The Magic Flute has been described as an opera with its head high in the clouds and its feet planted firmly on the earth; a ‘pop’ entertainment which becomes sublime. Written in the last year of Mozart's life, it is an adventure-rescue story and a political commentary. It is an entertainment and an invitation to enlightenment.

It is, simply stated, an endlessly fascinating work of art.

The Oxford Philomusica’s Magic Flute will present the first performance in modern times of the first full score edition text. The libretto is slightly different from that in the autograph but it is illuminated, word by word, by striking features of Mozart’s harmony, melody and orchestration. The source of the first edition was a manuscript offered for sale by Mozart’s widow three weeks after the composer’s death. It has since disappeared, but if it were the copy made by Süssmayr for Mozart as he worked on the opera it is possible that an early, original version of the opera survives in the first edition.

Free pre-concert talk at 6.15pm by Michael Freyhan on the First Edition.

Click here for more information on the First Edition

Please note starting time for this concert