Emanuel Schikaneder elements and traditional fairy-tale themes (see "Libretto of The Magic Flute"). Schikaneder took the role of Papageno—a character reflecting the Hanswurst tradition, and thus suited to his skills—at the premiere. According to the dramatist Ignaz Franz Castelli, Schikaneder also may have given advice to Mozart concerning the musical setting of his libretto: The late bass singer Sebastian Mayer told me that Mozart had originally written the duet where Papageno and Papagena first see each other quite differently from the way in which we now hear it. Both originally cried out "Papageno!", "Papagena!" a few times in amazement. But when Schikaneder
Vienna Mozart Orchestra world-famous opera houses, principally from the Vienna State Opera and the Vienna Volksoper, perform with the Vienna Mozart Orchestra. Best-known and most popular is the concert series “Vienna Mozart Concerts in historical costumes”, performed every year from May until the end of October, four times a week. An ideal background for these concerts is provided by the Golden Hall of the Musikverein, the Vienna State Opera and by the Great Hall of the Konzerthaus (each about 40 concerts a year). As a co-production with Klangbogen Wien within the framework of the Millennium celebrations in 1996, ten open-air concerts were performed