* AllStarCast: As Tamino, Pamina, Sarastro, the Queen of the Night, and Papageno...
** Audio Recordings:
*** 1938, conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham: Helge Rosvaenge, Tiana Lemnitz, Wilhelm Streinz, Erna Berger, Gerhard Hüsch
*** 1950, conducted by Herbert von Karajan: Anton Dermota, Irmgard Seefried, Ludwig Weber, Wilma Lipp, Erich Kunz
*** 1955, conducted by Ferenc Fricsay: Ernst Haefliger, Maria Stader, Josef Greindl, Rita Streich, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
*** 1955, conducted by Karl Böhm: Léopold Simoneau, Hilde Güden, Kurt Böhme, Wilma Lipp, Walter Berry
*** 1964, conducted by Otto Klemperer: Nicolai Gedda, Gundula Janowitz, Gottlob Frick, Lucia Popp, Walter Berry
*** 1964, conducted by Karl Böhm: Fritz Wunderlich, Evelyn Lear, Franz Crass, Roberta Peters, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
*** 1968, conducted by Otmar Suitner: Peter Schreier, Helen Donath, Theo Adam, Sylvia Geszty, Günther Leib
*** 1969, conducted by Sir Georg Solti: Stuart Burrows, Pilar Lorengar, Martti Talvela, Cristina Deutekom, Hermann Prey
*** 1972, conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch: Peter Schreier, Anneliese Rothenberger, Kurt Moll, Edda Moser, Walter Berry
*** 1980, conducted by Herbert von Karajan: Francisco Araiza, Edith Mathis, José van Dam, Karin Ott, Gottfried Hornik
*** 1980, conducted by James Levine: Eric Tappy, Ileana Cotrubas, Martti Talvela, Zdzislawa Donat, Christian Boesch
*** 1981, conducted by Bernard Haitink: Siegfried Jerusalem, Lucia Popp, Roland Bracht, Edita Gruberová, Wolfgang Brendel
*** 1984, conducted by Sir Colin Davis: Peter Schreier, Margaret Price, Kurt Moll, Luciana Serra, Mikael Melbye
*** 1987, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt: Hans-Peter Blochwitz, Barbara Bonney, Matti Salminen, Edita Gruberová, Anton Scharinger
*** 1989, conducted by Sir Neville Marriner: Francisco Araiza, Kiri Te Kanawa, Samuel Ramey, Cheryl Studer, Olaf Bär
*** 1990, conducted by Sir Roger Norrington: Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Dawn Upshaw, Cornelius Hauptmann, Beverly Hoch, Andreas Schmidt
*** 1990, conducted by Sir Georg Solti: Uwe Heilmann, Ruth Ziesak, Kurt Moll, Sumi Jo, Michael Kraus
*** 1991, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras: Jerry Hadley, Barbara Hendricks, Robert Lloyd, June Anderson, Thomas Allen
*** 1992, conducted by Arnold Östman: Kurt Streit, Barbara Bonney, Kristinn Sigmundsson, Sumi Jo, Gilles Cachemaille
*** 1995, conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner: Michael Schade, Christiane Oelze, Harry Peeters, Cyndia Sieden, Gerald Finley
*** 1995, conducted by William Christie: Hans-Peter Blochwitz, Rosa Mannion, Reinhard Hagen, Natalie Dessay, Anton Scharinger
*** 2004, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras: Barry Banks, Rebecca Evans, John Tomlinson, Elisabeth Vidal, Simon Keenlyside
*** 2005, conducted by Claudio Abbado: Christoph Strehl, Dorothea Röschmann, René Pape, Erika Miklosa, Hanno Müller-Brachmann
*** 2009, conducted by René Jacobs: Daniel Behle, Marlis Petersen, Marcos Fink, Anna-Kristiina Kaappola, Daniel Schmutzhard
** Video Recordings:
*** 1964, conducted by István Kertész at the Vienna State Opera: Waldemar Kmentt, Pilar Lorengar, Walter Kreppel, Roberta Peters, Walter Berry
*** 1971, conducted by Horst Stein: Nicolai Gedda, Edith Mathis, Hans Sotin, Cristina Deutekom, William Workman
*** 1975, film by Ingmar Bergman, conducted by Eric Ericson: Josef Köstlinger, Irma Urrila, Ulrik Cold, Birgit Nordin, Hakan Hagegard
*** 1982, conducted by James Levine at the Salzburg Festival: Peter Schreier, Ileana Cotrubas, Martti Talvela, Edita Gruberova, Christian Boesch
*** 1983, conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch at the Bayerische Staatsoper: Francisco Araiza, Lucia Popp, Kurt Moll, Edita Gruberová, Wolfgang Brendel
*** 1991, conducted by James Levine at the Metropolitan Opera House: Francisco Araiza, Kathleen Battle, Kurt Moll, Luciana Serra, Manfred Hemm
*** 1992, conducted by Wolfgang Gönnenwein at the Ludwigsburg Festival: Deon van der Walt, Ulrike Sontaag, Cornelius Hauptmann, Andrei Frei, Thomas Mohr
*** 2000, conducted by Iván Fischer at the Opéra National de Paris: Piotr Beczala, Malin Hartelius, Matti Salminen, Natalie Dessay, Detlef Roth
*** 2003, conducted by Colin Davis at the Royal Opera House: Will Hartmann, Dorothea Röschmann, Franz-Josef Selig, Diana Damrau, Simon Keenlyside
* DescendedCreator: Emanuel Schikaneder, the librettist, wrote the part of Papageno for himself. Since Schikaneder was a musical-comedy performer rather than an opera singer, Mozart kept Papageno's music simple and tailored to a limited range.
* WordOfDante: The interpretation that Sarastro is Pamina's father is fairly widespread and shows up in many stagings of the opera, particularly when the libretto is translated and the connection can be made more explicit, and so is frequently taken for granted. (In fact, the interpretation only works because the Queen of the Night's lines about Pamina's father are nearly always cut for time.)
* WriteWhoYouKnow: It's common belief that Schikaneder wrote Papageno, a cheerful, [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny easily-distracted]] fellow who falls in love with any woman he meets, based directly on either Mozart or himself, whom Mozart personally described almost word for word as Papageno is normally played.
** And the role of The Queen was originally played by Mozart's sister-in-law Josepha Weber, who, according to Mozart, was a cold and unpleasant person and only needed to "play herself".
*** In ''Theatre/{{Amadeus}}'' there's a memorable scene in which Mozart's [[ObnoxiousInLaws mother-in-law-from-Hell]] is telling him off and in the midst of her tirade she turns into the Queen of the Night.
** In a more musical example, Sarastro's vocal lines are quite simple, making the role accessible to a larger number of deep-voiced men, who are something of a minority to begin with. (It isn't known if Mozart wrote this way ''because'' all he had to hand was a bumbling James Earl Jones, but production managers have been thanking him ever since.)