Schikaneder, however, persevered, and with every repetition the applause increased; Mozart's pleasure thereat, and more especially at the approbation expressed by Salieri and Cavalieri, may be gathered from his letters to his wife. The "Zauberflöte" soon became the most popular of operas. It was performed twenty-four times in October; on November 23, 1792, Schikaneder announced the hundredth, and on October 22,1795, the two hundredth performance of the opera.[ 6 ]
Schikaneder[ 7 ] had long varied his favourite farcical pieces by the production of operas, either adaptations of earlier ones or works expressly composed for him,[ 8 ] and in 1791 he had achieved a great success with the romantic-comic opera "Oberon, König der Elfen," adapted by Gieseke from Wieland, and composed by Wranitzky (1756-1808).[ 9 ] The brilliant appointments of scenery, costume, and machinery, and the satisfaction with which the dramatisation of Wie-land's universally popular poem was viewed by the public, heightened the interest in the opera to a degree far beyond the deserts of the light and popular music. It was first performed in Frankfort during the coronation festivities in 1790, and, rapidly spreading over the whole German stage, shared, and for a short time rivalled, the popularity of the "Zauberflöte."[ 10 ] In order to assure himself of a repetition of this success, Schikaneder selected as a subject for his new opera the tale of Lulu, oder die Zauberflöte, from Wieland's Dschinnistan.[ 11 ] The story is briefly as follows:—
In the kingdom of Chorassan there dwelt in an old magician's castle the good fairy Perifirime, called the "radiant fairy." Hunting in the neighbourhood, Prince Lulu, son of the King of Chorassan, enters the usually avoided castle, and the fairy, appearing to him in her full radiance, promises him rich reward if he will obey her behests. She discloses to him that the wicked magician Dilsenghuin, with the help of her faithless DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE. attendant Barsine, has deprived her of her precious talisman, a golden fire-steel, which is obeyed by the spirits of the elements and of all earthly regions, every spark struck from it becoming a powerful spirit, subject to the possessor; none but a youth whose heart is as yet untouched by love can regain the talisman for her by stratagem. She designates Lulu as her deliverer, and promises him the best gift that she has if he will undertake the task. This is none other than the beautiful Sidi, daughter of Perifirime and Sabalem, King of Cashmere, whom the magician keeps in his power, making tender advances to her which she is only able to resist owing to her magic power of repelling attacks so long as her heart is untouched by love. The fairy dispatches Lulu with two magic gifts—a flute which has the power of winning all hearts, and of exciting and appeasing every passion at will; and a ring, by turning which the wearer can assume any form, and by throwing it away can summon the fairy herself to his aid.
Thus provided, Lulu approaches the magician's stronghold in the form of an old man, and by his flute-playing entices first the forest beasts, and then the magician, who takes him into the fortress to try his art upon the obdurate beauty. Lulu gains the confidence of the magician and his son, with Barsine and the dwarf Barka; the love of the beautiful Sidi is also soon his. He succeeds in throwing the magician and his companions into a deep sleep during a banquet, and possesses himself of the talisman. By the aid of the genü now subject to him, and finally by the appearance of the fairy, he overcomes all the dangers and obstacles prepared for him by the magician, who is finally changed into an owi, and flies away with his son, similarly transformed. The fairy destroys the fortress and carries the lovers to her castle upon her cloud-chariot; there the Kings of Chorassan and Cashmere bless their union.[ 12 ]
This story was treated as follows in Schikaneder's opera:—
The "Japanese" Prince, Tamino, while hunting, is pursued by a great serpent, and falls in a swoon; three ladies of the Queen of Night slay the monster.. On the awaking of the Prince there enters the bird-catcher Papageno, the comic character of the opera, contrasting in the traditional manner with the grave heroic lover (who does not, however, display any great daring here). Papageno is a good-tempered, pleasure-loving, loquacious poltroon, whose feather costume is a sort of reminiscence of Schikaneder's bird comedies. He gives himself out to Tamino as the slayer of the dragon, but is punished for his boasting by the veiled ladies, who reappear and fasten up his mouth with a padlock, at the same time presenting the Prince with the portrait of a beautiful damsel, of whom he instantly becomes deeply enamoured. Hearing that the original of the portrait is Pamina, daughter of the Queen of THE LIBRETTO-RIVAL THEATRES. Night, and that she has been carried away by a wicked demon, he swears to free her from the power of the enemy, whereupon the Queen herself appears and promises him the hand of her daughter as the reward of his success. The ladies then command Papageno, from whose mouth they remove the padlock, to accompany Tamino to the castle of the magician Sarastro, which he is reluctantly obliged to do. They provide Tamino with a magic flute, Papageno with a chime of bells, and promise that "three boys, young, beautiful, pure, and wise," shall hover round them as guides.[ 13 ]
In Sarastro's castle Pamina, who has endeavoured by flight to escape the hated advances of her jailer and tormentor, the Moor Monostatos, has been recaptured and is kept in bondage. Papageno makes good his entry; he and the Moor are mutually alarmed at each other's appearance, and run away in opposite directions. Papageno, venturing in again, finds Pamina alone, and acquainting her with Prince Tamino's commission from her mother to liberate her, they hasten to seek for him together.
So far the original story has been followed in its essential parts. The modifications which have been made in the characters and situations to enhance the dramatic interest are such as would occur naturally in the development of the story. But when Schikaneder had proceeded thus far in his adaptation he learnt that an opera founded on the same story was finished and about to be produced at the Leopold-stàdter Theatre, which often placed itself in competition with his.
It was in 1781 that Marinelli opened his newly erected theatre in the Leopoldstadt.[ 14 ] He produced operas, among which the "Sonnenfest der Braminen" had a great run, and after the brief span of popularity which German opera had enjoyed at the National Theatre, the suburban theatre became a formidable and finally a successful rival. But the proper element of this theatre was in popular farces. The comic actor Laroche had created the part of Kasperl, the direct descendant of Hanswurst, and the people were never tired of seeing him play his coarse tricks and antics in the most widely different situations. It had been the custom to bring Hanswurst into contact with witches and magicians, DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE. and Kasperl was consequently introduced to the same society, with some differences in colouring, due to French taste and to the Eastern fairy tales disseminated mainly by Wieland. Popular songs played their part in these "Kasperliads," and out of modest vaudevilles, such as "Kasperl's Ehrentag," a fairy tale by Hensler (1789), in which the music was confined to some short choruses and an accompaniment to the supernatural apparitions, arose gradually comic magic operas. The Leopoldstàdter Theatre had possessed since 1786 a fruitful composer in Wenzel Müller,[ 15 ] whose place as a comic popular musician was somewhat similar to that of Laroche as an actor. On May 3, 1791, "Kasper der Vogelkràmer," by Hensler, was performed with his music, followed on June 8 by "Kasper der Fagottist, oder die Zauberzither," a vaudeville in three acts, the words adapted from "Lulu" by Joach. Permet.[ 16 ] The piece follows the plot of the original pretty closely, and the dialogue is as far as possible verbally transcribed; nevertheless the whole effect is that of a travesty, and the text of the "Zauberflöte" displays a decided superiority in comparison with it:—
