Synopsis "Die Zauberflöte (Overture Opera Guides) (in English)"
Alma Books in association with English National Opera has now published Die Zauberflöte, the eighteenth in the Overture Opera Guides series, following the publication since 2010 of Tosca, Idomeneo, La bohème, Don Giovanni, Parsifal, A Midsummer Night s Dream, Simon Boccanegra, Le nozze di Figaro, Eugene Onegin, Der fliegende Holländer, Carmen, La traviata, Così fan tutte, Otello, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Norma and Rigoletto. The series builds on the foundations of the John Calder Opera Guides which were published in association with ENO in the 1980s and 1990s and taken on by Alessandro Gallenzi of Alma Books in 2007. Die Zauberflöte contains an article about the background and genesis of the opera and also one with a detailed analysis of its music. A further article explores its extensive performance history. The guide includes the complete original German libretto, which includes much dialogue frequently cut in performances, with a new literal English translation by Kenneth Chalmers and a musical thematic guide. There are also reference sections about the work and thirty plates in black and white and colour. Articles: Nicholas Till - Die Zauberflöte and the Enlightenment; Julian Rushton - The Music of Die Zauberflöte; Hugo Shirley - Die Zauberflöte: A Selective Performance History
