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The Magic Flute

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart · 1791

Mozart's last opera, a German Singspiel mixing popular comedy with Masonic Enlightenment ideals, premiered in Vienna in 1791.

Mozart composed this opera, his final completed work, shortly before his death in 1791.

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Vintage printed playbill for the first performance of Die Zauberflöte, September 30, 1791, Theater auf der Wieden, Vienna. Large title, cast list, and notes on Mozart's music and the Kupferstiche, with decorative engravings.
Playbill for the premiere of The Magic Flute, 30 September 1791, Theater auf der Wieden, Vienna.

About this source

What it is

The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte) is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It premiered on 30 September 1791 at Schikaneder's theatre in Vienna, just two months before Mozart's death, and was his last opera.

Why it matters

The opera blends popular comedy for Schikaneder's suburban audience with ideals linked to Freemasonry, showing how Mozart worked within a commercial theatre troupe while drawing on serious philosophical themes. It was an immediate success and remains one of the most performed operas today, revealing how collaborative and commercially driven Mozart's final creative years were.

Look closer

  • Why might a composer mix comic and serious elements in the same work?
  • What does the playbill tell us about how the first audience experienced this opera?
  • What does the opera's popularity since 1791 tell us about its appeal across time?

This document 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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