The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form during the time it was written that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on September 30, 1791 at Schikaneder's theatre, the Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna, just two months before the composer's premature death.
The allegorical plot was influenced by Schikaneder and Mozart's interest in Freemasonry and concerns the initiation of Prince Tamino. Enlisted by the Queen of the Night to rescue her daughter Pamina from the high priest Sarastro, Tamino comes to admire the high ideals of the latter and he and Pamina both join Sarastro's community, while the Queen and her allies are vanquished.
Cast:
Tamino : Nicolai Gedda
Pamina : Gundula Janowitz
Papageno : Walter Berry
Königin der Nacht : Lucia Popp
Sarastro : Gottlob Frick
Sprecher : Franz Crass
Erste Dame : Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Zweite Dame : Christa Ludwig
Dritte Dame : Marga Höffgen
Papagena : Ruth-Margaret Pütz
Monostatos : Gerhard Unger
Erster Geharnischter : Karl Liebl
Zweiter Geharnischer : Franz Crass
Erster Priester : Gerhard Unger
Zweiter Priester : Franz Crass
Erster Knabe : Agnes Giebel
Zweiter Knabe : Anna Reynolds
Dritter Knabe : Josephine Veasey
Philharmonia Chorus (dir. Wilhelm Pitz)

Philharmonia Orchestra
Otto Klemperer
EMI Studio recording, London, 1964