The Magic Flute Unveiled
Solving one of music history's most elusive mysteries, the author sets out to disprove the enduring myth that *The Magic Flute* suffers from an incomprehensible libretto. He establishes the social, historical and religious context of Mozart's brilliant final opera, presenting compelling evidence that the entire libretto, sustained by the music, was fashioned according to Masonic ritual. The author reveals the coherence of the opera and the hidden significance of its characters and situations. He relates each of these elements to the esoteric tradition from which they emanate and to Mozart's own involvement with the Masonic brotherhood. In addition to its detailed and constructive scholarship, this book is alive with the atmosphere of eighteenth-century Vienna and its sages, royal personages, and scoundrels, who supply many fascinating sidelights on politics, music, literature, religion, and Freemasonry. Under the author's perceptive eye, this book emerges as a rigorously constructed theater piece in which Mozart's superb music and the libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder (and others) fulfill and illuminate each other.