Spectacular bird chorus sings Mozart opera duet in colourful short film

16 July 2021, 10:55

A chorus of rhythmic robins, singing sparrows and pizzicato pigeons perform a Mozart duet, in this beautiful short film.

As Papageno and Papagena prepare for the grand curtain to be raised, and strings and wind unite to tune to a concert A, these musical birds take a moment to warm up their own voices.

Pecking about and shaking their tail feathers, this unique dawn chorus prepares to take on one of Mozart’s greatest opera melodies – ‘Papagena! Papageno’, a duet from The Magic Flute.

In the opera, Papageno, having lost his beloved Papagena in Sarastro’s castle, sits alone in misery. But then, as three spirits appear and urge Papageno to play his magic bells, his loved one returns. Blissfully reunited, the two sing to each other to their heart’s content.

In this wonderfully creative piece of work, a chorus of melodic and percussive birdcalls are looped and layered up, to create a birdsong opera.

Read more: Woodland creatures sing a Bellini opera in beautiful short film

Check out this amazing version of Mozart in bird song

The ‘feathered fellows’ give Mozart’s beloved duet a Clean Bandit-style spin, with a resonant and punchy bass line and dancefloor ‘drop’ moments (more about those here) to rival an EDM hit.

It’s all the brilliant work of ShakeUp Music, who recomposed the duet for this now-viral video, which has had millions of views across social media.

So good, it’s almost – one might say – ill-eagle.