On Feb 10, 2005, at 9:23 AM, Andrew Stiller wrote:
I I find myself puzzled at the assertions by quite a few on this list that The Magic Flute is incoherent. I confess I have never found it so. To me the characters, motivations, and events are all perfectly straightforward and sensible (within the fairy-tale universe that the drama clearly posits), and in fact don't require knowledge of the Masonic background--though of course knowledge of this sort can only deepen one's appreciation of any work.
Who has asserted incoherence besides David? I was using his word for the sake of argument, but my responses were (1) if it is incoherent, then familiarity with Freemasonry does not make it less so, and (2) the story works dramatically in spite of the "incoherence".
The first of these was an exaggeration on my part, as understanding of the Masonic symbolism does diminish some (but not all) of the "incoherence". The second is not too much different from what you've expressed here, only with different words.
I would say that your characterization of "perfectly straightforward and sensible" is also an exaggeration. I agree that the fairy-tale universe allows for the zaniness of the plot, but it is not perfectly straightforward to open the drama with a kimono-clad Egyptian prince chased by a giant snake, and it is not perfectly sensible that he sees a small portrait of a princess and instantly falls in love with her. Yes, we accept these things because that's the sort of story it is, but that doesn't make it sensible or straightforward.
It is surely not at all straightforward that most of the first act is devoted to setting up a dramatic situation in which the hero promises the virtuous queen that he will save the princess from the evil villain, only to have the scenario abruptly turned upside-down for the rest of the opera. There's no story of revelation here, neither in the script nor the music. There's just a bit of recitative in which the Priest says, "no, you've got it backward", Tamino plays his flute, and hey presto Sarastro is the wise sage and the Queen is the evil villain. This is not a well-crafted dramatic reversal: It feels more like the librettist started writing one story and then changed his mind and morphed it into a different story (which, in fact, is exactly what happened).
Even in a fairy tale universe there is often a comprehensive logic and tightness of the drama. Here, there is not. There are plenty of unexplained loose ends and absurd happenings. Many of these are standard fairy tale fare, but others go beyond that. Again, I'm not saying it doesn't work dramatically; I believe that it does work. Still, there is a difference between a story like this one (or, eg, Love for Three Oranges), as opposed to a story like Traviata or Otello. Someone with a penchant for blunt overstatement might call it "incoherent". That's not the word I'd choose, but I can see what he's talking about.
mdl
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