Beethoven’s second set of variations for cello and piano is based on a famous aria from Mozart’s popular Singspiel The Magic Flute, which was Beethoven’s favorite Mozart opera, and would have appealed to King Friedrich Wilhelm II, who was also a big Mozart fan. In the opera, Papageno expresses his desire for a woman to love in the aria “Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen” — “A girl or a little wife is what Papageno desires. Oh, a sweet little dove like that would be bliss for me!”
#Beethoven250 Day 78
Variations on “Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen” from Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” (Opus 66), 1796
The Magic Flute variations performed at the Tractor Tavern in Seattle by Matt Haimovitz and Christopher O'Riley.
A 1799 review acknowledged Beethoven as an accomplish pianist, but “whether he is an equally inspired composer is a question more difficult to answer in the affirmative, judging from these [Magic Flute] variations.” Complaints centered on “ostentatious” key modulations.