Mozart: Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) [Import]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer), Nikolaus Harnoncourt (Conductor), Delores Ziegler (Performer), Zurich Opera House Orchestra (Orchestra), Zurich Opera Orchestra (Orchestra), Barbara Bonney (Performer), Pamela Coburn (Performer), Hans Peter Blochwitz (Performer), Thomas Moser (Performer), Waldemar Kmentt (Performer), Alexander Maly (Performer), Andreas Fischer (Performer), Anton Scharinger (Performer), Antti Suhonen (Performer), Edita Gruberová (Performer), Edith Schmid (Performer), Marjana Lipovsek (Performer), Markus Baur (Performer), Matti Salminen (Performer), Peter Keller (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Delores Ziegler, Barbara Bonney, Pamela Coburn, Hans Peter Blochwitz, Thomas Moser, et al.
• Orchestra: Zurich Opera House Orchestra, Zurich Opera Orchestra
• Conductor: Nikolaus Harnoncourt
• Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import
• Label: Teldec
• ASIN: B000000SB9
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #228,542 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Die Zauberflote: Ouverture

2. Die Zauberflote: No. 1 Introduction - Zu Hilfe!

3. Die Zauberflote: Zwischentext

4. Die Zauberflote: No. 2 Aria - Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja

5. Die Zauberflote: Zwischentext

6. Die Zauberflote: No. 3 Aria - Dies Bildnis is bezauberend schön

7. Die Zauberflote: Zwischentext

8. Die Zauberflote: No. 4 Recitativo Ed Aria - O zittre nicht, mein leiber Sohn

9. Die Zauberflote: Zwischentext

10. Die Zauberflote: No. 5 Quintetto - Hm! hm! hm!

See all 19 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Die Zauberflote: Zwischentext

2. Die Zauberflote: No. 11 Duetto - Bewahret euch vor Weibertücken

3. Die Zauberflote: Zwischentext

4. Die Zauberflote: No. 12 Quintetto - Wie? wie? wie? ihr an diesem Schreckensort?

5. Die Zauberflote: Zwischentext

6. Die Zauberflote: No. 13 Aria - Alles fühlt der liebe Frueden

7. Die Zauberflote: Zwischentext

8. Die Zauberflote: No. 14 Aria - Der Hölle Rache kocht in meiner Herzen

9. Die Zauberflote: Zwischentext

10. Die Zauberflote: No. 15 Aria - In diesen heil'gen Hallen kennt man die Rache nicht!

See all 22 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The finest cast for this fiendishly difficult opera, October 25, 2006

By 

Ingrid Heyn "No man is an Iland, intire of it... (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mozart: Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) (Audio CD)

The world of opera is well aware of the unutterably superb Edita Gruberova. She is widely (almost universally) considered the greatest Königen der Nacht in the world. Her accuracy, beauty of voice, dazzling speed and absolute vocal control, as well as her extraordinary vocal range which EASILY encompasses the notorious top F, are part of what makes her so very highly esteemed. Her performance in this recording is vivid, fiendish and exciting.

Barbara Bonney as the sweet Pamina is completely delightful. Her pure lyric voice is ideal for this role, and it conveys everything necessary for the character of this unfortunately beset young maiden who's got possibly the most terrifying mother in operatic plots. The spin and beauty in Ms Bonney's voice are so wonderfully apparent in her singing here that it's easy to understand why she has reigned as one of the world's great light lyric sopranos for years.

Hans-Peter Blochwitz is one of the best Taminos around. It's a lovely tone, of course, and he handles the tessitura of the role beautifully. The voice is both very masculine and wonderfully pure - qualities very necessary for Mozartian tenors.

Matti Salminen as the authoritative Salminen, who turns out not to be the villain after all, sings the role with suitable magnificence. It's a very good voice - perhaps not the best Sarastro in the world, but then, Sarastro's been sung by the choice basses. Salminen holds his own in this star-studded cast.

And what a cast! Even the smaller roles receive the star treatment. Thomas Hampson as the Sprecher, Delores Ziegler and Marjana Lipovsek as two of the Damen, Thomas Moser as the Erster Geharnischter... the list goes on. And Papageno himself is sung delightfully by Anton Scharinger.

Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducts - as always, it is an intelligent conception. The Orchester (Orchester des Opernhauses Zürich) is splendid, and the the chorus does a wonderful job.

This is a recording to treasure. There is so much that is delightful in it. There are other good recordings, but I certainly wouldn't want to be without this one, and not only for the peerless Edita Gruberova's Queen of the Night.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A strange compromise between studio and stage, December 2, 2007

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Mozart: Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) (Audio CD)

It's peculiar that Harnoncourt decided to replace the stage dialogue for this performance with a fairy=tale-like narration. We are robbed of hearing the singers as actors, and the female narrator is bland to the point of invisibility. No other Zauberflote has ever attempted such a ploy to my knowledge, and it takes quite a lot of bother to program the narration out. That aside, I agree with the other reviewers that the cast is very strong in almost every role, and Bonney remains my favorite of all Paminas, with Blochwitz a vocally strong Tamino in a role that has seen few great portrayals since Wunerlich four decades ago.

However, there's another besetting flaw. Harnoncourt's approach is totally humorless -- he introduces Papageno in slow motion and devoid of smiles, for example. Despite the excellent singing, the overall dramatic impact is nonexistent; it would be hard to imagine a more joyless production. No doubt that's why this Zauberflote sank quickly out of sight and is rarely mentioned as a contender.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good version!, September 1, 2003

By 

David (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mozart: Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) (Audio CD)

This is a great version of one of W.A.M'S most fantastic opera's!
I found the cast enthralling!
Tamino was well played by a beautifully lyric Hans Peter Blochwitz.
Sarastro played well by Matti Salminen, whose lower register rang wonderfully well!
Die Konigin der Nacht played nigh on to perfection by Edita Gruberova. Despite the previous viewers out look. Edita's performance of Konigin der Nacht is one of the most memorable. She has a most dramatic voice combined with awesome coloratura and fioratura make a true Konigin der Nacht
Pamina is played well by Barbara Bonney.
Papageno is sung well by Anton Scharinger, who has a most beautiful voice!
Monostatos is played well by Peter Keller, whose voice ranges from full singing to a nasal sprechstimmer enhancing the role remarkably!
Edith Smith is a very convincing Papagena.
Three lady's and three boy's are also played very well.
The Ochestra play phenominaly well, but being the Orchester des Opernhauses Zurich you would expect it too.
The chorus too is fantastic, the finale sounding sublime the
"Es siegte die Stärke" being highly memorable. All in all a very suond recording