The Magic Flute – Sound of Winter Salzburg

At the Mozart Week 2026, Rolando Villazón staged Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte” as the last inner theatre of the dying composer. The film takes this idea further: what Tamino, Pamina or Papageno experience on stage becomes movement in Salzburg’s wintry old town. The stage tells what happens; the city shows how it feels for the characters.

The musical and scenic foundation is the recording of the performance at the Haus für Mozart, with Mozart himself as a character on stage. For television it is re-edited and condensed to the core story of the opera – without spoken dialogue and without commentary. The outdoor scenes are created with the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (SEAD) as choreographic partner. Its dancers do not re-enact roles from the opera; they translate feelings such as longing, trust or despair into movement – in narrow lanes, arcaded courtyards and passageways, at the blue hour, at night or at daybreak.

The film opens in Salzburg’s wintry old town. Mozart unexpectedly tumbles into frame, gets to his feet, brushes himself off and looks around. A cut takes us to Mozart at the piano on stage, into the world of his inner theatre. As the film unfolds, glances, gestures and musical phrases connect the opera stage with the city. Mozart also sees the dancers, though they do not see him. At the end, he lets this world go; the final image belongs to the dancers and the morning over Salzburg.