Customer Reviews

Mozart - Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What's the most important thing a person looks for in a Magic Flute? Frankly, if you think deeply enough, ultimately, what makes or breaks a flute is the Queen of the Night!! Yes, the most important cornerstone of a Magic Flute is the Queen of the Night. What all of us look for ultimately is the Queen of the Night because her arias are the most dazzling and brilliant in the whole opera, and indeed, is one of the most dazzling and fascinating in the whole of the opera repertoire. So this particular magic flute fulfils one of the most important prerequisites of a Magic Flute - it has an outstanding Queen of the Night, Sumi Jo. Spectacular, brilliant, dazzling and flung out with astonishing ease and accuracy in precision. Her trills are beyond belief. Whereas many outstanding Queen of the Nights, including Lucia Popp and Duetekom cheats on the trills and misses out a note here and a note there, the notes are intact in Sumi's case. The first time I heard her, I was absolutely thrilled and stunned.

Of course, a weak Queen destroys a flute but a good Queen doesnot make a bad flute good. Fortunately for us, the rest of the cast is well-nigh flawless. Ziesek here sings with tremendous freshness and intelligence. She portrays what Pamina should be - a young girl with the kind of innocence so often missing in other flutes. Ziesek's characterization of Pamina here is simply outstanding. It is often the case that the role of Pamina is given to singers who sing beautifully but without characterization or emotions. So you end up with a Pamina whose arias are all beautifully executed but with not much character in them. Not so here - you hear her desperation and despair, here sincerity. This is an exceptional Pamina.

The Papageno here is also outstanding and listening to the dislogue itself will have some of you in stitches. The arias are wonderfullly executed with appropriate characterization. Heilmann is also an outstanding Tamino. He is not daunted by the high tessitura of his lines and everything is wonderfully executed. Kurt Moll - well, I don't have to say anything. Like Christa Ludwig, or Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, it is hard to ever find too much fault with anything that Moll does. Here, he is, as expected, an outstanding Sarastro. Solti, of course, is the star of this production. He is often criticized for his vertical stop-go approach. Happily, his pacing in this flute is wonderfully done. The overture, in particular, is the best I've ever heard - better than Bohm or Klemperer. It springs and skips along like lambs playing and frolilcking merrily on the hillside. There is no Wagner-style heaviness and fierceness, only Mozartian lightness and humor. The Queen of the Night's arias are paced terrifically and so is the Papageno/Papagena duet. Many conductors make the mistake of pacing these arias too slowly. Solti, on the other hand, quickens the pace by a hair's breath with astonishingly good results. It's not too fast but yet not cumbersome like some other conductors. For instance, Klemperer, Bohm and even Solti in his old set paces the Papageno/Papagena duet too slowly so that while the duet is well-sung, the humor and lighter side of the duet is missing.

I don't suppose I need to say anything about the Vienna Philharmonic. Those who have been in the classical circuit long enough could close their ears and with 100% assurance say that their playing is nothing short of extraordinary as usual. The celebrated combination of Solti and the Vienna Philharmonic never produces orchestral playing that is anything other than first rate. Witness Solti's ring. However much critics like to criticize Solti's direction, one thing that the critics all agree on is this - the Vienna Philharmonic plays gorgeously for Solti in his Ring. Well, you can be sure of that same high standard in this Magic Flute.

Buy this!

I have seen Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute) on several occasions and this recording by Sir Georg Solti has always brought back those wonderful performances. With the Mozart 250th birthday this January Gramophone magazine selected the best recordings of the opera and this Solti version was among the top choices. Sir Georg had a long association with the opera that dated back to the late 1930s when he was an assistant conductor under Toscanini. Overall, the recording has a feeling of excitement that is apparent from the overture to the concluding chorus of the final act. The dialogue is dramatically spoken and conveys a real performance with comic moments (particularly those with Papageno) coming off nicely. The Overture is beautifully played with perfect phrasing from the Vienna Philharmonic.

The casting of the parts is excellent with Uwe Heilmann as Tamino and Ruth Ziesak as Pamina, who provides a full characterization of her role down to the desperation she feels when faced with Tamino's silence. Michael Kraus makes a great Papageno but certainly does not eclipse Hermann Prey from Solti's 1969 recording of the opera. He is wonderfully comic and sings Ein Maddchen oder Weibchen with apparent joy. I was fortunate to see Sumi Jo sing the Queen of the Night and I recall the praise reviewers gave her performance. Ms. Jo gives a fabulous performance here from her first aria O, zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn! to the well-known coloratura favorite Der Holle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen. Kurt Moll is a commanding Sarastro and Heinz Zednick is a fine Monstantos who particularly shines during his scene with Pamina.

Sir Georg adopts perfect tempi and the Vienna Philharmonic respond to him with beautiful playing. His deep affection for this opera shows through the entire recording and is one that should not be missed.

I'm no expert on opera or on classical music, so I guess you could say my opinion is not a highly informed one. Still, I know what I like when I hear it, and I was impressed by this recording.

I liked the performances of Uwe Heilmann as Prince Tamino, Michael Kraus as Papageno, and Ruth Ziesak as Pamina. But what stood out to me was Sumi Jo as the Queen of the Night. When she sang "Der Holle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen", I thought about the image I remember from the film "Amadeus" with the Queen looking like the Virgin Mary clothed with the sun (as in Rev.12:1), and singing in that rich sweet voice with the birdlike trills. Imagine my surprise when I read the text and found that she was boiling over with rage, urging her duaghter to commit murder, and threatening to invoke the vengeance of the gods if she didn't! Wow!

But maybe even more memorable for me was "O zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn", when the Queen, distraught over her daughter's kidnapping, commisions the prince to go and rescue her. Ms. Jo's singing was particularly beautiful and moving here.

I could go on about the Masonic rites, and the metaphor of the Queen as Church, etc. But my expertise on opera is limited, and I think I've reached the limit of that expertise. Still, this CD is great enough to appeal even to an unsophisticated clod like me.

Solti's Decca set eclipses the Klemperer (1964) set. Here is my comparision

Conductor: Advantage: DECCA! Both did a great job. But Solti confers a touch of lightness that Klemperer lacks. Klemperer's is a heavier performance and slower too. Solti's is exciting. What he did with the overture is nothing short of stunning. His papageno ... papagena is hilarious - light, quick, witty and charming. While Klemperer's is too slow for any impact. Solti's Queen of the Night is also rightly paced. Klemperer's is also fabulous but a shade that slow.

Queen of the Night: Advantage: DECCA! Lucia Popp became famous because of the Queen of the Night. She is spectacular and irreplaceable. Firm, Authoritative, accurate. Her high F's sung magnificently and effortlessly. But Sumi Jo is even more spectacular (no doubt among the finest on disc - definitely better than Roberta Peters or Deutokom). Her high F's are just a shade less securely sung than Popp's high F's. In terms of dexterity, Sumi Jo wins Popp. However, Popp loses control and goes a little off intonation and misses a few notes in the stratosphere. Sumi Jo, on the other hand, has perfect control in the stratosphere - intonation is perfect and all notes are intact. So overall, I would rate Sumi Jo higher.

Pamina: Advantage: EVEN. Ziesek's performance is more intelligent and more moving. Her performance is wonderful and has more emotions in it. If only she had Janowitz voice. Janowitz sings a little blandly by comparison but her voice is more beautiful. So they even out.

Tamino: Advantage: DECCA! Heilmann is just that shade better than Gedda.

Papageno: Advantage: DECCA. Decca's papageno has that comic element missing in the Klemperer set.

Three Ladies: Advantage: EMI! Can anyone beat Schwarzkopf, Ludwig and Hoffgen in a MINOR role???? But then, The Decca has that lightness that the EMI lacks.

Sound: Advantage: DECCA! Although the Klemperer stereo holds up and sounds just fine, better than fine-it sounds great, the Solti recording is briliant in its digital power.

Discs: Advantange: EMI or DECCA depending on your preference. The EMI doesn't have the dialogue. So it lacks completeness. on the other hand, the Solti's is set up so that you can't program out the dialogue which is annoying for those who don't like dialogue.

I recommend both, but place the DECCA set ahead of the EMI set. If you have the means, buy both. If not, the DECCA would be the best. I personally like both of the them and listen to both all the time.

Forget the Bohm set (ok, ok, ok, let's not be too harsh - buy it as a 3rd or 4th set). No doubt Wunderlich is peerless as Tamino. But Roberta Peters is hopeless as Queen of the Night. the conducting is wonderful. But any magic flute without a proper Queen of Night is a disappointment.

This is a great recording. Dissenters obviously do not have much experience listening to the various Zauberflotes on the market.

For one, Solti's tempi are exciting. It is appropriately fast and challenging for the singers. Sumi Jo is a spectacular Queen of the Night. Oh, how often do we hear substandard Queen of the Nights. Sumi Jo is very obviously the leading coloratura soprano of her generation. She is justly famous for her reading of the Queen of the Night which is not just sung plain - it is characterized appropriately as a Queen furious and bent on revenge. Ziesek shot to fame because of her portrayal of Pamina at the Salzburg festival. Here we can hear why. She infuses the character with a youthful freshness so rarely heard today (Many pamina just sing - yes they sound beautiful but there is a lack of character in the voice). Heilmann's Tamino can rival the great Fritz Wunderlich on the Bohm set. The Papageno here is the funniest I've ever heard and the duet with Papagena (who is not that famous but amazingly is extremely well-cast - her singing leaves you breathless for more). The monostatos is rightly lecherous and obnoxious. Solti takes his aria at a fast and furious speed which is very very appropriate. Without me having to say anything, we know that the Sarastro here has few peers, being sung by Kurt Moll, the one of the towering basses of this century. Last but not least the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra is simply gorgeous.

I disagree with the dissenting review listed below about this recording, saying that it is not particularly great. On the contrary, this is the finest version I've heard to date, for three reasons. Sumi Jo, Georg Solti, and the Vienna Philharmonic. All are on the top of their form. I absolutely love this recording, recorded in the Sofiensaal in Vienna, which has unsurpassed acoustics. The Vienna Philharmonic plays like the best orchestra in the world(which they are). This recording has fun, drama, and brilliant clarity. Magnificent singing by Jo. When I purchased this recording she was virtually unknown, and now everyone knows how talented she is. You must hear her Queen of the Night.

There are many recordings of the Zauberflote. Klemperer, Bohm, Davis, Gardiner, Levine, Christe, Ostman. This is without doubt the top recording, surpassing Klemperer's legendary recording. Clearly, a first recommendation. Contrary to what the reviewer said. This flute is highly distinguished.

Sumi Jo's Queen of the Night is spectacular. She tosses off the glass breaking notes with perfect control. And her reading is not just cold and icy. She exudes real fury at Sarastro. You can hear her wanting revenge. With her perfect control in the stratosphere and unmatched dexterity, how can you call her singing undistinguished. I challenge anyone who can find me a Queen of the Night who is as perfectly in control in the Stratosphere (esp at Solti's tempi) as Sumi Jo. Find me another Queen of the night as good as Sumi Jo. Lucia Popp is no doubt a non pareil of the Queen of the Night but Klemperer lacks the lightness that goes with the Queen of the Night. Make no mistake. I adore Lucia Popp. Ruth Ziesek's readings of Pamina is highly intelligent. She is able to convey her emotions. You feel the desperation, the joy, the pain, the sincerity. Other Pamina's are beautiful but without as much feeling. Ziesek shot to international stardom as a result of her readings of Pamina at the Salzburg Festival, no less!!!! Undistinguished singing??? Her singing is very very distinguished. She brings back a sense of innocence and girlishness to Pamina, something lacking in many other Pamina recordings. Kraus' Papageno is hilarious, as he is supposed to be. Listen to the Papageno.. Papagena Duet at the end. You will be thrilled. Klemperer, Bohm, Davis, Levine and all the rest failed to make the duet so scintallating. Undistinguished singing? No. Very Distinguished singing. Heilmann's Tamino is superb. He has no problems withe high tessitura - raw, penetrating, heroic. His singing is superb.

The Solti Flute has been a best seller since its release. Undistinguished singing? A recording without distiguished singing cannot possibly survive the cutthroat competitive market of the magic flute. As the reviewer below said, this is a fitting tribute to Solti's long and illustrious journey with the Magic Flute. I cannot imagine how anyone can call this set undistinguished. It is a first recommendation above all.

About two or three years ago, Deutsche Grammophon released a fantastic Flute from Modena conducted by Abbado and sung by greats like Röschmann, Strehl, and Pape. Many listeners considered that a truly fascinating account of the opera, what with Abbado's unique period/modern reading and the stellar singing from the principles such as Pape's magisterial Sarastro and Röschmann's lush and fruity Pamina, but it ultimately lacks something that great Flutes have in spades: a blend of the classic and the Romantic styles that characterize the music making of legendary Mozarteans like Karl Böhm, George Szell, Riccardo Muti, and Sir Georg Solti. Abbado's Zauberflöte still is an awesome account of the opera, but I will ultimately give the prize to Solti for giving listeners the finest Zauberflöte on records.

Decades earlier, Solti released a Zauberflöte on Decca that while adorned with a starry cast was treated with a slightly heavier, smile-bereft reading that was more a Meistersinger than a Flute, more a stride than a glide. Years later, Solti's conducting would be tamed by a stronger affinity with the music of Mozart. Clarity, transparency, and a formerly uncharacteristic liveliness would put some of the Viennese Echt and Schlag into his sense of line and orchestral tone. This Flute is a masterpiece. Few others would bring together that coveted, dark, yet beautiful Mitteleuropaische sound of the Wiener Philharmoniker with an understanding of the score that captures a liveliness and a philosophical depth during the more serious scenes. The overture itself is a testament to Solti's artistic maturity, as are the multiple arias, duets, trios, quartets, quintets, and whatever remains in the ensemble work. Rhythmically, his reading is precise, but it also has a fluidity that rarely makes its way into such judiciously timed baton work, and we are all the more fortunate to have a fantastic orchestra responding to Solti's genius. The chorus in this recording is fantastic too, never sounding too lean like many a period chorus and never too cacophonous like...the Metropolitan Opera's.

Solti's cast, save Heinz Zednik's Monostatos and Kurt Moll's grand and wise Sarastro, is hardly starry, but what they are is one of the best group of singers assembled for this opera. Ruth Ziesak does not have the profile of Gundula Janowitz, Lucia Popp, or even Röschmann, but what she gives here is a completely sincere, heartfelt, and well-vocalized Pamina that is not only keeping in with a disciplined Mozart style but also one that is painted with the perfect vocal colors for the role. Likewise with Uwe Heilmann, while never recalling the beauties of a Wunderlich or a Strehl, is equipped with a sweet, charming voice that recalls the vocals of Leopold Simoneau and a sense of phrasing that is as pointed and intelligent as Nicolai Gedda. His Dies Bildnis is handsomely sung, as are his exchanges with Papageno and Sarastro and the duets with Pamina. Michael Kraus is a funny and adorable Papageno (he does a lovely number on Ein Mädchen and Ein Vogelfänger), and Sumi Jo (unfortunately, Diana Damrau's career had not yet come into full bloom at the time that this recording was made) is a beautiful if not entirely histrionically involved Königin der Nacht. The three ladies are sung by sopranos who today are making international careers (Adrienne Pieczonka, Jard Van Nes), Andreas Schmidt is an intelligent Sprecher, the Priests are congenial, the Armed Men are absolutely imposing (but not in the James King and Talvela sense), and the three boys from the Wiener Sängerknaben are the finest on records. Little more needs to be said about Kurt Moll's noble Sarastro and Heinz Zednik's characterful Monostatos. This is very well the top choice for a music lover's Zauberflöte.

If you want a fun, easy to listen to, all-around recording of one of Mozart's last masterpieces, this is it. Solti conducts beautifully, and the singers are well casted. Although Heilmann and Kraus' voices aren't the best on record, their interpetations of Tamino and Papageno are right on the mark. The scenes between them really shine, and the spoken dialogue is especially hilarious. As Sarastro, Kurt Moll's bass is truly commanding and Sumi Jo's Queen of the Night coloratura is unbelievable. As an added bonus, most of the principles are speaking in their native German tongue, which makes the spoken portion of the opera extremely fun to listen to, even if you don't speak German. Definitely get this recording if you're not overly-concerned with the quality of the singing and want an all-around recording with excellent acting and mostly-excellent singing.

While this may not be the best "Magic Flute" (and the debate on that topic is too involved to get into), anyone looking for a good digital recording can't go wrong with this version.

Solti's conducting hasn't changed that much since his earlier recording. That one may be marginally better than this version, but it comes on three CDs compared to this later recording which takes only two.

The best thing about this recording is Ruth Ziesak's lovely Pamina: pure, lovely tone, lighter than others (Janowitz, Te Kanawa) but convincingly girlish rather than matronly. One of the best. Kurt Moll is once again an excellent Sarastro, though maybe lacking the final degree of authority found in his earlier recordings. Kraus as Papageno sounds a bit fluttery at times, but he projects the character well.

Uwe Heilman's Tamino is not as bad as some have said, but he certainly is no Wunderlich (who is?). However, he sings with commitment and a sure sense of style. While I prefer a dramatic coloratura in the Queen's music (a la Studer, Deutekom, or best of all, Edda Moser), Sumi Jo has the pyrotechnical accomplishment to make her one of the finest Queens on rcord. The voice is round and bell-like, never shrill, and the high staccati notes glitter. However, she is even better on the Arnold Oestman recording.

The rest of the cast is fine, with special mention going to Heinz Zednik's oily, sycophantic Monostatos. Also worthy of note are the three boys, who sing gorgeously, better than any other recording which uses treble voices in the parts. A fine version of "Flute" for the first-time listener or to add alongside other recordings.