opera seria, from which he had long
escaped, and altogether, as an able critic remarked at the time, the
work might rather be taken for the first attempt of budding talent than
for the product of a mature mind. The story deals with the plotting of
Vitellia, the daughter of the deposed Vitellius, to overthrow the
Emperor Titus. She persuades her lover Sextus to conspire against his
friend, and he succeeds in setting the Capitol on fire. Titus, however,
escapes by means of a disguise, and not only pardons all the
conspirators, but rewards Vitellia with his hand. The opera was produced
at Prague on the 6th of September, 1791, and the cold reception which it
experienced did much to embitter the closing years of Mozart's life.

'Die Zauberfloete,' his last work, was written before 'La Clemenza di
Tito,' though not actually produced until September 30, 1791. The
libretto, which was the work of Emanuel Schikaneder, is surely the most
extraordinary that ever mortal composer was called upon to set.

At the opening of the opera, the Prince Tamino rushes in, pursued by a
monstrous serpent, and sinks exhausted on the steps of a temple, from
which three ladies issue in the nick of time and despatch the serpent
with their silver spears. They give Tamino a portrait of Pamina, the
daughter of their mistress, the Queen of Night, which immediately
inspires him with passionate devotion. He is informed that Pamina has
been stolen by Sarastro, the high-priest of Isis, and imprisoned by him
in his palace. He vows to rescue her, and for that purpose is presented
by the ladies with a magic flute, which will keep him safe in every
danger, while Papageno, a bird-catcher, who has been assigned to him as
companion, receives a glockenspiel. Three genii are summoned to guide
them, and the two champions thereupon proceed to Sarastro's palace.
Tamino is refused admittance by the doorkeeper, but Papageno in some
unexplained way contrives to get in, and persuades Pamina to escape with
him. They fly, but are recaptured by Monostatos, a Moor, who has been
appointed to keep watch over Pamina. Sarastro now appears, condemns
Monostatos to the bastinado, and decrees that the two lovers shall
undergo a period of probation in the sanctuary. In the second act the
ordeal of silence is imposed upon Tamino. Pamina cannot understand his
apparent coldness, and is inclined to listen to the counsels of her
mother, who tries to induce her to murder Sarastro. The priest