Wednesday 25 May: “The Enlightened Monarch”

Today’s class discussions centered around Mozart’s Freemasonry connections to Vienna and his singspiel Die Zauberflöte or The Magic Flute. Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a libretto by Viennese theatrical impresario Emanuel Schikaneder, The Magic Flute is a form of singspiel, a popular stage entertainment in Germanic regions which included singing and spoken dialogue. Often times singspiels were marketed to the lower classed, as in the case of The Magic Flute. The first performance of the work took place at Schikaneder’s theater outside of the city wall in the suburbs at the Theater auf der Wieden, now an apartment building.

The work is filled will allegorical references to politics within the Holy Roman Empire and its relationship with the enlightenment and Freemasonry. At the time of it’s premiere in 1791, the Empire has been governed post Maria Theresia by Joseph II until 1790 and then Leopold II until 1892. Joseph II was the stark opposite of Maria Theresia’s staunch Catholicism. Joseph II’s reign removed many of the restrictions which Maria Theresia and the Catholic church has imposed upon the lands, specifically those ruled entirely by the Hapsburgs. (The Holy Roman Empire is a challenging subject to tackle. Voltaire is supposed to have mused that the Empire is not Holy, Roman, nor an Empire, but this is the subject for another day.)

Emanuel Schikaneder's second theater in Vienna where Beethoven's only opera "Fidelio" was first presented during a French occupation of the city.

Although Freemasonry was prevalent during Maria Theresia’s reign, the Catholic Church sought to limit its reach as principles of the enlightenment often went against the teachings of the Church at the time and they believed it would cause division. While the Pope did order the dissolution of Freemasonry, Maria Theresia did not go as far and simply turned a blind eye. In some instances, although her attempts to curb the organization were well documented. Joseph II did not adhere to many of the policies of the Pope, believe the people had a right certain things. The early years of his reign were marked with prosperity and changes to the city to improve the life of all citizens. Many of these changes are still seen today. His enlightenment ideals allowed the culture of Vienna and the lands ruled by him to experience a period where censorship was not as prevalent and allowed Freemasonry to thrive.

Upon Leopold II ascension of the throne, he began to experience issues in surrounding countries which did not bode well for the monarch’s ability to control the people and many of the constricting policies advocated by Maria Theresia began to make a resurgence as the empire began to prepare for the Napoleonic Wars. It was in this political atmosphere Mozart’s work was formed and first performed.

Symbolism is rampant in The Magic Flute through the use of the numeral 3. The overture begins with three large chords, there are three ladies of the Queen, the are three tests Prince Tamino and Papageno must complete, there are three pillars in the temple, the key of the work is E-flat (three flats), and so much more. The allegorically relationships even can be found within the characters themselves and the music they sing. The Queen of the Night has often thought to be a representative of Maria Theresia while Prince Tamino is thought to be Joseph II. While there is much more that can be discussed about this work, I hate to turn this into a rambling article about the representations in the Magic Flute, but the symbolism is of utmost importance. Read the following synopsis from Opera North and see if you can connect the symbolism between enlightenment, Maria Theresia, Joseph II, and Freemasonry.

Tamino, a handsome prince who is lost in a strange land, is being pursued by a monstrous serpent. Three mysterious women appear, who are servants of the Queen of the Night, and slay the monster. Afterwards, they give Tamino a portrait of the Queen’s daughter, Pamina, and he falls instantly in love, vowing to rescue her from the evil Sarastro, Priest of the Sun, in whose faraway Temple she has been imprisoned. The three women give Tamino a magic flute to help in his quest and with the aid of a bird-catcher, Papageno, Tamino journeys to Sarastro’s temple and meets Pamina for the first time.

Tamino learns that it is not Sarastro who is evil but the Queen of the Night and that Pamina was only being held to keep her hidden from her mother. Sarastro gives Tamino a new quest; he must now undergo a series of trials to prove himself worthy of Pamina’s love. Using the power of the magic flute, Tamino and Pamina are able to overcome their trials and earn the right to be with each other. At the moment of their success, the Queen of the Night arrives with her servants to storm the temple and destroy it, but Sarastro appears and defeats them, casting them out. The sun rises on a new era for the united heroes.

After our class discussion we left the hostel for the city center (First District) to have lunch and tour the imperial crypt of the bodies of the Hapsburg family. When the Hapsburgs dies their bodies were disemboweled and split between three locations. The hearts were placed in the Augustinerkirche, the entrailes were placed in Stephonsdom, and the bodies were placed in the Kaisergruft at the Capuchin Church and Monastary in Vienna. The bones of 145 Habsburg royalty, plus urns containing the hearts or cremated remains of four others, are here, including 12 emperors and 18 empresses. The visible 107 metal sarcophagi and five heart urns range in style from puritan plain to exuberant rococo. The personalities of the Monarch are often exhibited in their entombment. Maria Theresia is entombed in an ornate Baroque sarcophagus while Joseph II’s plain, undecorated sarcophagus is the exact opposite. The last Emperor entombed here is Franz Joseph, whose militarily austere tomb is the exact opposite of Sisi’s, his wife.

Antipasta course from lunch.

The day continued with a visit to the Mozarthaus, which is one of the only serving residences of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his family. Much of the living arrangements are conjecture as records do not exist of which rooms were used for what purpose. Using the audio guide is a must in this space as it covers three floors of exhibits and specifically talks of Mozart’s life in Vienna. Afdterwards, we had two students with birthdays, so we all went to Café Aïda to celebrate with coffee and cake. As a side note, I visited Café Aïda in 2016 with my friend Aubrey and her mother after we accidently ate an entire bag of rum balls, and we needed a place to overcome the effects!

The famous Viennese pastry "sachertorte."

My evening was spent washing clothes at the hostel. The Wombat’s hostels are wonderful and provide a set of washers and dryers as well as free washing power for their guests. A washing and drying cycle costs 6 Euros here in the Vienna Wombat’s.