built in the Neoclassical style; lines,
with straight-backed chairs (no lounging in rockers like in today’s
sixteen-screen movie theatres) and box seats in tiers that surged
up into infinity. We sat directly under an enormous chandelier that
gave me the sensation of being bathed in one huge light bulb
surrounded by a ceiling painting with colors in gold and red and
cream. I sighed with pure pleasure over the entire décor.
I normally don’t watch this opera
contemplating who represents what, and whether or not a certain
three chords in the overture represent three knocks in Freemason
ideology. I just wait for the Queen of the Night to sing her
marvelous aria. It was written as a comic opera but it’s one of the
most stirring Mozart wrote for a soprano.
This night, squinched between Johnny and
Franz, both of whom appeared so absorbed in the opera that they
must be taking notes in their heads, I tried to concentrate on
Mozart’s intent. Find those symbols and solve a puzzle.
With great effort I watched and listened for
every nuance related to Ignatz’ magic with his flute. Did the
symbols used, the morals presented, have a durn thing to do with
flautist Ignatz Jezek haunting Kastle Kouzlo Noc ? I paid
close attention to any scene involving the magic flute; said to
bring wild beasts under a spell rendering them tame. Also there was
a lyric that caught my ear about night and day. Night and day. Same
tune I’d heard earlier up at Kouzlo Noc . Was Ignatz trying
give me a clue about magic? Could his flute sooth savage animals?
Could it change light to dark? Rust to gold? And had human savage
beasts, in the guise of family or friend or colleague, taken an
opportunity to destroy the young Prague musician/artisan then steal
the flute and its magic for themselves?
I found no answers. My only insight was that any insight into the Jezek mystery would be solved at Kouzlo Noc .
The plot of The Magic Flute was
originally based on a fairy-tale. A prince sets out on a mission to
rescue a princess from her father, Sarastro, a man he believes to
be evil. The belief stems from the words of the princess’ mother,
Queen of the Night. But the prince soon discovers that the man is a
good man; almost a godlike character. When prince and princess
meet, it’s immediate love. Actually, before they meet it’s love.
They see one another’s portraits and it’s boom—Romance City. Sort
of early online dating? But before they can live happily ever
after, they have to undergo various trials to prove themselves
worthy to rule over the kingdom the wise Sarastro relinquishes to
his daughter and son-in-law. Comic relief is provided by the bird
catcher named Papageno, who is searching for a “Papagena” so they
can produce little papagenos. Yeah, the names get a bit confusing,
especially during the Papageno/Papagena duet, but it’s still
hilarious to watch and see. It’s one of those duets that sticks
with the listener long after the opera has ended. Insidious.
Fun—but insidious.
Masonic symbolism hits the audience at every
turn, with numbers of three being very prominent; with light and
day and black and white representing good and evil. I didn’t
understand half of it, but I did know that Freemasons of Mozart’s
time period went through various “trials” to prove they were worthy
of joining the brotherhood. Entire books have been written trying
to explain just what Mozart and his friend, the librettist and
producer, Schikaneder, were getting at. I couldn’t wait to read the
book Jozef had slipped me that afternoon. The elderly bookseller
himself had poured through it searching for clues to the magic his
ancestor had crafted, but obviously he was interested in letting
fresh eyes take a peek.
After about thirty minutes of angst over what
meant what, I said, “Screw it” and spent the next two hours not
worrying a damn about symbolism as I let myself be swept away with
the marvelous singing and the production as a whole. I did
with straight-backed chairs (no lounging in rockers like in today’s
sixteen-screen movie theatres) and box seats in tiers that surged
up into infinity. We sat directly under an enormous chandelier that
gave me the sensation of being bathed in one huge light bulb
surrounded by a ceiling painting with colors in gold and red and
cream. I sighed with pure pleasure over the entire décor.
I normally don’t watch this opera
contemplating who represents what, and whether or not a certain
three chords in the overture represent three knocks in Freemason
ideology. I just wait for the Queen of the Night to sing her
marvelous aria. It was written as a comic opera but it’s one of the
most stirring Mozart wrote for a soprano.
This night, squinched between Johnny and
Franz, both of whom appeared so absorbed in the opera that they
must be taking notes in their heads, I tried to concentrate on
Mozart’s intent. Find those symbols and solve a puzzle.
With great effort I watched and listened for
every nuance related to Ignatz’ magic with his flute. Did the
symbols used, the morals presented, have a durn thing to do with
flautist Ignatz Jezek haunting Kastle Kouzlo Noc ? I paid
close attention to any scene involving the magic flute; said to
bring wild beasts under a spell rendering them tame. Also there was
a lyric that caught my ear about night and day. Night and day. Same
tune I’d heard earlier up at Kouzlo Noc . Was Ignatz trying
give me a clue about magic? Could his flute sooth savage animals?
Could it change light to dark? Rust to gold? And had human savage
beasts, in the guise of family or friend or colleague, taken an
opportunity to destroy the young Prague musician/artisan then steal
the flute and its magic for themselves?
I found no answers. My only insight was that any insight into the Jezek mystery would be solved at Kouzlo Noc .
The plot of The Magic Flute was
originally based on a fairy-tale. A prince sets out on a mission to
rescue a princess from her father, Sarastro, a man he believes to
be evil. The belief stems from the words of the princess’ mother,
Queen of the Night. But the prince soon discovers that the man is a
good man; almost a godlike character. When prince and princess
meet, it’s immediate love. Actually, before they meet it’s love.
They see one another’s portraits and it’s boom—Romance City. Sort
of early online dating? But before they can live happily ever
after, they have to undergo various trials to prove themselves
worthy to rule over the kingdom the wise Sarastro relinquishes to
his daughter and son-in-law. Comic relief is provided by the bird
catcher named Papageno, who is searching for a “Papagena” so they
can produce little papagenos. Yeah, the names get a bit confusing,
especially during the Papageno/Papagena duet, but it’s still
hilarious to watch and see. It’s one of those duets that sticks
with the listener long after the opera has ended. Insidious.
Fun—but insidious.
Masonic symbolism hits the audience at every
turn, with numbers of three being very prominent; with light and
day and black and white representing good and evil. I didn’t
understand half of it, but I did know that Freemasons of Mozart’s
time period went through various “trials” to prove they were worthy
of joining the brotherhood. Entire books have been written trying
to explain just what Mozart and his friend, the librettist and
producer, Schikaneder, were getting at. I couldn’t wait to read the
book Jozef had slipped me that afternoon. The elderly bookseller
himself had poured through it searching for clues to the magic his
ancestor had crafted, but obviously he was interested in letting
fresh eyes take a peek.
After about thirty minutes of angst over what
meant what, I said, “Screw it” and spent the next two hours not
worrying a damn about symbolism as I let myself be swept away with
the marvelous singing and the production as a whole. I did
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