The Magic Flute remains Mozart's  most popular opera worldwide  to this day. Schikaneder’s Freihaustheater auf der Wieden  was a theatre in the suburbs of  Vienna . It was a kind of people’s theatre with a corresponding repertoire and its attraction for the public was  due not least to the use  of spectacular stage effects. The concept ‘machine-comedy’ refers to the  theatrical genre to which  “The Magic Flute” owes its origins, and to which the work originally belonged.  The premiere was  given on 30 September 1791, conducted by Mozart.<br>