Opera in German outskirts of the city. In 1791, he persuaded Mozart to set one of his libretti, "The Magic Flute". This proved to be no ordinary "Singspiel". Though the traditional farcical elements remained, Mozart added a new seriousness, particularly in the music for Sarastro and his priests. Even more than "Die Entführung", the "Magic Flute" pointed the way forward for future German opera. The greatest German composer of the next generation, Beethoven, seized on "The Magic Flute"'s blend of domestic comedy and high seriousness for his only opera, "Fidelio", the story of a devoted wife who saves her husband from political imprisonment.
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