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Emanuel Schikaneder's libretto was at least partly inspired by a story by Christoph Martin Wieland, called Lulu, or the Magic Flute.
Sept. 30, 1791, Theater auf der Wieden, Vienna, Austria
There were no reviews of the early performances, but the audience loved The Magic Flute and it was a hit from the start, with nearly 100 performances in the first year after its premiere.
In March 1791, Emanuel Schikaneder presented his libretto for The Magic Flute to Mozart. The two men had been friends for about a decade. Mozart was eager to compose another German opera (which he hadn't done since Die Entführung aus dem Serail) in an attempt to promote German national theatre.
Schikaneder's Theater auf der Wieden presented works that had broad appeal, often musical productions that featured complicated stage machinery and magical themes. Schikaneder was also a performer and was the first Papageno.
Mozart composed most of The Magic Flute between April and July, 1791. Work ceased in July as he took a commission to write an opera seria, La clemenza di Tito which he wrote in 18 days. During September of that year, Mozart completed The Magic Flute.
At least two films (not including recordings of staged productions) have been made of The Magic Flute, including Trollflöjten (1975), directed by Ingmar Bergman, and The Magic Flute (2006) directed by Kenneth Brannagh. In the Kenneth Brannagh version, Tamino is played by Joseph Kaiser, a former member of the COC's Ensemble Studio.
Michael Schade as Tamino and Aline Kutan as the Queen of the Night in the Canadian Opera Company production of The Magic Flute. Photo: Michael Cooper © 2011
Generously Underwritten by The Catherine and Maxwell Meighen Foundation