The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with a text by impresario and actor Emanuel Schikaneder, was given its first performance on September 30th 1791 in Vienna’s Theater auf der Wieden. It was the beginning of an unparalleled success story.

The Mainz court musician Franz Heinrich Ehrenfried (1747–1828) would also have benefited from this vogue with his arrangement of the Magic Flute for flute quartet. Ehrenfried, who clearly had a special preference for instrumental combinations featuring the fashionable flute, manages with this quartet to produce a high-quality, technically demanding composition.

W. A. Mozart: The Magic Flute – arranged for Flute, Violin, Viola and Violoncello by W.Ehrenfried 1797

Libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder shortened for concert performance to 2 x 45 minutes.

L’Arcadia                   Narrator: Daniel Fueter.