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60 free The Magic Flute trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
The Magic Flute was Mozart's last opera, written for a suburban Viennese theatre run by a friend who played the birdcatcher himself, and it opened just two months before the composer died. This quiz covers the whole thing: the plot from the serpent in the first scene to the Temple of the Sun, the characters (Tamino, Pamina, Papageno, Papagena, Sarastro, Monostatos, the Queen of the Night and her three ladies), the arias everyone knows and the ones only opera fans do, and the strange lost instrument Mozart wanted for Papageno's bells. It also covers the history around the work: Emanuel Schikaneder and the Theater auf der Wieden, the singers at the 1791 premiere, Mozart's sister-in-law who first sang the Queen, the Masonic symbolism and the number three, the deathbed story about the top F, and the later life of the piece on record and film with Toscanini, Beecham, Ingmar Bergman and Kenneth Branagh. Easy questions ask who wrote it; the expert tier asks for keys, voice ranges and premiere casts. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on The Magic Flute, the Queen of the Night aria, Schikaneder and the two films, and the supporting sentence is attached to each question. If you like this, try our quizzes on Mozart and on opera.
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Q 01Who composed The Magic Flute?
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
It was his last opera, premiered two months before he died.
Q 02What is the German title of The Magic Flute?
Die Zauberflöte
Its Köchel catalogue number is K. 620.
Q 03Who wrote the libretto of The Magic Flute?
Emanuel Schikaneder
He also ran the theatre, and played Papageno himself at the premiere.
Q 04The Magic Flute is a Singspiel. What does that form combine?
Singing and spoken dialogue
It was a popular German form, unlike Mozart's Italian operas with sung recitative.
Q 05In which year did The Magic Flute premiere?
1791
It opened on 30 September at the Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna; Mozart died on 5 December.
Q 06In which city did The Magic Flute have its premiere?
Vienna
The theatre stood in the suburban Freihaus complex, which was free from taxation by a 1647 decree.
Q 07What relation is the Queen of the Night to Pamina?
Her mother
She sends Tamino to rescue her daughter, but he ends up joining her enemy Sarastro's brotherhood instead.
Q 08How do the Queen's Three Ladies describe Sarastro to Tamino?
As a powerful, evil demon
He turns out to be the benevolent ruler of the Temple of Wisdom, and Tamino switches sides.
Q 09What is Papageno's occupation?
Bird-catcher
His entrance aria is "Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja", sung in his feathered costume.
Q 10In what disguise does Papagena first appear to Papageno?
As an old woman
She offers him a cup of water and says her boyfriend is called Papageno, then vanishes before giving her name.
Q 11What creature is chasing Tamino when the opera opens?
A serpent
Three ladies kill it while he lies in a faint, and Papageno claims the credit.
Q 12How do the Three Ladies punish Papageno for lying about killing the monster?
They padlock his mouth
He is left able only to hum, in the quintet "Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm!".
Q 13What do the ladies give Papageno for protection alongside Tamino's flute?
Magic bells
When he plays them, Monostatos and his slaves dance helplessly off the stage.
Q 21What is the German title of the Queen of the Night's famous Act 2 rage aria?
Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen
It translates as "Hell's vengeance boils in my heart" and is one of the most famous arias in opera.
Q 22What is the highest note the Queen of the Night must sing in "Der Hölle Rache"?
F6
The vocal range spans two octaves from F4, with a very high tessitura.
Q 23In which key is "Der Hölle Rache" written?
D minor
At the climax the Queen sings a terrifying B-flat where the ear expects an A.
Q 14Tamino falls in love with Pamina after seeing what?
Her portrait
His aria "Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön" means "This portrait is enchantingly beautiful".
Q 15Who is Monostatos?
Chief of Sarastro's slaves
He and Papageno flee from each other on first sight, each convinced the other is the devil.
Q 16How many boys guide Tamino and Papageno to Sarastro's temple?
Three
Three ladies, three boys and three temples: the number is a Masonic signature running through the work.
Q 17After the entrances of Reason and Nature turn Tamino away, the middle door that admits him is dedicated to what?
Wisdom
The senior priest who appears there is called The Speaker in the libretto.
Q 18Which two Egyptian gods does Sarastro invoke at the start of Act 2?
Isis and Osiris
The aria and chorus "O Isis und Osiris" opens the council of priests.
Q 19What vow must Tamino keep during his first trial, causing Pamina to think he no longer loves her?
Silence
Her despairing aria in response is "Ach, ich fühl's, es ist verschwunden".
Q 20What does the Queen of the Night hand Pamina in Act 2, ordering her to kill Sarastro?
A dagger
She threatens to disown her daughter if she refuses.
Q 24Which voice type sings the Queen of the Night?
Coloratura soprano
The role's staccato high notes were written to show off Josepha Hofer's agile upper register.
Q 25Josepha Hofer, the first Queen of the Night, was related to Mozart how?
She was his sister-in-law
By one story the dying Mozart whispered along as she took her top F on his last night alive.
Q 26Sarastro's Act 2 aria declaring that revenge has no place in his domain is called what?
In diesen heil'gen Hallen
It means "Within these sacred halls", sung as he forgives the Queen's plot.
Q 27Which two elements do Tamino and Pamina pass through in the final trial?
Fire and water
They walk unscathed through both, protected by the music of the flute.
Q 28What does Papageno resolve to do when he thinks he has lost Papagena for good?
Hang himself
He counts to three ever more slowly until the three boys remind him to play his bells.
Q 29How does the reunited Papageno and Papagena duet famously begin?
Pa-Pa-Pa-
An anecdote says Schikaneder shouted from the stage that the pair should stammer in astonishment, and Mozart obliged.
Q 30What happens to the Queen and her allies at the end of the opera?
They are cast into eternal night
Thunder and lightning end their plot to destroy the temple.