On the various discrepancies and oddments in the "Magic Flute":

I'm no expert at all on this opera, but it seems to me, from what I have
picked up here and there, that Mozart wrote it as a Masonic allegory, and
Masonic lore, like all such religious and "secret society" material, is
itself full of absurdities.  Therefore, there is no wonder that a lot of
them would turn up in the opera.

I like to treat the whole thing as a kind of dream/fantasy, and just relax
and enjoy the glorious music.

Jon Johanning // [log in to unmask]