Charlottenburger Chaussee 109
13597 Berlin
030 3325772
marian@ich.ms
Season 2024/2025
Mixing Viennese folk theatre, Masonic mystery and fairy tale, this opera is probably the most performed in the German-speaking world and, in Günter Krämer's colourful, highly visual production, a favourite with the audiences.
Image gallery
Eine Szenenimpression aus dem ersten Aufzug.
Die Zauberflöte
Die Zauberflöte
Philipp Jekal als Papageno
Philipp Jekal als Papageno, Attilio Glaser als Tamino, Kim-Lillian Strebel als 1. Dame, Annika Schlicht als 2. Dame, Ronnita Miller als 3. Dame
Attilio Glaser als Tamino, Seth Carico als Sprecher
Kathryn Lewek als Königin der Nach
Eine Szenenimpression aus dem zweiten Aufzug
Elena Tsallagova als Pamina, Tobias Kehrer als Sarastro, Attilio Glaser als Tamino
Philipp Jekal als Papageno, Alexandra Hutton als Papagena
Kathryn Lewek als Königin der Nacht, Elena Tsallagova als Pamina
Attilio Glaser als Tamino, Elena Tsallagova als Pamina
Eine Szenenimpression aus dem zweiten Aufzug
Eine Szenenimpression aus dem zweiten Aufzug.
Elena Tsallagova als Pamina
Elena Tsallagova als Pamina, Attilio Glaser als Tamino
Alexandra Hutton als Papagena
Eine Szenenimpression aus dem zweiten Aufzug
Philipp Jekal als Papageno, Alexandra Hutton als Papagena
- Conductor: Giulio Cilona / Friedrich Praetorius
- Director: Günter Krämer
With
Tobias Kehrer / Patrick Guetti, Andrei Danilov / Kieran Carrel / Kangyoon Shine Lee / Matthew Newlin / Attilio Glaser, Hye-Young Moon, Lilit Davtyan / Nina Solodovnikova / Hye-Young Moon, Alexandra Oomens / Sua Jo, Philipp Jekal / Artur Garbas et al.
About the work
It’s the most performed opera in the German-speaking region, an unusual – and masterly – blend of Viennese folk theatre and fairy tale, mythology and freemasonry mystique: Mozart’s THE MAGIC FLUTE remains a puzzle to this day.
Did Mozart and his librettist Schikaneder switch horses from the Queen of the Night to Sarastro half way through? Is the message not one of distrust towards a supposedly infallible priesthood and its simplistic good-versus-evil ideology?
Are some Mozart experts right when they talk of a disconnect between text and music? Whatever the answer, it’s the music that allows us to relate to the story’s contradictions. Far from denouncing the characters, it confers an existentiality on their conflicts.
Tamino is rescued from a dragon by three mysterious women, who show him a picture of Pamina, daughter of the Queen of the Night, who has been kidnapped by Sarastro, high priest of the Temple of the Sun. Besotted with the picture, Tamino is instructed by the Queen to team up with Papageno to rescue her. For a talisman he is given a magic flute, Papageno some magic bells.
When they fail to steal Pamina back, the three of them are subjected to a series of perilous ordeals. Firstly, the men must prove they can keep silent. With Tamino not speaking to her, Pamina is about to stab herself but is saved by the three boy spirits, who lead her to Tamino. The pair then pass the remaining ordeals by fire and water.
Meanwhile Papageno has acquired a lady friend, with whom he dreams of living happily ever after. Tamino and Pamina are inducted into the brotherhood of the Enlightened and embrace the ideals of nature, wisdom and reason.
About the productionThe Günter Krämer production focuses on the antithesis between two worlds, represented in THE MAGIC FLUTE by sun versus moon and dark versus light but also by the oppositions of nature versus culture and male versus female. These double-sided coins are visualised on stage as the contrast between black and white, neither of which – like Yin and Yang – can exist without the other.
The fairy tale character of THE MAGIC FLUTE is conveyed with directorial exhilaration and a remarkable set design, which have helped to make the production an audience favourite over the last 30 years.
Additional information
In German with German and English surtitles.
- Opera in two acts
- Libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder
- First performed on 30. September, 1791 in Vienna
- Premiered at the Deutsche Oper Berlin on 24. September, 1991
Pre-performance lecture (in German): 45 minutes prior to each performance
Participating artists
Giulio Cilona (Musikalische Leitung)
Günter Krämer (Inszenierung)
Andreas Reinhardt (Bühne, Kostüme)
Thomas Richter (Chöre)
Tobias Kehrer (Sarastro)
Andrei Danilov (Tamino)
Michael Bachtadze (Sprecher)
Stephen Marsh (1. Priester)
Burkhard Ulrich (2. Priester)
Hye-Young Moon (Königin der Nacht)
Nina Solodovnikova (Pamina)
Sua Jo (1. Dame)
Karis Tucker (2. Dame)
Davia Bouley (3. Dame)
Alexandra Oomens (Papagena)
Artur Garbas (Papageno)
Chance Jonas-O'Toole (Monostatos)
Jorge Puerta (1. Geharnischter)
Jared Werlein (2. Geharnischter)
Solisten des Tölzer Knabenchores (Drei Knaben)
Chor der Deutschen Oper Berlin (Chöre)
Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin (Orchester)
