The Overture to "The Magic Flute", or as it is known in German, "Die Zauberflöte", is a captivating and enchanting musical composition that serves as an introduction to Mozart's famous opera. Composed in 1791, just a few months before Mozart's untimely death, the Overture sets the tone for the entire opera with its lively and dramatic passages. The Overture begins with a striking three-note motif played by the strings, which is immediately followed by a fast and energetic melody played by the full orchestra. This opening section builds in intensity and showcases Mozart's skillful orchestration, as different sections of the orchestra take turns playing the main theme. As the Overture progresses, the mood shifts and a more tranquil section emerges, featuring delicate woodwind solos and a lyrical melody. This section provides a moment of respite before the Overture returns to its energetic and dramatic theme.
It's a tricky subject to make a movie about, but it's a vital one, too. For as much as The Witch is a horror story, it's also a coming-of-age tale, about that moment when you look at everything you've been taught and realize you know far less than you think you do. It's about the space between seeing the dark, dark woods as full of terrors, and seeing them as full of something new and worth exploring.
Harvey Scrimshaw turns Caleb, the eldest son who keeps checking out his sister , into a pious figure of righteousness who only slowly realizes how in over his head he is. But are the trials and tribulations of this family, far removed from modern times, spine-tingling and well-crafted enough to earn the film a spot in the modern horror canon.
This section provides a moment of respite before the Overture returns to its energetic and dramatic theme. The finale of the Overture brings together all the themes and motifs introduced earlier, creating a sense of unity and anticipation for the opera to come. What makes the Overture to "The Magic Flute" particularly remarkable is its ability to encapsulate the essence of the entire opera in just a few minutes.
The Witch reviews roundup
Just as It Follows emerged from the festival circuit to scare up winter box office as one of the most frightening horror films in years, The Witch graduates from Sundance and is poised to heat up 2016’s cold early months. The debut film from director Robert Eggers, The Witch puts a 17th-century colonial family through the wringer, as they’re cast out from their community only to experience further horrors at the hands of a witch. Crops die, the family’s infant disappears, and more mysterious issues plague them as they try to move on with their lives.
But are the trials and tribulations of this family, far removed from modern times, spine-tingling and well-crafted enough to earn the film a spot in the modern horror canon? In his A- review, EW’s Chris Nashawaty says that “what makes this chillingly creepy little black-magic folk tale work so beautifully is its evocative sense of time and place (it was shot on a shoestring in Northern Ontario). Well, that and composer Mark Korven’s unsettling soundtrack full of screechy, dissonant strings.”
For more from Nashawaty and critics around the country, scroll below.
“Anya Taylor-Joy, who looks like a long-lost, alabaster-complexioned Fanning sister, stands out as the eldest child, Tomasin. Her budding sexuality and wicked sense of humor quickly turn her into an easy scapegoat for the family’s spiraling paranoia and suspicion. But, believe me, these doomed souls have far deeper problems to grapple with than an impertinent daughter.”
“Eggers worked as a production designer before making the move into directing, and you can tell: The visuals in The Witch are spooky and precise without being overstuffed. He and cameraman Jarin Blaschke know how to frame a shot so that the audience gets the information it needs while sensing things just out of sight, beyond the frame or around a corner. Maybe the film leans too heavily on outbursts of massed choral shrieks on the soundtrack, but in general everyone here understands that less is more. Until it’s time for moreto be more.”
Scott Tobias (NPR)
“The audience knows more about what’s happening than the family — or does it? The infant has met a gruesome fate in the woods, but the same paranoia that seizes the family seeps through the screen, too, making us question what the true source of evil might be. The Witch eventually arrives at an answer, but the brilliance of Eggers’ vision is how thoroughly the fantasy of an otherworldly menace merges with the reality of living under horrible duress.”
“Good horror movies make fright palpable, which Mr. Eggers does with dependably spooky stuff like abrupt edits that fall as heavily as William’s (Ralph Ineson) ax and shifts in sound levels that fill silences with a choral caterwauling. But Mr. Eggers’s sharpest decision, what makes you and the movie jump is that he stays inside the characters’ worlds and heads, all disastrously close quarters.”
Justin Chang (Variety) ▲
“The goat, of course, is a widely recognized symbol of Satan, and the presence of Black Philip is but one of many winking horror tropes that Eggers skillfully puts into play here: Between the bad-seed moppets and the ruined harvest, the mysterious disappearances and the frightening instances of animal misbehavior, The Witch is rife with intimations of inexplicable evil, of something deeply twisted and unnatural at work.”
“Like the wobbly domestic unit at the heart of The Shining (a key influence on The Witch), the family here turns on itself in the face of demonic forces. I don’t want to give any more away regarding what happens in The Witch, because for once in a modern horror film, the tactics and developments are simple yet surprising, and the filmmaking captures its chosen time, place and dark corners beautifully.”
“Eggers reportedly based his script on actual diaries and accounts from a time that predated the Salem witch trials by several decades, giving The Witch the mannered cadences and rhythms of something written on parchment rather than celluloid (or, in this case, the data-capture chip of an Arri Alexa digital camera). It isn’t until the film’s graphic, gory denouement that Eggers’s command begins to slip and The Witch enters conventional body-horror territory, its increasingly graphic imagery and keening pitch supplanting the more effective restraint and misdirection that have gone before.”
“The film succeeds in creating a sense of complete isolation on a farm that looks very handmade, as do the unaffected costumes. The British-accented dialogue, which is filled with ‘thys’ and ‘thees’ and other less frequent forms of archaic address, possesses a credible otherness and a sense of plausible formality and religiosity (Eggers drew upon many period sources for his linguistic formulations). At the same time, the constant reminders of God’s dominant presence in these people’s lives is neatly undercut by Caleb’s (Harvey Scrimshaw) unavoidable obsession with catching glimpses of his older sister’s emerging physical attributes.”
“Once convinced of a scene’s possible rationality, Eggers will throw in a hacked-up poisoned apple to slap you right back into the dark allure of folklore. The dissonance, not unlike what Kubrick and Polanski mined so effectively, has its twisted appeal, never more so than when the focus is on the suspected malevolence of the family’s misbehaving goat, Black Phillip, one of the more powerfully eerie animal presences in recent movie memory.”
Stephanie Zacharek (Time)
“The Witch has been made with extreme care, and part of what makes its supernatural elements so terrifying is that Eggers is also in tune with the more ordinary challenges of just being human: This is a family out of synch with a strange new land, their hearts and minds still connected by ghostlike threads to the old one.”
David Sims (The Atlantic)
“The Witch succeeds not by action, or the specter of its central monster, but by its immersive details. From the family’s sad bundles of corn, which quickly wither in the face of unknown evil, to their simple prayer sessions shot entirely by candlelight, the disaster of their new life away from civilization comes into clearer and clearer focus, starting with the mundane (hunger, crop failure) and building to the symbolic (Thomasin milks Black Philip, and all he produces is blood). This tension finally crests into a dizzying final act that flips the audience’s expectations on their heads.”
Overall Metacritic rating (1-100): 84
Scott Tobias (NPR)
It incorporates the contrasting emotions and themes that are central to the opera's plot, including love, adventure, and the quest for wisdom. Moreover, it showcases Mozart's tremendous gift for melody and orchestration, captivating listeners from the very first notes. Overall, the Overture to "The Magic Flute" is a testament to Mozart's genius and his ability to create music that is both musically sophisticated and accessible to a wide audience. Its timeless beauty and emotional depth continue to captivate listeners and make it one of the most beloved and frequently performed orchestral works..
Reviews for "The Overture's Impact on the Audience's Perception of "The Magic Flute"
- Sarah - 2/5 stars - I found "Overture to Magic Flute" to be quite underwhelming. The music lacked complexity and depth, and it felt repetitive and monotonous. I had high expectations for this performance, but unfortunately, it failed to captivate me. The orchestra seemed unenthused as well, with a lackluster performance that lacked energy. Overall, I was disappointed with this rendition of the Magic Flute Overture.
- John - 1/5 stars - The performance of "Overture to Magic Flute" left me thoroughly unimpressed. The conductor seemed to rush through the music, and the orchestra sounded disorganized and chaotic. There was a lack of cohesion and precision, making it difficult to enjoy the piece. Additionally, the choice of instruments was questionable, as certain sections sounded off and jarring. I would not recommend this particular rendition of the Magic Flute Overture.
- Emily - 2.5/5 stars - "Overture to Magic Flute" did not live up to my expectations. While there were moments of brilliance in the performance, overall, it lacked a cohesive narrative. The transitions between different sections felt abrupt and disjointed, making it difficult to fully immerse myself in the music. Additionally, some of the instrumental solos were lackluster and lacked the necessary emotion to truly resonate. While there were glimpses of potential, this rendition of the Magic Flute Overture fell short for me.