Product description

Mozart: Die Zauberflote

Price: $36.00
RRP: $23.98
Average customer rating: 4.5

Binding : Audio CD
EAN : 0724356738522
Label : EMI Classics
Manufacturer : EMI Classics
Publisher : EMI Classics
Release date : 2000-08-15
Title : Mozart: Die Zauberflote
Format : Original recording remastered
Original release date : 1964-01-01
Studio : EMI Classics
MPN : 67385
Number of discs : 2

Customer reviews

review by: aka "Hector" date: 2008-10-16 rating:

At the top of the pile
This is recording contains out-of-this-world performances by all the cast, but I know that the greatest measurement used in assessing recordings is "does it contain a good Queen of the Night?" And the answer that I give is: Lucia Popp was made by God spefically to sing the role. But first, let's go through some general points.

1) There are no recicatives, and if you can't live without them, then I can't help you. And personally, it does seem like the opera would flow better with them. But this is a classic recording not to be missed, and the great singing more than makes up for it.

2) Speaking of the great singing, there's not a single weak link. Walter Berry as Papageno is a breathy-singing blunderer. In other words, his performance translates to CD with comic warmth. Overwrought for some people's tastes, perhaps. The Tamino and Tamina of Nicolai Gedda and Gandula Janowitz are just fine; smooth, lyrical, and youthful. Gottlieb Frick's Sarastro is very deep and darly colored, Gerhard Unger's Monostatos is sneaky-voiced (though I sometimes mistake it for Gedda's voice, when I'm not paying attention), and the three ladies are in splendid voice, as of course they would be when sung by Schwarzkopf, Christa Ludwig, and Marga Hoffgen. The "three youths" are voiced by Agnes Giebel, Anna Reynolds, and Josephine Veasey--the future Dido in Sir Colin Davis' "Les Troyens."

Last but not least, Lucia Popp's Queen of the Night. Quite simply put, she flawlessly hits every note Mozart wrote. I've heard a great many versions of this area. Some are adequate, sung prettily enough but lacking any of the frightening power we should associate with the Queen of the Night. Other versions are dreadful, sung shriekingly but never hitting any of the high notes.

3) Klemperer's conducting is...well, Klemperer-ish. I really don't understand the complaints about slowness. Under Klemp, there's no loss of momentum. Indeed, in the overture, the climax is that much more powerful because of the deliberate pace. And the Philharmonia Orchestra is in command of the score, and sounds wonderful.

In short, if you want a healthy-toned, meaty, old-fashioned version of Die Zauberflote, this is where you have to go. And I swear, you will never hear a better Queen of the Night.

review by: BpyH date: 2007-11-13 rating:

It comes with libretto
I can't say anything about Mozart, but the product itself is great AND it includes libretto. They should mention this in description though - I bought a separate one for nothing.

review by: date: 2007-10-23 rating:

Impressive cast, but...
This recording has one of the best cast assembled for an Opera Recording, Janowitz, Berry, Popp, etc. However although their voices are amazing you can feel that there was no chemistry and there is a lack of feeling in their performances, specially the male parts. I also dislike the tempo of the recording, sometimes it gets too slow and personally I feel that you loose the rhythm of the story.

This is my second recording for this Opera, my first one is the version directed by Karl Böhm and I have to say I prefer that one, although the female voices are inferior to the ones of this recording you feel more in them.

In the end is up to you I would say that this is a great recording but one that prefers technique over drama. It has great female performances but a very slow tempo.

review by: date: 2007-07-11 rating:

A glorious achievement, brimming with magic and wonder
Walter Klemperer's historic 1964 recording of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte is a genius in operatic productions. Unlike Le Nozze di Figaro or Don Giovanni, Mozart's final opera is so dramatically convoluted and ridiculous that the recitatives provide more of a source of distraction and confusion than storyline continuation. Thus, Klemperer sculpts a marvelous collection of arias and ensembles with arguably the finest Mozartian cast ever assembled. The Philharmonia Orchestra is, for the greater part, in excellent form. Only occasionally does it sound archaic under Klemperer's traditional direction. The latter is also a bit sluggish at times, but, then again, Klemperer is often praised as a "slow conductor." The Overture is a beacon on his brilliance in lovingly drawing out the music into an almost panoramic phrase of majestic delight. Conversely, the eminent Act II duet "Pa-pa-ge-no! / Pa-pa-ge-na!" is taken horridly slowly and loses much of its energetic vitality.

The soloists - particularly the women - are where the true brilliance lies, nonetheless. Lucia Popp provides a career performance as the Königin der Nacht and fully defines the character described as a "vulture with the voice of a nightingale." Her renditions of "O zitt're nicht, mein lieber Sohn!" and "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" are utterly breathtaking. Hearing sublime, creamy-voiced Gundula Janowitz as Pamina is an absolute joy. Her demure duet with Berry ("Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen") is one of the most beautiful moments on the entire recording and her despondent aria ("Ach, ich fühl's, es ist verschwunden!") is truly heartrending. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Christa Ludwig, and Marga Höffgen (the superlative Erda in Solti's 1963 Siegfried) - in the dictionary definition of unmatched choice casting - are a fiendishly celestial trio as the three ladies in the service of the Königin der Nacht. They are a particular delight in the lusty Act I quartet "Stirb, Ungeheuer, durch uns're Macht!" with Gedda. Agnes Giebel, Anna Reynolds, and Josephine Veasey are another great trio as the three boys in the service of Sarastro, especially in their pleasant trio "Seid uns zum zweiten Mal willkommen." There have been greater Papagenas than Ruth-Margaret Pütz, singularly Renate Holm (for Solti), but the former is certainly competent in the small role.

Nicolai Gedda can only be seconded as Tamino by the illustrious Fritz Wunderlich. His voice - virile, gallant, daring - gives the very "un-laudable" character of Tamino the chivalrous, convincing sound he requires. His wondrous arias "Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön" and "Wie stark ist nicht dein Zauberton" are excellent examples of the master Swedish tenor's lyric genius. Walter Berry is certainly the most likeable Papageno on record, especially during his two great arias ("Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja" and "Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen") and quintets ("Hm! Hm! Hm! Hm!" and "Wie? Wie? Wie?" ... "Ganz nah ist euch die Königin") with Gedda, Schwarzkopf, Ludwig, and Höffgen. Gerhard Unger fails to project a Monostatos as nasty as Gerhard Stolze, but he is no less cruel and vindictive. His sniveling aria ("Alles fühlt der Liebe Freuden") is a definite highlight.

Oddly enough, it is Gottlob Frick, one of the greatest Wagnerian basses in operatic history, who nearly sinks the boat. He sounds unsettlingly wobbly and antiquated during Sarastro's great arias ("O Isis und Osiris" and "In diesen heil'gen Hallen") but most unforgivably so during his first few moments on stage ("Steh auf, erheit're dich, o Liebe") and during the trio "Sol lich dich, Teurer" with Janowitz and Gedda. Franz Crass is imposing as the old Sprecher in his long duet with Gedda ("Wo willst du kühner Fremdling hin?"). He and Karl Liebl are sanctimonious as the two armed men in the Act II hymn "Der, welcher wandelt diese Straße voll Beschwerden"; he is also excellent with Unger as the two priests in the similar Act II duet "Bewahret euch von Weibertücken."

In short, when considering the multitude of recordings of Mozart's masterpiece, this recording would be a significant addition to any collection and an excellent point at which to begin one's Mozartian anthology.

review by: date: 2007-05-25 rating:

Recommendable only for the female voices
Never have the parts of Pamina and Queen of the Night been sung more perfectly and beautifully than by Gundula Janowitz and Lucia Popp on this recording. Their performances alone make it worth purchasing this CD set. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Christa Ludwig and Marga Höffgen as the three ladies are also pure joy to listen to. But the male voices are - I am sad to say - just good average. Here, the still unsurpassed standard is the Böhm recording (also from the early 1960s) with Fritz Wunderlich as Tamino, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Papageno and Franz Crass as Sarastro. You need both Böhm and Klemperer to get an idea of the full artistic potential of this opera.

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