Countless dozens of doctoral theses should be written on Mozart's The Magic Flute and yet it is so lively with elements of fantasy and free-flying imagination that it is often the first opera to be taken children. It has a plot of such complexity that several viewings are necessary for all but the most studious opera buffs to locate the characters and follow the details of the multi-layered story. At the same time it has such an easily accessible charm and so many glorious Mozart melodies that even beginners will be fascinated. There is a large cast of characters including the priest Sarastro (a very serious and proselytizing bass), the Queen of the Night (a wicked, angry, scheming coloratura), and her daughter, the beautiful and courageous Pamina. There is the beautiful hero, Tamino, in the journey par excellence, and his companion in misadventures, the bird seller, Papageno. Papageno eventually finds his Papagena (who starts out disguised as an old woman), Tamino eventually wins Pamina, Sarastro presumably wins a pass of converts, and everyone goes home humming Mozart's catchy tunes. All this is presented in a plot complicated by a dragon, a trio of warbling women serving the Queen of the Night, another trio of boy-angels and even a bully: Monostatos, guard of the Queen. It's lightened up by elements like tight lips, enchanted animals, and of course, a magic flute. Mozart wrote The Magic Flute in 1791, just after the French Revolution and shortly before his death. Haydn had introduced Mozart to Freemasonry, and the work is full of ideas (the autonomy of the individual, self-determination, frightening sexism), ideals (power, wisdom, beauty) and symbols (aprons, hammers, compasses, a pyramid with a... medium of paper... has become inaudible because Hölle has gone out of her reach Erika Miklosa has neither the range, nor the vocal abilities, nor the temperament of the Queen of the Night could be a good queen of 'High Tea. In short, a highly uneven musical evening, in which the music never managed to soar and captivate as it should The Magic Flute is the third-tier company in Berlin, in both budget and in the price of tickets.This has the distinct advantage of making opera accessible to young people and there was a large audience the other night, rarely seen, one might imagine, in other theaters here and almost never in the United States young people may be attracted to opera with excessive productions, they are unlikely to become devotees unless captivated by beautifully sung music. Otherwise you're back to The Phantom Menace, where the scenario doesn't freeze.