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
Western concert flute the transverse flute was redesigned. Now often called the "traverso" (from the Italian), it was made in three or four sections or joints with a conical bore from the head joint down. The conical bore design gave the flute a wider range and more penetrating sound without sacrificing the softer, expressive qualities. In addition to chamber music, the traverso began to be used in orchestral music. In the Baroque era, flutes become used in the scores of opera, ballet and chamber music. With this, composers wrote music for the flute. These included Praetorius, Schütz, Rebillé and Descoteaux, Quantz, Bach, Telemann,