That is why, since its premiere in 1791, Flute has been wide open to interpretation. It’s pure adventure with loads of mysticism, and the patchwork of events range from bawdy farce to transcendent solemnity. There are traditional and timeless elements in the story (more like a medley of events) that validate why Disney remains a permanent fixture in our world: There’s the Queen of the Night, whose daughter has been kidnapped by a high priest a prince who battles a dragon and is then enlisted to free the princess supernatural creatures a bird-catcher who is normally bedecked in feathers and a series of trials which lead to enlightenment. (With gods such as Osiris and Isis referred to in the libretto, ancient Egypt was also in mind, but rarely is The Magic Flute set in the land of Pharaohs as Aida is). Emmanuel Schikaneder’s libretto is known as Singspiel, which has characters talking as well as singing he interchanges a fairy-tale journey right out of Disney (or German make-believe á la the Brothers Grimm) with dark Masonic rituals (there are Three Ladies, Three Boys and Three Trials), devout religious allusions, and comical frolics right out of an 18th-century Viennese puppet show.

Mozart’s accessible music is among the most popular in the repertoire it’s youthfully melodious yet stretches for transcendent classicism. The Magic Flute was written specifically for the common man, and thus was structured as an exaggerated amusement so that special effects could be employed.

La opera the magic flute