“We shall go with the power of music, with joy through the darkness of death.”
These few words, sung by Pamina and Tamino, are enough to give Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte the title of an initiatory manifesto.
They testify to a deep and unshakeable faith in the beneficial power that the art of sound brings to awakened men.

MAGICAL
SYMBOLIC
CAPTIVATING
ENCHANTING

Libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder

Accompanied by the birder Papageno, Prince Tamino has promised to free his beloved, Pamina, daughter of the Queen of the Night, who is supposedly imprisoned in Sarastro’s kingdom. Armed with his magic flute, Tamino discovers a benevolent world and the young couple is introduced to great human values… The triumph of light over darkness…

From its premiere at the Theater auf der Wieden, in the suburbs of Vienna, in what would be the composer’s last autumn, Die Zauberflöte literally enchanted the audience. This singspiel, whose libretto was conceived by the owner of the theatre and friend of Mozart, Emanuel Schikaneder, brought together the great values of society in a jovial, colorful and very contrasting spectacle. The most representative ideas of the Age of Enlightenment were mixed with scenes worthy of a hilarious vaudeville. The music and the singing were in turn learned and simple, so melodic that it was impossible to leave the show without keeping the most joyful tunes in mind for a long time. One could feel the fear of the terrible Queen of the Night, the emotions of Pamina, the antics of Papageno and the wisdom in the making of Prince Tamino, all surrounded by the grandeur of the guide Sarastro, the symbol of benevolence. This initiatory journey was thus addressed to all social classes, from the least educated to the most cultured. It highlighted, and this is its greatest success, all the musical and philosophical subtlety of a Mozart who was to make his reverence a few weeks later.

• LAST PERFORMANCE AT THE ORW
  DECEMBER 2015
• PRODUCTION
  OPÉRA ROYAL DE WALLONIE-LIÈGE  

PALAIS DES BEAUX-ARTS DE CHARLEROI
SAT. 06 JAN
8PM
Conductor : Dayner Tafur-Díaz