The Magic Flute isolated exceptions, modern productions strongly reflect the creative preferences of the stage director. "The Magic Flute" is presently among the most frequently performed of all operas. On 28 December 1791, three and a half weeks after Mozart's death, his widow Constanze offered to send a manuscript score of "The Magic Flute" to the electoral court in Bonn. Nikolaus Simrock published this text in the first full-score edition (Bonn, 1814), claiming that it was "in accordance with Mozart's own wishes" ("Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung", 13 September 1815). "The Magic Flute" is noted for its prominent Masonic elements, although some scholars hold that
The Magic Flute (1975 film) a ladder in the wings responding to Papageno's pan flute. Earlier, when Papageno sings his first aria, we see Papagena appear from the rafters, but at this stage, they too have not yet met. During the intermission, Sarastro's priests gather on the stage, readying themselves for the priestly council that will begin the second act. Sarastro himself (Ulrik Cold out of character – he wears glasses) sits reading the score of "Parsifal" (at the time, Cold was rehearsing for a recording of the opera) while the camera pans to a child playing one of Monostatos’ slaves reading a Donald Duck