The Magic Flute (1975 film) singers, Håkan Hagegård went on to a prominent international career in opera and recitals. The film was reviewed from a musical perspective by Richard Evidon, who paid Bergman the compliment of praising the film as a realization of Mozart's own vision (cf. Kael's comment above on the "bewilderment" of previous directors): "Only Ingmar Bergman could have made this "Magic Flute"; but part of his achievement is in letting us forget the director's hand as we watch and are drawn closer to Mozart's sublime work." Following re-mastering by the Swedish Film Institute, a blu-ray edition was published by the BFI in
Libretto of The Magic Flute to sublime human aspiration – in short from the circus to the temple, but never neglecting an opportunity for effective theater along the way. The sources for the work fall into (at least) four categories: works of literature, earlier productions of Schikaneder's theater company, Freemasonry, and the 18th-century tradition of popular theater in Vienna. The Schikaneder troupe prior to the premiere of "The Magic Flute" had developed considerable experience with performing fairy tale operas with similar plots, characters, and singers. Two bear a particularly strong relationship to "The Magic Flute": A very long tradition asserts that Freemasonry plays a major