Product Details

• Actors: Magdalena Falewicz, Heidrun Halx, Herman Christian Polster, Horst Gebhardt, Dieter Schole
• Directors: Georg F. Mieke, Joachim Herz
• Format: Classical, Color, Dolby, DVD, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: V.I.E.W. Video
• DVD Release Date: October 30, 2001
• Run Time: 42 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005O6OO
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #178,689 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Brings the magic of classical music to children in ways that are easy for them to understand includes a child-friendly narrative that brings the somewhat comedic story home --Billboard Magazine

Product Description

CREATED ESPECIALLY TO INTRODUCE CHILDREN AND OPERA NOVICES TO THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF OPERA

Story Narrated in English with Arias Sung in the Original German

This skillfully abridged film, entitled Mozart's The Magic Flute Story: An Opera Fantasy, is a wonderful interpretation of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's classic tale, one of the most loved comic operas of all time, and is sure to delight the whole family.

This is the tale of Prince Tamino and Princess Pamina, young lovers who use the powers of a magic flute to battle the forces of nature that threaten to keep them apart. All of the most famous arias from the Queen of the night and Papageno & Papagena are included in this condensed DVD version.

Lavish sets and breathtaking costumes compliment Mozart's brilliant score (performed by the Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Gert Bahner) and the unforgettable cast of comic characters in this special DVD; a joyful production to captivate children's and adult's imaginations time after time!

Cast:
Prince Tamino: Horst Gebhardt
The Queen of the Night: Inge Uibel
Pamina: Magdalen Falewicz
Papageno: Dieter Schole
Sarastro: Hermann Christian Polster
Monastatos: Guntfried Speck
Papagena: Heidrun Halk

DVD BONUS FEATURES:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Biography
Synopsis of the Opera
Over 35 Scene Selections with Instant Chapter Access to Arias
English Narration
Digital Dolby Stereo Audio
Digitally Mastered Audio & Video

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Where did the Great Scenes go?, July 5, 2001

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Mozart's Magic Flute Story [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This video is really disappointing to me. I know a lot about Mozart, and Die Zauberflote in general. IF someone HAD to make an abridged version of Die Zauberflote (don't ask me why!) they could have done a better job than this. Most of the great scenes are cut out, and the story is changed a bit! Cutting out two thirds of the opening scene ("Zu Hilfe! Zu Hilfe!") is a terrible idea, cutting out half of, "Der Holle Rache" is even WORSE, destroying the part where the Queen, Monastatos, and the Three Ladies are destroyed just as bad- Note: Cutting out the finale causes something like this to happen: "The Queen told Pamina to kill Sarastro. Sarastro says, 'That's okay,' Papageno finds a mate, and they live happily ever after." What happened to the Queen? Ugh! Also, the sound quality is terrible. The costumes are ugly, and the staging, with staircases leading nowherte on either side of the stage, just doesen't work. Put it all together and it spells disaster.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Elementary General Music Teacher is Disappointed, August 3, 2007

By 

Larry Vanmersbergen (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mozart's Magic Flute Story [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I purchased this video to supplement a composer lesson about Mozart. The video is an abridged version of the Mozart opera, The Magic Flute. I was disappointed by the poor video quality and poor production values. One of the reasons I purchased an abridged version is that the full opera would be much to lengthy for elementary school audiences and I thought I would be able to show this in its entirity due to its abbreviated length, but the video is so poor, it failed to capture even my interest as an ADULT with two music degrees (one in vocal music performance, no less). I DO NOT recommend this video. It is useful to be shown in short excerpts only. It is definitely not worth using the precious little funds you may already receive for equipment/supplies.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not worth your money!!, April 3, 2006

By 

K. Nash (MI, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: MOZART'S The Magic Flute Story: An Opera Fantasy (DVD)

I found this version at the library and decided to check it out. I was amazed at how bad it was. For one thing, they changed the story around which was bothersome. The singing is really bad, and I think the thing that that bothered me the most is the strange costumes (Tamino looks like an elf!) I also hated all the strange creatures that come out, instead of animals coming out when Tamino plays his flute, they have people prancing out on stage dressed as who knows what. The whole thing was just horrible, costumes, the set, everything...and a lot of times when the commentator is explaining a certain part, it'll be playing a whole different aria (or the wrong part of the aria.) The whole thing is so chopped up, and the DVD is more blurry and grainy than I've ever seen anything on DVD before. I wouldn't buy it or even waste yout time getting it from the library. You're better off buying a REAL production on DVD of the Magic Flute for your kids, such as the one at the Met with Kathleen Battle.