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Music : Mozart: Die Zauberflöte
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Rating: 
- Just a short review
There really isn't much to say.
Yes, this is an "old recording" and it shows the technology of its age with a slight lack of bright crispness, but DON'T LET THIS PUT YOU OFF.
There are some performances that are genuinely special and even if they were recorded in 1964, before the advent of digital recording techniques, they remain special nevertheless. This performance has gravitas, power, majesty and sublime magnificence.
Yes, I'd accept that Lucia Popp could have done with being a bit more fearsome - she is, after all, the epitome of monstrous evil - but that is the tiniest of criticisms when you're wallowing in her GLORIOUS voice and utterly brilliant coloratura.
This is the best recording of Die Zauberflote I've come across so far.
Take your pennies and invest!
Rating: - Wonderful flute, gorgeous singing
Bohm, Toscanini, Karajan, Christie, Mackerras, Beecham and Fricsay all had a go at Zauberflote, but the only one who really struck the right balance was Otto Klemperer. Many people consider his tempi just too slow, but I find them very logical and enjoy them.
The casting is absolutely masterful.
Janowitz, while not perhaps an ideal Pamina, tries very hard, and is much better than Lear on Bohm's "benchmark" recording.
Gedda is much better suited to his role, and sings admirably throughout.
Walter Berry audibly enjoys himself as Papageno, and Ruth-Margaret Putz as Papagena is also near ideal.
But the real joy and one overwheliming reason to buy this recording is the Queen of the Night of Lucia Popp. Popp manages the difficult coloratura admirably, and each of the 3 high F's are a hit as if they were an octave below. This set is above all, a testament to Popp's extraodinary but underrated ability.
The list of wonderful performances could go on for ever, and when you have Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Christa Ludwig and Marga Hoffgen as the 3 ladies, you know you must have done well. The only weak link is Frick's Sarastro, but I would chose Frick over Lipp's Queen on Karajan's accoount anyday.
Superb value. Grab it.
Rating: - A heavenly Flute
I discovered The Magic Flute through this recording. I have come to consider it a precious, precious gift from the Gods. It is so good, and I love it so much that I am apprehensive about listening to any other. I suspect I never shall. Klemperer's tempi, never square and always elastic where necessary, feel divinely ordained, the ensemble playing, the balance, all is perfection. The voices are sublime and there are so many spine-tingling moments - Janowitz at the end of her duet with Gedda, the strings' re-entry at the end of "Ach, ich fuehl's", Gedda at the end of "Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schoen", not forgetting Popp and Berry's fantastic contributions. And I would like to put in a word for Gottlob Frick, whom in spite of his insecurities at the very bottom of his range - evident in "In diesen heil'gen Hallen" - I would not replace for his special combination of authority and humanity. The Masonic Music and chorus numbers may be too slow and stately for some, but they never plod and suggest, to me, an other-worldy, even heavenly quality. Klemperer and his cast bring us joy, beauty and Mozart's child-like mischievous vivacity in a recording to be treasured for all time.
Rating: - WOW!!...Almost!
I think this recording of Die Zauberflote is just fantastic! There is not a single weak link in the cast except Frick as Sarastro who in my opinion is not quite convincing and a little shaky on the sonorous low notes required for the part, but oh well, you can't have everything in life! The cast bond well and you can believe the emotions resulting from the events between the characters. My one and only major qualm with this recording is the tempo of "Der Holle Rache," which is the Queen's famous Vengeance Aria. This aria is probably among my top 5 favourite arias and in this set it is just TOO SLOW!! I don't know what Klemperer was thinking as he goes at a snail's pace at best. As a result, Popp, who I think is an amazing singer of immense ability, just sounds too much in control of her temper and emotions. Nevertheless, she is technically perfect, not a wrong note to be heard anywhere, unlike a lot of people's interpretations, but I think she could go a whole lot faster without sacrificing intonation.
Janowicz and Gedda really sound like a couple when together and interpret their parts beautifully throughout. Berry sounds great as Papageno, really fun and jolly and Popp's coloratura is just effortless as she tosses out high note after high note, thinking nothing of going above top C. The three boys and three ladies are fantastic, each group melding together as a trio sounding really effective.
Overall, this set is worth the money and is an essential for any opera fan out there.
Rating: - GOD'S OWN PANTOMIME
Quite a cast-list, wouldn't you say? The eminence of the performers is no guarantee that you will like their approach of course, but this is very much my own idea of how to perform the Magic Flute, at least of how to perform it in sound alone. Leaving the singing aside for a moment, I commend Klemperer wholeheartedly for missing out the spoken dialogue on record, although I would want it retained in the opera house or on DVD. The Magic Flute is a pantomime, for all the solemnity and significance of the masonic elements. The plot, such as it is, is the least important thing about the work. It is neither coherent nor consistent, and that fact is neither here nor there. Pantomimes, some lightweight plays and sketches are often not concerned with consistency or coherency but just let the situations develop more or less at random or simply as they come into the writer's head. The sense of freedom from tighter discipline is what gives them a lot of their special attractiveness. Add Mozart's music to this and the result is something very special. Mozart was a born dramatist, but he surely must have enjoyed the sense of release from normal dramatic constraints as much as normal human beings do. Taking the plot for what it is, a string of loosely connected situations, he set his imagination free on each of them in turn. In sound alone that's all I want to hear - Mozart's incredible music. Consistency and coherency are things of the intellect. Music is partly that too, but not mainly. It draws on something deeper than rationality, and it is the sense of irrational liberation that makes the Magic Flute, for me, the most astounding thing that even Mozart ever did.
Klemperer would not have been the first conductor to come to my mind in connexion with the Magic Flute. As you would expect, he is not the speediest, but he doesn't dawdle either. The Magic Flute for me is less a drama than a musical tableau, and it's the purely musical rather than the dramatic aspects that interest me in it. With a cast like this we would expect outstanding musicianship and accomplishment, and in general we would be right about that. A great deal is a matter of personal opinion and personal taste, more so than usually. The three Ladies are no less than Schwarzkopf, Ludwig and Hoeffgen, for instance. That's an astounding trio, but they don't quite astound me somehow, splendid though they are. Gedda's voice is one that I particularly like, so I don't fault his Tamino. Ruth-Margret Puetz is just fine as Papagena and Walter Berry strikes me as an outstanding Papageno. The divine Gundula Janowitz is divine as ever in the part of Pamina. However the 'high spot', in a rather vulgar sense, of the Magic Flute is the successive arias for first the Queen of the Night and then for Sarastro in Act II. Here we have slightly mixed success. Lucia Popp is, for me, simply superlative. I have heard that extraordinary thing done faster and more 'dramatically' but never with greater technical assurance, and as I've probably made clear by now it's not a more dramatic reading that I'm after. Klemperer's steady tempo here is as I like it, but it suits Frick less well. He has the right resonance in his low notes, but the slowish tempo does not do his steadiness or quality of tone any favours. Franz Crass was on hand for a couple of smaller roles, and I wonder whether he might not have been a little better as Sarastro. This aria was described by Shaw the only music that might have come from the mouth of God, and I've heard it attain more nearly to that status than it does here.
The other contributions are just fine, and the recording, from 1964, is just fine too. There is an interesting and knowledgeable liner-note by Richard Osborne, a useful synopsis of the story, and translations of the text into English and French. To my delight, there are some summaries of the scenes embedded in the text itself, a very acceptable replacement for the spoken dialogue. This is likely to be as good a Magic Flute as I shall be privileged to hear.
- Just a short reviewThere really isn't much to say.
Yes, this is an "old recording" and it shows the technology of its age with a slight lack of bright crispness, but DON'T LET THIS PUT YOU OFF.
There are some performances that are genuinely special and even if they were recorded in 1964, before the advent of digital recording techniques, they remain special nevertheless. This performance has gravitas, power, majesty and sublime magnificence.
Yes, I'd accept that Lucia Popp could have done with being a bit more fearsome - she is, after all, the epitome of monstrous evil - but that is the tiniest of criticisms when you're wallowing in her GLORIOUS voice and utterly brilliant coloratura.
This is the best recording of Die Zauberflote I've come across so far.
Take your pennies and invest!
Rating:
- Wonderful flute, gorgeous singingBohm, Toscanini, Karajan, Christie, Mackerras, Beecham and Fricsay all had a go at Zauberflote, but the only one who really struck the right balance was Otto Klemperer. Many people consider his tempi just too slow, but I find them very logical and enjoy them.
The casting is absolutely masterful.
Janowitz, while not perhaps an ideal Pamina, tries very hard, and is much better than Lear on Bohm's "benchmark" recording.
Gedda is much better suited to his role, and sings admirably throughout.
Walter Berry audibly enjoys himself as Papageno, and Ruth-Margaret Putz as Papagena is also near ideal.
But the real joy and one overwheliming reason to buy this recording is the Queen of the Night of Lucia Popp. Popp manages the difficult coloratura admirably, and each of the 3 high F's are a hit as if they were an octave below. This set is above all, a testament to Popp's extraodinary but underrated ability.
The list of wonderful performances could go on for ever, and when you have Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Christa Ludwig and Marga Hoffgen as the 3 ladies, you know you must have done well. The only weak link is Frick's Sarastro, but I would chose Frick over Lipp's Queen on Karajan's accoount anyday.
Superb value. Grab it.
Rating:
- A heavenly FluteI discovered The Magic Flute through this recording. I have come to consider it a precious, precious gift from the Gods. It is so good, and I love it so much that I am apprehensive about listening to any other. I suspect I never shall. Klemperer's tempi, never square and always elastic where necessary, feel divinely ordained, the ensemble playing, the balance, all is perfection. The voices are sublime and there are so many spine-tingling moments - Janowitz at the end of her duet with Gedda, the strings' re-entry at the end of "Ach, ich fuehl's", Gedda at the end of "Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schoen", not forgetting Popp and Berry's fantastic contributions. And I would like to put in a word for Gottlob Frick, whom in spite of his insecurities at the very bottom of his range - evident in "In diesen heil'gen Hallen" - I would not replace for his special combination of authority and humanity. The Masonic Music and chorus numbers may be too slow and stately for some, but they never plod and suggest, to me, an other-worldy, even heavenly quality. Klemperer and his cast bring us joy, beauty and Mozart's child-like mischievous vivacity in a recording to be treasured for all time.
Rating:
- WOW!!...Almost!I think this recording of Die Zauberflote is just fantastic! There is not a single weak link in the cast except Frick as Sarastro who in my opinion is not quite convincing and a little shaky on the sonorous low notes required for the part, but oh well, you can't have everything in life! The cast bond well and you can believe the emotions resulting from the events between the characters. My one and only major qualm with this recording is the tempo of "Der Holle Rache," which is the Queen's famous Vengeance Aria. This aria is probably among my top 5 favourite arias and in this set it is just TOO SLOW!! I don't know what Klemperer was thinking as he goes at a snail's pace at best. As a result, Popp, who I think is an amazing singer of immense ability, just sounds too much in control of her temper and emotions. Nevertheless, she is technically perfect, not a wrong note to be heard anywhere, unlike a lot of people's interpretations, but I think she could go a whole lot faster without sacrificing intonation.
Janowicz and Gedda really sound like a couple when together and interpret their parts beautifully throughout. Berry sounds great as Papageno, really fun and jolly and Popp's coloratura is just effortless as she tosses out high note after high note, thinking nothing of going above top C. The three boys and three ladies are fantastic, each group melding together as a trio sounding really effective.
Overall, this set is worth the money and is an essential for any opera fan out there.
Rating:
- GOD'S OWN PANTOMIMEQuite a cast-list, wouldn't you say? The eminence of the performers is no guarantee that you will like their approach of course, but this is very much my own idea of how to perform the Magic Flute, at least of how to perform it in sound alone. Leaving the singing aside for a moment, I commend Klemperer wholeheartedly for missing out the spoken dialogue on record, although I would want it retained in the opera house or on DVD. The Magic Flute is a pantomime, for all the solemnity and significance of the masonic elements. The plot, such as it is, is the least important thing about the work. It is neither coherent nor consistent, and that fact is neither here nor there. Pantomimes, some lightweight plays and sketches are often not concerned with consistency or coherency but just let the situations develop more or less at random or simply as they come into the writer's head. The sense of freedom from tighter discipline is what gives them a lot of their special attractiveness. Add Mozart's music to this and the result is something very special. Mozart was a born dramatist, but he surely must have enjoyed the sense of release from normal dramatic constraints as much as normal human beings do. Taking the plot for what it is, a string of loosely connected situations, he set his imagination free on each of them in turn. In sound alone that's all I want to hear - Mozart's incredible music. Consistency and coherency are things of the intellect. Music is partly that too, but not mainly. It draws on something deeper than rationality, and it is the sense of irrational liberation that makes the Magic Flute, for me, the most astounding thing that even Mozart ever did.
Klemperer would not have been the first conductor to come to my mind in connexion with the Magic Flute. As you would expect, he is not the speediest, but he doesn't dawdle either. The Magic Flute for me is less a drama than a musical tableau, and it's the purely musical rather than the dramatic aspects that interest me in it. With a cast like this we would expect outstanding musicianship and accomplishment, and in general we would be right about that. A great deal is a matter of personal opinion and personal taste, more so than usually. The three Ladies are no less than Schwarzkopf, Ludwig and Hoeffgen, for instance. That's an astounding trio, but they don't quite astound me somehow, splendid though they are. Gedda's voice is one that I particularly like, so I don't fault his Tamino. Ruth-Margret Puetz is just fine as Papagena and Walter Berry strikes me as an outstanding Papageno. The divine Gundula Janowitz is divine as ever in the part of Pamina. However the 'high spot', in a rather vulgar sense, of the Magic Flute is the successive arias for first the Queen of the Night and then for Sarastro in Act II. Here we have slightly mixed success. Lucia Popp is, for me, simply superlative. I have heard that extraordinary thing done faster and more 'dramatically' but never with greater technical assurance, and as I've probably made clear by now it's not a more dramatic reading that I'm after. Klemperer's steady tempo here is as I like it, but it suits Frick less well. He has the right resonance in his low notes, but the slowish tempo does not do his steadiness or quality of tone any favours. Franz Crass was on hand for a couple of smaller roles, and I wonder whether he might not have been a little better as Sarastro. This aria was described by Shaw the only music that might have come from the mouth of God, and I've heard it attain more nearly to that status than it does here.
The other contributions are just fine, and the recording, from 1964, is just fine too. There is an interesting and knowledgeable liner-note by Richard Osborne, a useful synopsis of the story, and translations of the text into English and French. To my delight, there are some summaries of the scenes embedded in the text itself, a very acceptable replacement for the spoken dialogue. This is likely to be as good a Magic Flute as I shall be privileged to hear.
