chloe video!

[@meganlewis2377]

Oh no you don’t! I just requested Bolero!

[@xalanedgex]

Omg, why this channel it’s so underrated? I love your videos!

[@ClassicsExplained]

Love this comment - thanks so much. We are hoping to get a little more recognition soon because we've got another batch of videos come out imminently :)

[@TristanMA]

Other famous princesses in Art Music include the Princess from The Firebird (Stravinsky), Clara Stalbaum from The Nutcracker (Tchaikovsky), Aida & Amneris from Aida (Verdi), & Turandot (Puccini & Alfano).

[@youfakou]

The aliens are hilarious

[@adjly1824]

The Magic Flute: Papageno KZbin subtitles: _papa gay know_

[@jameerlawrencebondoc8162]

hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

[@sacheverelle2626]

He wrote Rondo Allo Turca at age 11.

[@jennahalpin9730]

Really good episode. The Magic Flute is one of my favorite operas. I recently saw it a few months ago in Des Moines as a surprise birthday gift. It was made by 1927 on a screen with animations of a silent movie. Hope you’ll do Bizet’s Carmen, Puccini’s Madame Butterfly and La Boheme, and Tchaikovsky’s ballets: Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake and Nutcracker.

[@aestiva]

My god ! I have never understood this before.

[@needleboy17]

You got a sub! :)

[@hayleysteindorf670]

Mozart as a yoga instructor made me feel blessed along with the birds that have the heads of Pamina and Tamino. I have some more ideas for videos, too. How about The Tale of Tsar Saltan by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, or Brahms’ Hungarian Dances

[@celloplaysmusic7330]

9:15 Screw that noise. Its probably the most famous Aria Ever

[@mikhailthetenor3387]

Here's the factual Wikipedia article about it: The clarinet is a family of woodwind instruments. It has a single-reed mouthpiece, a straight, cylindrical tube with an almost cylindrical bore, and a flared bell. A person who plays a clarinet is called a clarinetist (sometimes spelled clarinettist). While the similarity in sound between the earliest clarinets and the trumpet may hold a clue to its name, other factors may have been involved. During the Late Baroque era, composers such as Bach and Handel were making new demands on the skills of their trumpeters, who were often required to play difficult melodic passages in the high, or as it came to be called, clarion register. Since the trumpets of this time had no valves or pistons, melodic passages would often require the use of the highest part of the trumpet's range, where the harmonics were close enough together to produce scales of adjacent notes as opposed to the gapped scales or arpeggios of the lower register. The trumpet parts that required this specialty were known by the term clarino and this in turn came to apply to the musicians themselves. It is probable that the term clarinet may stem from the diminutive version of the 'clarion' or 'clarino' and it has been suggested that clarino players may have helped themselves out by playing particularly difficult passages on these newly developed "mock trumpets".[1] Johann Christoph Denner is generally believed to have invented the clarinet in Germany around the year 1700 by adding a register key to the earlier chalumeau, usually in the key of C. Over time, additional keywork and airtight pads were added to improve the tone and playability.[2] And oh ja, this singspiel opera is a Masonic fairy-tale propaganda.

[@ClassicsExplained]

Thanks for your comment - though please see our response on your last comment. Instrument "invention" dates are notoriously tricky because they go through so many variations.

[@hannosargel1716]

Great Channel! I Like all your videos. Hope you will do more Videos about Opera, Verdis Falstaff, Il Barbiere di sigvilia or one of the DaPonte-Mozart Operas.

[@ClassicsExplained]

Thank you so much - and your suggestions are much appreciated

[@Jsome13]

I burst out laughing at “Theater auf der wieden” 😂

[@VITTORIO_MORELLI]

Please do a video on The Barber of Syville!

[@ClassicsExplained]

Great suggestion! Will add it to our list - though we have a few more for release before that

[@lunafox_creations41190]

Could you do Nocturnes Debussy next please 💓😊

[@a.m.theshinyjohtohunter4287]

The last 5 minuets of this explained to me perfectly why Mozart music is still so heavily touted... hmm 🧐

[@ClassicsExplained]

Great to hear! Many more videos to come :)

[@aeriseong1270]

oooo you should make a video about mozarts requiem

[@DDlambchop43]

any chance you could cover Don Giovanni? It's one of my favorite operas, other than Aida.

[@larsengels65]

Am I imagining things or was there a Sir Mix-a-Lot reference?

[@ClassicsExplained]

There may have been ;)

[@Shordanna]

Fantastic video! Such details and depth 😄 Would you want to do a video on La Traviata? :)

[@mmarci23]

Your animation videos were awesome educational cute and funny 👍

[@ClassicsExplained]

Thanks so much - exactly what we are looking for! And glad you enjoy them :)

[@chicosilva7531]

Really Really good. Please do more videos about Mozart. Don Giovanni for exemple.

[@needleboy17]

Do Symphony no. 6 by Beethoven, please! :3

[@ClassicsExplained]

My favourite Beethoven symphony! And a great work of programme music to animate too :)

[@RBEO22]

He has to be patient AND persistent???

[@ameliarosesheppard9007]

Thanks for the explanation! We're playing this opera in my school, but I'm in the pit and can't see what's going on onstage. The bits of dialogue I catch are so confusing 😂

[@aydenpostigo2910]

Hello Guys

[@aydenpostigo2910]

The Magic Flute Was Composed By Mozart

[@oldcowbb]

i just waiting for that part in queen of the night

[@Packless1]

12:55 ...and the number you count shall be 3...! ;-)

[@James-lg9fd]

It is so hilarious🤣

[@luisn642]

Anybody get a flute ad before the video started

[@antigraphein943]

Thanks, I'm pretty ignorant about classical. You're helping a lot.

[@ArmouredLord]

Can anyone who reads this remind themselves to share this on social media later, So under-viewed

[@kaiserwilhelmiivonhohenzol6211]

Hi , I'm Wilhelm

[@meganlewis2377]

Can you make a new episode based on Smetana’s Bartered Bride? Cause it’s known for the Dance of the Comedians that recently appeared in every Looney Tunes’ Roadrunner cartoons.

[@djangaver]

You are my role model but I think the only thing we have in common is dyslexia

[@elegantamadeus9873]

so what is the next episode ?? could it be tchaikovsky ballet performance ??

[@ClassicsExplained]

Ooo - VERY close but not quite ;)

[@elegantamadeus9873]

@@ClassicsExplained 👀

[@elegantamadeus9873]

@@ClassicsExplained lemme guess its stravibsky rite of springe or rossini william tells

[@ClassicsExplained]

@@elegantamadeus9873 one of these is on the way too :)

[@elegantamadeus9873]

@@ClassicsExplained ohh i cant wait for stravinksy music and rossini william tell overture i sugest that rossini is riding a horse during the finale of the overture pls?

[@legoguy23451]

mein got

[@dilanecemdeniz]

Nobody talks about the third romance.

[@danielflorencio6017]

please do don giovanni la ci darem la mano next

[@PaKePo]

I always wanted to know the story, I mean, I wanted to know why the hell the queen of the night was so damn pissed. Thank you

[@harvc741]

What about Rachmaninoff's Isle of the Dead, or Strauss's Death and Transfiguration ?

[@lhadzyan7300]

Actually only Tamino and Pamina were the only couple involved at the very end among the comunity of Sarastro as main-members, whereas Papageno gets his happy ending much aside in a lower cathegory which only happens because the Three Genies were medling between Sarastro´s trials actually doing tricks to make all the three main characters to success working as a third-neutral player which happened to work for both the Queen and Sarastro and also neither of any of them anyways - because they made Papageno and Tamino got separated early on and lead Tamino into the Sprecher alone to learn about the truth behind the Queen of the Night, and later on somehow they keep interfering with the trials giving both Tamino and Papageno the former instruments which they got retrieved by them by Sarastro after capturing them and later preventing and counseling Pamina and Papageno when they both attempted to falll into despair and make wrong choices of missunderstandings and missinformation about the whole ordeal that Sarastro put them on. Still it´s unknown why they worked for the Queen if they were gonna play for Sarastro, or then why they later helped on against Sarastro or his priests actually to make all things fair easily for the protagonists succeding the trials that they shouldn´t have had aid in all! (Unless actually Sarastro was indeed behind all and just was working even against his own priests because he knew those were so plain stupid and conservative-minded on their own, so he wanted to help all to have new better members for his group, and well... Papageno was a side-effect that he was fine of him and was harmñess and kinda wanting to have him replace Monostatos later on.)