Mozart, Papagena-Pagageno
Emanuel Schikender, the librettist for Mozart’s opera Die Zauberflöte (“The Magic Flute”), performed the role of Papageno. This rather strange character with a bird cage on his back was drawn from the Hanswurst (or Hans Wurst) stock character in German comedy, described as
a half doltish, half cunning, partly stupid, partly knowing, enterprising and cowardly, self indulgent and merry fellow, who, in accordance with circumstances, accentuated one or other of these characteristics. — Richard Pischel (1902)
In the opera, Papageno runs the gamut of that description. Hanswurst eventually merged with the Commedia dell’arte character Harlequin. By the time of The Magic Flute‘s premiere in 1791, Hanswurst had already fallen out of favor and become something of an embarrassment to Germans. There was, in fact, a “Hanswurst Dispute” in the 1730s. The character remained more popular in Mozart’s Vienna, however, than in Germany.
Tell that to the Germans now. I captured the photo on the left (click to enlarge) just last week in Holzhausen. (Yes, we have rigorous research requirements here at Professor Carol.)
But back to Papageno. Despite his various character flaws, which serve as a contrast to the constancy and courage of his companion, the hero Tamino, Papageno eventually comes out okay. He not only benefits vicariously from Tamino’s feats, but finds a suitable wife (Papagena) in this scene from the last act.
The Magic Flute tends to be one of those operas that people have seen even if they don’t go to opera. It is classified as a Singspiel (sing-talk), a German-language comedy containing spoken dialogue (rather like American Broadway musicals as Professor Carol is always at pains to point out). It can be introduced to children at a very young age. Our grandkids found it captivating at ages 5 and 3.
If you don’t find a live performance coming up near you, I recommend the 1975 film version by Ingmar Bergman. It’s sung in Swedish (English subtitltes) and is perhaps not the strongest performance, but it has a charm that is hard to resist and that makes it particularly suitable for children.
