#zauberflöte
SCHINKEL’S EGYPTIAN ZAUBERFLÖTE
Architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel published the portfolio of his designs for theatrical sets, Sammlung von Theater-Dekorationen, in 1819 (reprinted many times in the 19th century). This deluxe collection of large, aquatint plates representing Schinkel’s stage designs for numerous operas featured eight fantastical backdrops for a production of Mozart’s equally-fantastic opera Die Zauberflöte (1791), staged in Berlin in 1815.
Die Zauberflöte’s libretto , composed by the actor-impresario Emmanuel Schikaneder, a pastiche of fairy tales, magical lore and vaguely-defined exotic locations, further muddled by superficial references to Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, and other forms of esotericism. Schikaneder’s references to a Temple of the Sun and the aria “ O Isis und Osiris”) prompted Schinkel to give the opera a full-blown ancient Egyptian treatment, complete with sphinxes, palm trees, colossal statuary and hypostyle temples.
These fanciful sets not only reflect the Egyptomania that dominated the period, but they announce as well the Schinkel’s stylistic transition from Neo-classicism to the Romantic historicism and eclecticism of his later work.
God,
Grant me light
Light in my heart, light in my tomb,
Light in my speech, light in my seeing and light in my hearing
Light in my skin, light in my hair
Light in my flesh, light in my blood and light in my bones and light in my spirit,
Light before me, light behind me,
Light to the right of me, light to the left of me,
Light above me, light beneath me,
Increase my light
Forever into all directions
O God, strenghten my light and give me the greatest light of all,
The light of your darkness,
Grant me light, God of night.
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