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Primary sourceBookc. 1800 edition

The Magic Flute

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (composer) · c. 1800 edition

Libretto of Mozart's final opera, printed in an edition used for performances in London and New York.

Mozart's final opera, preserved here in an early printed libretto used for London and New York performances.

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The Magic FlutePDF · 38 pages
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte), libretto, F. Rullman, New York, c. 1800. Scanned book, Internet Archive.

About this source

What it is

This is a libretto of Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), an opera in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This edition was printed for performances at the Royal Italian Opera in London and the Academy of Music in New York, dated around 1800.

Why it matters

The Magic Flute was one of Mozart's last works and combines fairy-tale elements with themes drawn from ideas about wisdom and trial. Its spread to opera houses in London and New York shows how quickly Mozart's work reached international audiences.

Look closer

  • What can the list of characters and settings tell us about the kind of story being told?
  • Why might a libretto be printed separately from the music?
  • How might a story written in one country change when staged in another, as shown by this London/New York edition?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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