The Magic Flute chorus for several numbers (notably the finales of each act). Mozart also called for a "" (instrument of steel) to perform Papageno's magic bells; an instrument which has since been lost to history, though modern day scholars believe it to be a keyed glockenspiel, which is usually substituted with a celesta in modern-day performances. Charles Rosen has remarked on the character of Mozart's orchestration: "Die Zauberflöte" has the greatest variety of orchestral color that the eighteenth century was to know; the very lavishness, however, is paradoxically also an economy as each effect is a concentrated one, each one—Papageno's whistle, the
The Magic Flute the music, to Scene 10: The Temple of the Sun" Sarastro announces the sun's triumph over the night, and hails the dawn of a new era of wisdom and brotherhood. Act 1 Act 2 The first recording of "The Magic Flute"s overture was issued around 1901–1903, at the dawn of the recording era, by the Victor Recording Company and played by the Victor Grand Concert Band. The first recording of "The Magic Flute" was of a live performance at the 1937 Salzburg Festival, with Arturo Toscanini conducting the Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna State Opera. The first studio recording of the