Word: pamina
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...take up over half the opera are closely modeled on the initiation rites of the Order. Eighteenth century audiences would have instantly recognized the political allusions couched in the story: the feud between the Queen of the Night and the High Priest over possession of the Queen's daughter Pamina symbolised Empress Maria Theresa's religious warfare against democratic Freemasonry, while the people of Austria (Pamina) were putatively caught in the crossfire. The opera describes a spiritual journey from darkness to light; it ends with the initiation of Pamina and her prince, Tamino into the Temple of Isis as they...
...film, the plot seems straightforward. Tamino (Josef Kostlinger), a knight pure of heart but uncertain of course, is enticed by the Queen of the Night (Birgit Nordin) and her handmaidens into abducting her daughter Pamina (Irma Urilla) from the palace of Sarastro (Ulrik Cold). Sarastro, once the Queen's husband, is dabbling in some dark arts that turn out to be nothing more mysterious than the rites of Freemasonry. Tamino is aided in his quest by a forester named Papageno (Hakan Hagegard), whose robust cowardice at times of stress provides comedy relief. The two men, sensing they have been...
When Tamino and Pamina embrace at the end, Bergman has the magic flute fly from Tamino's hand into Sarastro's, a lovely metaphor of universal regeneration, both of life...
...outfit. He was presently joined by the Queen of the Night, who arrived in a carriage drawn by several men in tail coats and top hats. Thus prepared, the audience was scarcely surprised to see Sarastro roaming the Temple of Wisdom in a business suit, or later sitting on Pamina's bed in a modern bedroom while singing the famed aria In Diesen Heil'gen Hallen with its Masonic message of brotherly love. In the background loomed towers of concentration camps, cages filled with ballet dancers, and an assortment of plain kitchen chairs...
Mozart: The Magic Flute (RIAS Symphony Orchestra, chorus and soloists conducted by Ferenc Fricsay; Decca, 3 LPs). Despite its slightly studied style and rather tubby sound, this is the finest recording yet to appear of the 165-year-old masterpiece. Soprano Maria Stader makes Pamina a joy to the ear; Rita Streich is awesomely secure in the Queen of the Night's sky-high aerobatics, while the two leading men, Tenor Ernst Häfliger and Baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, use their handsome voices with distinction...