First performed in 1791, Mozart’s The Magic Flute is one of the world’s best-known and best-loved operas. However, the story of the young Prince Tamino, who sets out in search of the kidnapped princess Pamina, has rarely been staged with as much fantasy and sparkle as it has been this summer in Salzburg.

As part of the creative process, Kudrna and Meier travelled to Swarovski’s headquarters in Wattens to collaborate with Swarovski’s craftspeople, and the stunning results were finally unveiled at the opera’s opening night in July.

The Queen of the Night, one of the main protagonist’s in Mozart’s work, played by soprano Albina Shagimuratova, wore a striking headdress that took 100 hours to create. Two horns hand-set with Rose-colored crystals framed the Queen’s ornate crown, which was embellished with hundreds of icicle-cut crystals, crystal beads and Swarovski Crystal Pearls.

Kudrna’s fairy-tale-meets-circus vision continued with the Poodle Checkers, whose costumes glitter with a thousand diamond-shaped motifs handmade with more than 150,000 Swarovski crystals. Her sparkling concept also included the stilt man’s trousers, which flash with star-shaped embellishments; the fantastical half-woman half-bear costumes with bear heads and dazzling tutus; the Papagena Girls wearing crystal-encrusted lace-up boots and tiaras shining with pink crystal hearts; and the Birthday Nurses, whose outfits blaze with 10,000 red crystal crosses.

And Helga Rabl-Stadler, President of the Salzburg Festival, also complimented the perfect pairing: “The Salzburg Festival and Swarovski can rightly call themselves global players. These two brands are ambassadors for Austrian quality with international reach. It’s wonderful to work with Nadja Swarovski, a woman who seeks and finds partners all over the world thanks to her creativity and entrepreneurial spirit.”

As a company with Austrian roots and a dedication to promoting the creative arts, Swarovski is proud to partner with the Salzburg Festival on this musically and visually radiant production. By sharing its expertise, innovation, and inspiration, Swarovski helps designers and artists to let their imagination run wild and set new creative benchmarks.