OPERA IN THE SCHOOLS

2022-23SEASON

presents

THE MAGIC FLUTE

by 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Leopold and Anna Maria Mozart had two extremely talented children:  Maria Anna, nicknamed Nannerl, born in 1751, and her brother, Wolfgang, born in 1756 in Salzburg, Austria.

Leopold was a musician and soon recognized the talent of his two children.  Nannerl, being five years older, was already accomplished on the piano by the time Mozart was showing his talent.  When Mozart was only 3 he could repeat a melody played by his father and could play it on the piano by the age of 4.  Leopold trained both of his children in music, and, when Wolfgang was only 6 and his sister 11, they made their first music tour to Munich.  At the age of 6 Mozart wrote his first minuet and that year he performed before the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria at the splendid Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna.  At the age of 11 he wrote an oratorio, the next year a Mass and his first opera.

Mozart and his sister toured Europe and England for several years.  He went on to compose much piano and symphonic music, as well as many operas, all of which are still famous to this day.

The Magic Flute  was first performed in Vienna in 1791, just two months before Mozart’s death at the very young age of 35. It was a great success, and his early death brought much attention to all his music.  The author of the libretto (story) was Emanuel Schikaneder, the director of an opera house, who also sang the role of the baritone, Papageno.  Schikaneder catered to middle-class people at this theater who enjoyed operas involving magic, the appearance of animals onstage, and the use of magical devices to ensure the triumph of good over evil.  The Magic Flute involves all these features and in current times is performed frequently throughout the world.

Mozart is considered one of the greatest composers who ever lived.

In addition to the actual performance by OITS in your school, you will receive materials that will enable you to prepare the students in advance to really profit from the experience. Here are the details:

West Bay Opera Provides:

- four professional singers, in costume, and a pianist;

- a 40-minute performance of our English adaptation of The Magic Flute

- written pedagogical materials for advance in-classroom preparation, including a synopsis of the opera, a biographical note about the composer, mp3s and sheet music for chorus practice (if you choose to include the optional chorus), definitions of key opera and music concepts, and materials appropriate for the lower grades, such as coloring sketches of the main characters and opera crossword puzzles.

PLEASE NOTE: our program normally includes acting, non-speaking and stagehand parts for volunteer students, as well as an optional student chorus, to make the children's experience more  memorable. However, given lingering concerns about COVID contagion, we are presenting the current production without involving student participation.

The Schools Provide:

- a piano in good tune

- a performance area cleared of other material and available at least one hour prior to the scheduled start of the performance

- a custodian on standby

- in-classroom review of preparation materials (to make the experience more meaningful for the students)

PLEASE NOTE: under normal circumstances, schools would also provide volunteer student actors, as detailed in the next section, but as explained above, we're not involving students this time, because of COVID safety concerns.

Our performances are structured so as to provide opportunities for student participation. This is a key element in demystifying opera and making it real and fun for the children, whether they are volunteering or watching their peers do it.

PLEASE NOTE: Because of lingering concerns about COVID contagion, we are not involving students this season.  Under normal circumstances, we make available a number of opportunities for students to participate. Some are speaking parts, some are non-speaking parts, and some are parts helping with stage set changes and other "stagehand" type activities. This allows us to involve students of different ages and ranges of ability.  We provide materials in advance for the students to memorize and our cast members and stage director are at the school an hour early to work with the children to stage them (teach them where to stand and when to come in and leave the stage) and prepare them for the performance.  We will not be doing that this year.

However, there is also an optional chorus that the school can prepare in advance of the performance day.  The chorus materials are included here.  For this year, to minimize close contact with the children, those schools that choose to do the optional chorus will have the children perform from the audience. We recomend that the children participating in the chorus be seated together during the assembly, so they can hear each other better and blend more effectively.

If your school is requesting performances at two consecutive assemblies (both in the same morning), the same student chorus will be used in both performances. The chorus should report 15 minutes prior to performance time to rehearse their music with our accompanist. The teachers’ materials include the sheet music and mp3s of the music to be practiced.

All study materials are posted below, and several full packets will also be mailed to your school, if you choose to participate in the program, approximately 5 weeks prior to the scheduled performances at each school.  We urge you to distribute materials to teachers no later than 3 weeks prior to the date of the assembly in your school.

The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder

Abbreviated Version

for the

Opera In The Schools Program

SYNOPSIS (the story)

The Characters (in order of appearance):

Tamino – a Prince (tenor)  

1st Lady – attendant to the Queen of the Night (soprano)

2nd Lady – attendant to the Queen of the Night (soprano)

Papageno – a fantasy bird-man who catches birds for the Queen (baritone)

Queen of the Night (soprano)

Pamina – daughter of the Queen (soprano)

Sarastro – the High Priest (baritone)

Papagena – a fantasy bird-lady (soprano)

Chorus (optional)

Tamino, a young prince, is chased in the woods by a dragon.  As the dragon catches up with him, he calls out for help then faints.  Two Ladies-in-Waiting to the Queen of the Night come to his rescue and kill the dragon.  The Ladies are struck by the young man’s beauty and leave to tell the Queen about him.

Papageno catches birds for the Queen in exchange for food and drink.  As he is wandering through the woods, he sings about his life (“I am a man of widespread fame”).  He comes upon the dead dragon just as Tamino awakens.  Tamino wonders who was brave enough to kill the dragon.  To impress Tamino, Papageno brags that he killed the dragon.  The Ladies overhear him, return and explain to Tamino that they had slain the dragon.  To punish Papageno for lying, they put a lock on his mouth so he can’t talk!  They then ask Tamino to help find the Queen’s daughter, Pamina, who has been kidnapped by Sarastro, the High Priest, and his men. They give a locket to Tamino with a picture of Pamina. Looking at the picture, Tamino falls instantly in love with Pamina and is determined to rescue her.

The Queen of the Night enters and sings to Tamino (“You, you, you shall free her from bonds of slavery!”), promising him that if he rescues her daughter, she will give Pamina’s hand to him in marriage.  Papageno returns still unable to speak because of the lock on his mouth.  (Quartet – hm, hm, hm, the poor young lad must surely suffer”).  Tamino convinces Papageno to help him find Pamina, and the Ladies reward him by removing the lock from his mouth.  They also give a magic flute to Tamino and magic bells to Papageno to protect them from evil as the try to rescue Pamina.

Tamino runs off to find Pamina and Papageno finds himself alone.  Pamina enters, running away from Sarastro’s Chief Guard, and meets Papageno.  Papageno sings of his desire to find a wife, someone who is like himself, a bird-lady (“I’d give my finest feather”).  Pamina tells him that first they must find the prince, Tamino.

Sarastro’s Chief Guard, a very cruel man, has sent his guards to find Pamina.   The guards find Pamina and Papageno together and try to capture them.  Papageno plays his magic bells which puts them under a spell and causes them to dance around helplessly.  The guards leave (“This jingles so softly”).  (Student guards and student chorus will perform here.)

Sarastro appears and Pamina begs forgivance for trying to escape.  She explains that she was trying to get away from the cruel Chief Guard.  Tamino and Pamina meet, fall in love at first sight, and sing of their love.

Tamino believes that Sarastro is the evil one because of what the Queen of the Night had told him, but Pamina quickly explains that it is not Sarastro who is evil, but her own mother, the Queen.  The Queen wants to do away with Sarastro so she can rule the world.

In order to get Papageno to help fight the Queen, Sarastro tells Tamino that he’ll find a wife for Papageno.  (Trio – “So must we two forever part?”).  Sarastro and Pamina leave.  Papageno returns and Tamino convinces him to help him fight the Queen by telling him of Sarastro’s plan to find him a wife.  The two Ladies appear to try to get Papageno and Tamino to leave, and they announce that the Queen is nearby.  (Quartet –“Ye? Ye? Ye? In this place of night and gloom?”)

Pamina comes back and convinces Papageno and Tamino to leave and not face the Queen until they have a plan to defeat her.  Pamina stays to await her Mother, the Queen. The Queen enters and angrily tells Pamina that she must kill Sarastro (“The wrath of hell within my breast I cherish”?); – then leaves.  Tamino and Papageno reappear, finding Pamina in tears.  They all try to think of some magical way to overpower the Queen.  Finally, using their magic bells and flute during the fight between the Good Sarastro and the Evil Queen, they defeat the Queen.

Tamino asks Pamina to be his wife and together they sing of their love. 

Papageno is depressed because everyone is happy, and he still doesn’t have someone to love.  Papagena, a bird-lady, appears, and the two fall in love and sing and dance happily (Duet: “Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa”).

The Force of Good has overpowered the Force of Evil – and everyone lives happily ever after!

Cast Member Musical Numbers

Papageno “I am a man of widespread fame”

The Queen of the Night “You, you, you shall free her from bonds of slavery!”

Quartet “hm, hm, hm, the poor young lad must surely suffer”

Papageno “I’d give my finest feather”  

Chorus “This jingles so softly”

Trio “So must we two forever part?”  

Quartet ”Ye? Ye? Ye? In this place of night and gloom?”)

The Queen of the Night “The wrath of hell within my breast I cherish”?

Duet “Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa."