Libretto of The Magic Flute Libretto of The Magic Flute "The Magic Flute" is a celebrated opera composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart employed a libretto written by his close colleague Emanuel Schikaneder, the director of the Theater auf der Wieden at which the opera premiered in the same year. (He also played the role of Papageno). Grout and Williams describe the libretto thus: Schikaneder, a kind of literary magpie, filched characters, scenes, incidents, and situations from others' plays and novels and with Mozart's assistance organized them into a libretto that ranges all the way from buffoonery to high solemnity, from childish faerie
The Magic Flute hands him the magic flute to help them through the trials (""). Protected by the music of the magic flute, they pass unscathed through chambers of fire and water. Offstage, the priests hail their triumph and invite the couple to enter the temple. "Scene change without interrupting the music, to Scene 8: A garden with a tree" Papageno despairs at having lost Papagena and decides to hang himself (Aria/Quartet: "Papagena! Papagena! Papagena! Weibchen, Täubchen, meine Schöne") The three child-spirits appear and stop him. They advise him to play his magic bells to summon Papagena. She appears and, united, the happy