Act I: Tamino (Samuel Rosner ’20) plays the titular magic flute, charming a group of animals (portrayed by dancers Laura Coe ’22, Phoebe Suh ’22, and Erin Aslami ’22) who lead him to his beloved Pamina’s location.

Act I: The Queen of the Night (Natalie Choo ’22) promises her daughter to Tamino (Samuel Rosner ‘20) if he can rescue her from the “evil demon” Sarastro.

Act I: Pamina (Jahnavi Rao ’22) sits captive in Sarastro’s palace as her captor’s lascivious servant Monostatos (James Rose ’22) and her savior’s simpleminded accomplice Papageno (Henrique Neves ’22) each stand in fright at the other’s shocking appearance.

Benjamin P. Wenzelberg ’21 conducts the Harvard College Opera orchestra in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte.

Jessica Shand ’21 plays the music of the “magic flute,” surrounded by the rest of the Harvard College Opera orchestra.

Act II: The three ladies (Rebecca Stewart, Isabella Kopits ’20, and Ruva Chigwedere ’21) in service of the Queen of the Night appear in the Temple of Ordeal to scare Tamino and Papageno into breaking their vow of silence.

Act II: Three child-spirits (Sydney Penny ’22, Katharine Courtemanche ’21, and Olympia Hatzilambrou ’23) prophesy the rising of the sun and ending of the night, representing a triumph of wisdom over superstition, a reuniting of Earth and Heaven, and a divinizing of mankind

Act II: Pamina (Jahnavi Rao ’22) and Tamino (Samuel Rosner ’20), reunite for an embrace after successfully completing the trials of wisdom, earning the right to wed and enter the order of priests’ temple.

Act II: a summoned Papagena (Alina Dong ’23) greets an elated Papageno (Henrique Neves ‘22) with joy and astonishment.

The full cast of Die Zauberflöte.

Act II: The fearsome Queen of the Night (Natalie Choo ’22) threatens her daughter, Pamina (Jahnavi Rao ’22), with disownment should she fail to kill her mother’s mortal enemy, Sarastro, in the famous aria Der Hölle Rache.

Photo credit Finn Bamber ’22.

Act II: Papageno (Henrique Neves ’22) contemplates suicide after being shown a glimpse of his perfect wife, Papagena, only to lose her.

Photo credit Finn Bamber ’22

Act I: Dancer Laura Coe ’22 portrays a fearsome serpent bent on killing the prince Tamino.

Photo credit Finn Bamber ’22.

Act II: Three child-spirits (Sydney Penny ’22, Katharine Courtemanche ’21, and Olympia Hatzilambrou ’23) rush to the aid of a heartbroken Pamina (Jahanavi Rao ’22), who is contemplating taking her own life after her lover refuses to speak to her without explanation.

Photo credit Finn Bamber ’22

Act I: Tamino (Samuel Rosner ’20), given only a picture of the princess Pamina (Jahnavi Rao ’22), falls in love at first sight. In parallel, a great distance away, a magic force stirs in Pamina an image of her lover’s face, and she likewise falls smitten.

Photo credit Finn Bamber ’22

Act II: After banishing the lustful Monostatos (James Rose ’22), Sarastro (Luke Minton ‘20) offers Pamina (Jahnavi Rao ’22) a consolation that he does not intend to take vengeance on her mother, the Queen of the Night, though he knows she roams the Temple, because of the high morals of his Order.

Photo credit Finn Bamber ’22