O zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn most demanding in operatic repertoire. In the preceding scene, Prince Tamino was shown a portrait of the Queen's daughter Pamina and fell instantly in love with her, singing of his feelings in the aria "Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön". The Queen then makes a dramatic entrance, preceded by the Three Ladies calling to Tamino "Sie kommt! Sie kommt!" ("[Here] she comes!"). The grand entrance music for the Queen is in B-flat, marked "Allegro maestoso", with the following stage direction: Not all modern productions adhere to this prescription. In the aria, the Queen first quiets Tamino's fears and attempts to befriend
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Prague Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Prague There is no question that the Praguers of the late eighteenth century exhibited a special appreciation for the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, even though, as recently pointed out by Daniel E. Freeman, confirmations of this fact attributed to Mozart himself in sayings such as "" ("My Praguers understand me") have only come down to posterity second or third hand. Perhaps the most valuable direct testimony that attests to the discernment of the musical public in Prague with regard to Mozart's music comes from Lorenzo Da Ponte, the librettist of Mozart's opera "Don Giovanni", which