<P> On 28 December 1791, three and a half weeks after Mozart's death, his widow Constanze offered to send a manuscript score of The Magic Flute to the electoral court in Bonn . Nikolaus Simrock published this text in the first full - score edition (Bonn, 1814), claiming that it was "in accordance with Mozart's own wishes" (Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung, 13 September 1815). </P> <P> The Magic Flute is noted for its prominent Masonic elements, although some scholars hold that the Masonic influence is exaggerated . Schikaneder and Mozart were Freemasons, as was Ignaz Alberti, engraver and printer of the first libretto . The opera is also influenced by Enlightenment philosophy, and can be regarded as an allegory advocating enlightened absolutism . The Queen of the Night represents a dangerous form of obscurantism or, according to some, the anti-Masonic Roman Catholic Empress Maria Theresa, or, according to others, the contemporary Roman Catholic Church itself, which was also strongly anti-Masonic . Her antagonist Sarastro symbolises the enlightened sovereign who rules according to principles based on reason, wisdom, and nature . The story itself portrays the education of mankind, progressing from chaos (the serpent) through religious superstition (the Queen and Ladies) to rationalistic enlightenment (Sarastro and Priests), by means of trial (Tamino) and error (Papageno), ultimately to make "the Earth a heavenly kingdom, and mortals like the gods" ("Dann ist die Erd' ein Himmelreich, und Sterbliche den Göttern gleich"); this couplet is sung in the finales to both acts . </P> <P> Modern audiences often find the prominent strains of misogyny and the casual racism in The Magic Flute problematic . Sarastro describes the Queen of the Night as usurping the rightful power of men ("(She is) a proud woman! A man must guide your hearts, for without him all women tend to step outside their own sphere of activity"), and her supposed' feminine' vindictive hysteria serves as a foil for Sarastro's' masculine' dignified reason . The perfidious villain Monostatos, meanwhile, is written as a Moor (African). </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th> Role </Th> <Th> Voice type </Th> <Th> Premiere cast, 30 September 1791 (conductor: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Tamino </Td> <Td> tenor </Td> <Td> Benedikt Schack </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Papageno </Td> <Td> baritone </Td> <Td> Emanuel Schikaneder </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Pamina </Td> <Td> soprano </Td> <Td> Anna Gottlieb </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> The Queen of the Night </Td> <Td> soprano </Td> <Td> Josepha Hofer </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Sarastro </Td> <Td> bass </Td> <Td> Franz Xaver Gerl </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Three ladies </Td> <Td> 3 sopranos </Td> <Td> M Klöpfer, M Hofmann, Elisabeth Schack </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Monostatos </Td> <Td> tenor </Td> <Td> Johann Joseph Nouseul </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Three child - spirits </Td> <Td> treble, alto, mezzo - soprano </Td> <Td> Anna Schikaneder; Anselm Handelgruber; Franz Anton Maurer </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Speaker of the temple </Td> <Td> bass - baritone </Td> <Td> Herr Winter </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Three priests </Td> <Td> bass, tenor, speaking role </Td> <Td> Johann Michael Kistler, Urban Schikaneder </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Papagena </Td> <Td> soprano </Td> <Td> Barbara Gerl </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Two armoured men </Td> <Td> tenor, bass </Td> <Td> Johann Michael Kistler, Herr Moll </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Three slaves </Td> <Td> 2 tenors, bass </Td> <Td> Karl Ludwig Giesecke, Herr Frasel, Herr Starke </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="3"> Priests, women, people, slaves, chorus </Td> </Tr> </Table>

Who is the queen of the night the magic flute