Epigraphs are like little appetizers to the great entrée of a story. They illuminate important aspects of the story, and they get us headed in the right direction.
Sprecher: Ihr Fremdlinge! was sucht oder fordert ihn von uns?
Tamino: Freundschaft und Liebe.
Sprecher: Bist du bereit, es mit deinem Leben zu erkämpfen?
Tamino: Ja.
Speaker: Stranger, what do you seek or ask from us?
Tamino: Friendship and love.
Speaker: And are you prepared even if it costs you your life?
Tamino: I am.
Nice going, Ms. Patchett. This epigraph basically couldn't be more perfect.
Just to spell it out: Bel Canto is asking the question of how much it costs to find friendship and love. For some of the characters, it literally does cost them their lives. It seems like many of them would have been prepared to risk that, though, like the character from The Magic Flute (Tamino) who sets this all up in the epigraph.
And of course, The Magic Flute is one of Mozart's most famous operas, making the lines even more appropriate to this novel. Want to know more about the opera itself? San Francisco Opera to the rescue with this synopsis. Don't be surprised if you find more parallels there, too.