ABSTRACT
One of the most striking and commented upon features of the duet “Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen” from Die Zauberflöte is that although the princess Pamina and the servant Papageno sing about love, their duet is not a “love duet,” that is, a musical number where two lovers express mutual feelings for one another.1 Instead, Pamina and Papageno sing about love in general from a depersonalized and de-sexualized perspective.2 One reason for this is that the text of the duet does not easily fit the situation at hand. Immediately before the duet, Papageno complains to Pamina that he cannot find a female companion despite his affectionate heart, and Pamina assures him that he will find one soon. Instead of expressing Papageno’s frustration and Pamina’s hopes, the ensuing duet discusses the positive effects love has on the human disposition (especially in couplets 1, 4, and 5), and celebrates the noble and divine nature of amorous feelings between men and women (the final quatrain).3 Thus in dramaturgical terms, the duet transcends the on-stage reality and possesses an aura of a metaphysical maxim.4
