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We don't need a new libretto for the Magic Flute... I agree on every bit of what is said about it in spots being horribly misogynistic and racist, but such views were widespread around 1791. Though, not very nice to think about, this is part of reality. We can't understand history, if we blot out everything we don't like about historic reality. Well, in principle we could, but that would place us in the same boat as fx the Nazis, who couldn't deal with the fact, that the genius librettist for Le Nozze, Don Giovanni and Cosi fan tutte was Lorenzo da Ponte an Italian of Jewish extraction. They hated that historic fact so much, that they either removed his name from the scores and posters and/or replaced the libretti with texts by echt aryan authors. Cancellation culture anno 1933. Psychologically, I find it a much healthier approach to confront oneself with (historic) reality as it is or was, warts and all. To let our minds grapple with the jarring contrast between the sublime, almost divine beauty of Mozart's music and the ugly bits and parts of the libretto - and from that point of departure with curiosity ask the questions, raised by this contrast: was Schikaneder's text an expression of then commonly held beliefs; how can such refined and aesthetically sublime creativity as Mozart's music represents co-exists with such plump and repressive prejudice as found in the text; were Mozart in full agreement with the views of Schikanedet; were these attitudes widespread among freemasons in the 18th century; etc. etc.? If the latter question is answered in the affirmative, the libretto certainly let us catch a glimpse of the underbelly of the lofty ideals of 18th century enlightenment. Such reflections and others like them, raised by the cognitive dissonance created by the content of the music versus that of the text, can only make us wiser and contribute to our understanding of where we come from, and contextualise where we stand now!

@@jensguldalrasmussen6446 I think on the whole I agree with you. My comment about needing a new libretto for Zauberflöte was in part whimsical. Though some aspects of the libretto do offend contemporary sensibilities, the opera is a masterpiece and I wouldn't want to tamper with it. And Mozart might well not have agreed with all of Schickaneder's views, the overall message of the opera is indeed one of Enlightenment rationality and tolerance. It would certainly be anachronistic to criticize the libretto and characterization according to the standards of what might count as "enlightened" views today. Though we do, and rightly, criticize some of the USA's founders for owning slaves and approving of the slave trade. These are complicated issues, aren't they?

Yes, I sensed we were somehow trotting along the same lines...although, I tend to find my position not that complicated. It's the tampering with historic evidence, that, I find, complicates, or rather obfuscates, and leaves me uneasy. The slaveholding Founding Father's of the US is actually a good example. Of course any sensible person in the present would have to distance themselves from any kind of enslavement of other human beings. This, though, don't make us 'change the libretto' and fx rewrite history in a way, where Jefferson's enslaved workers don't exist, and, vupti, make our uneasiness about the whole thing go away. In contrary, by confronting ourself with the facts as they are, history might teach us a lesson or two about hypocrisy and the (so far at least) always underlying current of racism in American (US) history. A closer study might even reveal nuances and contradictions,, that hitherto have escaped our attention. If we just wrote the enslaved out of the history to spare our present sensibilities, we wouldn't obtain that. Another trap would be just fully and in every way to distance ourselves from any ideals of the Founding Father's and the Declaration of Indepence. I, on my part, wouldn't be too happy to let go of the notion, that "all [humans] are created equal" and "endowed ... with certain unalienable Rights"! And I'm almost certain, neither would you! 🙂

@@leo1961berlin That’s interesting. But if we are to go by Nilsson’s account, then Legge’s comments about Culshaw’s Ring are sour grapes. Nilsson (if I recall correctly) said that Legge was desperate to record the Ring with her and had her under an exclusive contract. The LP of Wagner scenes she recorded with Hotter was a test run. She became angsty when Legge kept delaying, for she didn’t know how long her voice would last. He finally relented and released her from the contract, and she wrote that that was why she never signed any exclusive contracts thereon out.

I don't think you have to compare or love HIP style performances of Don Giovanni to dislike Klemperer's. It's just wrong. No giocoso whatsoever. You only need to hear Busch, Bohm, Davis or Giulini to hear what's missing. Ditto the other da Ponte operas by Klemperer. The Flute, though, is wonderful.

"half-dead some of the time....." (Dave Hurwitz, 13:05 of this video)