Die Zauberflote — the prophetic opera…What happens when characters morph? :-0

Some time ago, after it had been pointed out to me by a member of Monostatos’ Orchestra that the opera Die Zauberflote had a connection to my family and me, my first reaction was one of relief, as so much about our lives had seemed confusing, especially to my (at that time small) children.  I thought, “Here are the answers.  Wolf has encoded it all in the opera.  I know the ending.  Everything is ok.”  I could not have been more mistaken.

The characters in the opera are clearly drawn, as they frequently are in opera.  They are either very good, or very wicked.  But is this so?  At the time the opera was first performed, critics were horrified at some aspects of the libretto.  The Queen of the Night, for example, did not seem to be clearly drawn.  There almost seemed to be two of them — a good one and a wicked one.  But what if there really, in fact,  were two people vying for that position– one obviously wicked and the other far more deceitful, presenting themself as ‘good’? Monostatos was clearly wicked, but what if there were a group of wicked servants?  But the greatest mystery of real life, compared to the opera, is the three children.  In the opera they encourage Pamina to keep her from despair at Tamino’s not talking with her.  What if they seemed to morph into, artistically speaking, characters that could be used against Pamina?

This can be somewhat confusing…but hopefully all turns out well in the end…

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