Sweeping across countries, class and music, Eva Ibboton's classic historical romance, Magic Flutes, is a richly imagined tale of intrigue and identity, with a new introduction from Harriet Evans. In the spring of 1922, young Austrian Princess Theresa-Maria – known to her ancient aunts as 'Putzerl' – abandons her crumbling castle and her royal duties. Disguising herself simply as Tessa, she enrolls as under wardrobe mistress of the International Opera Company and soon loses herself in the intoxicating world of the Viennese opera. But when Guy Farne, an Englishman looking to impress his new fiance, arrives in Austria and employs the Company to perform at his newly purchased Austrian estate, he finds himself fascinated by the under wardrobe mistress, and Tessa finds it increasingly difficult to keep her two lives separate . . . 'I have binged on Eva Ibbotson . . . her elegantly written, witty and well-observed fables' Nigella Lawson, The Times Rediscover Eva Ibbotson, award-winning author of Journey to the River Sea, in her sweeping historical romances, including The Morning Gift, A Song For Summer, The Secret Countess (originally published as A Countess Below Stairs), Madensky Square and A Company of Swans. Magic Flutes was originally published as The Reluctant Heiress.

Drawing on hundreds of operas, singspiels, ballets, and plays with supernatural themes, Magic Flutes and Enchanted Forests argues that the tension between fantasy and Enlightenment-era rationality shaped some of the most important works of eighteenth-century musical theater and profoundly influenced how audiences and critics responded to them. David J. Buch reveals that despite—and perhaps even because of—their fundamental irrationality, fantastic and exotic themes acquired extraordinary force and popularity during the period, pervading theatrical works with music in the French, German, and Italian mainstream. Considering prominent compositions by Gluck, Rameau, and Haydn, as well as many seminal contributions by lesser-known artists, Buch locates the origins of these magical elements in such historical sources as ancient mythology, European fairy tales, the Arabian Nights, and the occult. He concludes with a brilliant excavation of the supernatural roots of Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Don Giovanni, building a new foundation for our understanding of the magical themes that proliferated in Mozart’s wake.

In many places around the world, flutes and the sounds of flutes are powerful magical forces for seduction and love, protection, vegetal and human fertility, birth and death, and other aspects of human and nonhuman behavior. This book explores the cultural significance of flutes, flute playing, and flute players from around the world as interpreted from folktales, myths, and other stories--in a word, ""flutelore."" A scholarly yet readable study, World Flutelore: Folktales, Myths, and Other Stories of Magical Flute Power draws upon a range of sources in folklore, anthropology, ethnomusicology, and literary analysis. Describing and interpreting many examples of flutes as they are found in mythology, poetry, lyrics, and other narrative and literary sources from around the world, veteran ethnomusicologist Dale Olsen seeks to determine what is singularly distinct or unique about flutes, flute playing, and flute players in a global context. He shows how and why flutes are important for personal, communal, religious, spiritual, and secular expression and even, perhaps, existence. This is a book for students, scholars, and any reader interested in the cultural power of flutes.

A comprehensive, up-to-date, resource providing an essential framework for understanding Mozart's most-performed opera and its extraordinary afterlife.

A complete, newly translated LIBRETTO of Mozart's THE MAGIC FLUTE featuring Music Highlight Examples and German/English translation side-by-side.

Shortly after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's death, his widow Constanze sent a manuscript copy of one of his most beloved operas, Die Zauberflste, to the court of the Elector of Cologne. It was eventually published by Nicolaus Simrock in 1814 as the first full-score edition. However, the question still remains as to why this early copy in her possession diverges from Mozart's autograph in so many libretto details. The Authentic Magic Flute Libretto: Mozart's Autograph or the First Full-Score Edition? investigates the origin and claim to authenticity of the first full-score edition of Die Zauberflste, drawing attention to the close bond between words and music. Michael Freyhan brings the subtlety of the first edition word setting to the attention of scholars, musicians, and opera-lovers, setting out the evidence for its authenticity and detailing the quest, pursued in 15 countries, for the earliest possible historical sources. Freyhan examines the differences between the first edition and the autograph, discussing the quality of the word-setting_supported by 32 musical examples_and evaluating the relationship of the two texts in terms of language and literature. The following chapters discuss the early history of the autograph, focusing on four alleged owners, its market value, and the misleading catalogue numbering systems seen on the first page. Details of the performance and publication history of the first edition text are followed by a new perspective on the disputed authorship of the libretto, in light of the possible existence of two authentic texts. A concluding chapter discusses Mozart's sketches and working methods, while an appendix traces the character and career of Karl Ludwig Giesecke, one of the writers who claimed ownership of the opera's libretto. The book also includes several photos and the complete first edition libretto, in German and with literal English translation, providing a side-by-side text comparison with the autograph text.