Mozart's Magic Flute Appreciation Thread

[Mozart]

My first opera was Handel Ceasar. I couldnt take it, I still cant make it even half way through its just to much.

[Mozart]

Favorite scene?

Theres 2 that stand out the end with papageno and papagena is awesome but I love when he plays the bells and they all dance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbrFd-3Gd2c

[Sarastro]

Among the 22 recordings I've heard I prefer my first one with Popp, Janowitz, Gedda, Berry, Ludwig, Schwarzkopf, Frick, cond. Klemperer...it's Perfect, though without speaking dialogues. Hope some day I'll write how I do feel about them all.
I also heard it in Italian in English, such a nice experience. 
Probably it is my favorite opera...though I can't say it is as there is a lot of others, favorite too and it's not easy to acknowledge the only one. Everything depends on singing, conducting...sometimes great operas can be sung terribly and others, being not so sparkling can be produced very very well.

[knight66]

Yep, I am with you there, Klemperer's set is the one I most often return to. Janowitz is among my favourite singers and I have just about everything that she is in and that has been issued on disc.

Mike

[Que]

Yep, I am with you there, Klemperer's set is the one I most often return to. Janowitz is among my favourite singers and I have just about everything that she is in and that has been issued on disc.

Mike

Me too - The Klemp's Zauberflöte is great!

I'm still in the market for a HIP recording, but I found O Mensch's commments on both the Östman and the Christie discouraging. Though I wasn't exactly overwhelmed by either myself, when sampling. Any other suggestions or comments?

Q

[knight66]

You would think there would be a good selection of HIP recordings...but for this opera I have found myself junking them, including Norrington. Fricsay is another recording I enjoy a great deal as well as the Chandos in English conducted by Mackerras. We will just have to be patient I guess.

Mike

[knight66]

How could I forget to mention the Abbado version; a delight and probably the best committed to disc for 30 years, or more.

Mike

[yashin]

Just been watching the new DVD from Zurich of Die Zauberflote with Harnoncourt conducting.  The director is Kusej - that might put some of you off straight away.

It has Strehl as Tamino (as on the Abbado set), Musuc as Queen, and  Salminen as Sarastro.  Papageno is Ruben Drole and he is excellent.

I can only say that i have only seen this opera once in the theatre some years ago and i have been looking for a decent DVD. This is highly recommended and i think i have found the perfect DVD.

The setting is very modern, eurotrash-but also inventive and it looks fresh. Harnoncourt conducts slowly as usual but it does not plod along as some of his recordings can.

On CD i favour the Gardener production (i used to have this on Video also and really enjoyed the semi-staging, another worth watching).  I also enjoy the recent Abbado and the Christie recording.

Anyone seen the recent Muti DVD from the Salzburg Mozart Festival as part of the Mozart 22 series?  I could have picked that up but wanted to watch the Harnoncourt one first.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Among the 22 recordings I've heard I prefer my first one with Popp, Janowitz, Gedda, Berry, Ludwig, Schwarzkopf, Frick, cond. Klemperer...it's Perfect, though without speaking dialogues. Hope some day I'll write how I do feel about them all.
I also heard it in Italian in English, such a nice experience. 
Probably it is my favorite opera...though I can't say it is as there is a lot of others, favorite too and it's not easy to acknowledge the only one. Everything depends on singing, conducting...sometimes great operas can be sung terribly and others, being not so sparkling can be produced very very well.

It is excellently sung and excellent in realizing the more serious aspects of the opera, but Klemperer tends to be heavy-handed and completely lacks any sense of fun. This makes certain aspects of his recording incomparable (the recitative between Tamino and the Speaker, the chorale prelude for the Two Men in Armor, the Sarastro/Pamina/Tamino trio, among other things), but all the Papageno/Papagena business is heavy going.

The Marriner with Araiza and Te Kanawa isn't as distinguished as Klemperer at his best, but better balances the opera's serious and comic sides.

[MishaK]

Anyone seen the recent Muti DVD from the Salzburg Mozart Festival as part of the Mozart 22 series?  I could have picked that up but wanted to watch the Harnoncourt one first.

I have it. The draw of this set is obviously Diana Damrau as the Queen and Genia Kühmeier as Pamina - about as good of a cast as you could possibly want for those two roles among living singers. Plus you get Rene Pape as Sarastro (as on Abbado's recording) - not my ideal choice for this part because his low notes don't have as much resonance as, say, Kurt Moll's, but a great singer either way. The rest of the cast are solid, but not special. Musically, the downer for me is Muti's conducting. He brings out all the qualities in the VPO's playing that can become a liability in a score like this. The playing is thick, velvety, broad and without any edge at all. It's like Klemperer, but without Klemperer's grandeur and purpose. It just feels tedious and lacks any bounce to keep it moving. The staging is ... well ... plainly bizarre. This is the second Pierre Audi production I have seen (the first one being Poppea in a Netherlands Opera production) and the second consecutive flop. I am all for Regietheater when it is well thought out and the concept bears some recognizeable relationship to the opera (even if it's one the original authors never dreamt of). But this is just random. It's like teletubbies let loose in an aboriginal art store. It neither enhances the action, nor does it make a statement in its own right. So, unless you really want to see a superlative Pamina-Queen interaction on stage and are willing to put up with Audi's staging, I wouldn't get this. That being said, Damrau and Kühmeier really can act, and the scene surrounding "Der Hölle Rache" is exceptional. In this scene, the Muti DVD is better than Davis's because Davis has Roeschmann as Pamina, who sings very prettily but without any expression and can't act. I was very excited to get Muti's DVD after seeing Damrau and Kühmeier live at the Met (my review here), but as a complete opera the DVD as a whole is a disappointment, particularly with the silly visuals.

I don't have the Harnoncourt. Strehl is terriffic on Abbado's recording. Will have to look into that. I just got the Horst Stein DVD (directed by Peter Ustinov). Haven't watched it yet.

It is excellently sung and excellent in realizing the more serious aspects of the opera, but Klemperer tends to be heavy-handed and completely lacks any sense of fun. This makes certain aspects of his recording incomparable (the recitative between Tamino and the Speaker, the chorale prelude for the Two Men in Armor, the Sarastro/Pamina/Tamino trio, among other things), but all the Papageno/Papagena business is heavy going.

I'd agree with this. While Mozart's writing in Zauberflöte is really innovative and in many ways paves the way for Wagner (the scene with Tamino and the Speaker, in particular), that doesn't mean that it should be conducted as if it were Wagner. Klemperer just seems to take it all too seriously. Which, if you follow the lyrics, you just can't. The humor is lacking.

You would think there would be a good selection of HIP recordings...but for this opera I have found myself junking them, including Norrington. Fricsay is another recording I enjoy a great deal as well as the Chandos in English conducted by Mackerras. We will just have to be patient I guess.

I agree on the seeming dearth of decent HIP performances. Christie's version is marred by oddly non-transparent and unbalanced orchestral playing and unconvincing singers (excepting Dessay as the Queen, Scharinger as Papageno and Hagen as Sarastro). Östman's highly lauded recording I can't stand. The guy conducts incredibly fast and without the slightest rubato. May the singers breathe when they can. God help them. How Sumi Jo manages to get through the Queen's arias at that pace and hit all the notes is astounding, but more in the sense that an athletic achievement is astounding. Artistically it's empty. Östman's recording lacks charm and dramatic structure. It all comes out sounding the same. I'd have to say the best "HIP" recording is Abbado's (apart from being also one of the best overall). Abbado intelligently observes many HIP aspects but on modern instruments: almost no vibrato, very clear textures, no crazy fortissimos. It is one of the most naturally flowing performances I have heard. Strehl's Tamino is simply superlative. Nothing like it since Wunderlich. You can read my complete review of the Abbado set here.

As far as non-HIP recordings go, I'd say, overall, in modern sound, Solti II would be my top choice. He has Sumi Jo at the height of her powers as the Queen, Kurt Moll in the fullest voice as the prototypical Sarastro, Ruth Ziesak as a superlative Pamina and Uwe Heilmann is excellent as Tamino (though not in Strehl's league). Solti keeps things moving naturally and the VPO plays crisp and clear for him, unlike for Muti. As usual with Solti, all the larger ensembles are examples of textbook clarity, coordination and balance. Among older recordings there is the aforementioned Fricsay which deserves special mention. Fricsay has a superb cast including Rita Streich as the Queen who sings with unbelievable effortlessness even in the top register. Her only flaw may be that she isn't nearly as scary as, say, Damrau. But Fricsay's direction is amazing. I don't know how he does it, but he manages to set up this fairy-tale setting. There is a certain hard to describe atmosphere that Fricsay creates that makes you feel like you are sitting by a fireplace with an excellent story-teller taking you through this magical tale. Abbado comes close in creating a similar atmosphere, but Fricsay is still very, very special. It's been reissued inexpensivley as part of the Penguin Rosette collection.

[ChamberNut]

My first full listen to The Magic Flute.  Fantastic! 

Mozart

John Eliot Gardiner, conductor
The Monteverdi Choir
The English Baroque Soloists

on authentic instruments

Archiv Produktion
DG

[Anne]

O Mensch:
"Abbado comes close in creating a similar atmosphere, but Fricsay is still very, very special. It's been reissued inexpensivley as part of the Penguin Rosette collection."

How or where does one find the Penguin Rosette Collection?  I have never heard of this before.  Thanks for anything you can do to help me.   

[Que]

O Mensch:
"Abbado comes close in creating a similar atmosphere, but Fricsay is still very, very special. It's been reissued inexpensivley as part of the Penguin Rosette collection."

How or where does one find the Penguin Rosette Collection?  I have never heard of this before.  Thanks for anything you can do to help me.   

Only available in/from the UK.
Go to MDT and do a search on "Rosette Collection".

Q

[Shrunk]

Only available in/from the UK.
Go to MDT and do a search on "Rosette Collection".

They're available here in Canada (at bargain price, so I don't think they're imported). 

[Que]

They're available here in Canada (at bargain price, so I don't think they're imported). 

That's very fortunate! They are issued in the UK at midprice.

Q

[Wendell_E]

They're available here in Canada (at bargain price, so I don't think they're imported). 

Also available in the U.S. at amazon (and other retailers, no doubt):

http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Magic-Flute-Wolfgang-Amadeus/dp/B00020QWFA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1212436630&sr=1-2

[Anne]

Thanks, everyone, for your help.

[Lilas Pastia]

TTT. No use starting a new Magic Flute thread 0:).

Zauberflöte is one of those unsinkable operas that will forever be at the forefront of the repertoire.

These past few days I had the unusual experience of listening to a performance I found so absorbing that it quite stopped any other kind of listening until I had fully absorbed its extraordinary qualities. This is a 1955 Decca performance with the WP under Karl Böhm. The most striking aspect of this performance is how much / and how hard - it strives to present a uniquely viennese view of the work. It boasts an extraordinary combination of musical suavity and earthiness, vocal and instrumental perfection allied to unique verbal acuity. I don't claim it's the best Magic Flute ever, but it's certainly one of the most distinctive I've heard.

Despite its age the recording is stereo and quite beautiful. Instrumentally, this has claims to boast the most sheerly gorgeous flute (!) and glockenspiel (!!!) playing ever heard. There are extended solos for both instruments and I was gasping at their beauty, sophistication and utter simplicity. Simply unique. Great orchestral and choral playing/singing. And apart from a couple of just excellent singers (Quen of the Night, Papagena), it features one of the most vocally perfect and dramatically compelling team of singers I've heard: Kurt Böhme's commanding, plush and mellifluous Sarastro, Berry's magnificently sung Papageno, Simoneau's gleaming, jaw-droppingly beautiful Tamino, and Hilde Gueden's achingly tender and tensile Pamina.

I did notice a degree of artficiality in the pacing and phrasing  - as if everybody was conscious of preparing a phonographic document worthy of the bicentenary year. But still, I don't think I've heard a more perfect Magic Flute. I listened to the first disc (Act I) five times before proceeding to the second one. It's just that good.

I'll be listening to the 1950 Karajan, 1955 Fricsay and 1962 Klemperer for comparison. All of which I know quite well, with a quite unbeatable match of personality, stylish playing and characterful singing. But I don't think they will trump that Decca effort.

[knight66]

Andre, Very interesting. I have scarcely been conscious of this version. I have the Karajan and Fricsay versions and enjoy them both, especially the latter. I will look forward to your next installment.

Mike

[Jay F]

My first Magic Flute was conducted by Davis, 3 CDs in a dark blue box from Philips. I bought it new for $10 back in the '80s, at a store in Georgetown that was getting rid of classical as a category. I had no idea if I'd like it. I'd never listened to an opera before. But for $10, why not? (I also got a lot of Haydn by Hogwood that day. I don't recall the price.) I fell in love with the Queen of the Night's "Der Holle Rach." I sold the Davis version ten years later, thinking I was going to replace my entire CD collection with LPs when I bought a pair of overly revealing speakers, then settled on the Ostman version when I recovered from the long, dark night of my CD selling nightmare. I listened to it compulsively for a few months, and I haven't really listened to Zauberflote since.

Today, clicking around from a you tube link posted here, I found this Queen of the Night. It might be my favorite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9ijwfRTv0o&feature=related