Streams

Elīna Garanča Mezzosoprano
Concert Association of the Vienna State Opera Chorus
Jörn Hinnerk Andresen Chorus Master
Vienna Philharmonic
Christian Thielemann Conductor

Juan Diego Flórez Tenor
Sinfonía por el Perú Youth Orchestra
Roberto González-Monjas Conductor

Magic opera, Singspiel, a comedy with spectacular stage effects, Masonic ritual with Egyptian mysteries, heroic-comic opera? Die Zauberflöte is heard more often and has been more frequently performed, discussed, queried and interrogated than almost any other work in the history of opera. It is rare for the mysteriousness and multiformity of a work to be adjured with such mantric intensity. It is equally rare for a work to enjoy such undisputed success despite all these debates — and for over 200 years at that.

Written in the middle of the First World War, Il trittico was premiered in New York on 14 December 1918.
Il trittico — ‘the Triptych’ — consists of three one-act operas which at first glance are unconnected with one another. The theme that links the works are systems — appearing each time in a different form and colour — in which individuals are trapped. What is being described here are the grinding mills of unfreedom.