Mozart: Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer), Claudio Abbado (Conductor), Mahler Chamber Orchestra (Orchestra), Arnold Schoenberg Choir (Performer), Rene Pape (Performer), Dorothea Roschmann (Performer), Erika Miklosa (Performer), Christoph Strehl (Performer), Hanno Muller-Brachmann (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Arnold Schoenberg Choir, Rene Pape, Dorothea Roschmann, Erika Miklosa, Christoph Strehl, et al.
• Orchestra: Mahler Chamber Orchestra
• Conductor: Claudio Abbado
• Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Audio CD (June 13, 2006)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B000EGFV2C
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,138 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #81 in Music > Classical > Instruments > Reeds & Winds

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Ouvertüre

2. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Act 1. No. 1. Introduktion. Zu Hilfe! Zu Hilfe! / Wo bin ich?

3. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Act 1. No. 2. Arie. Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja / He da! - Was da!

4. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Act 1. Papageno! - Ah! Das geht mich an!

5. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Act 1. No. 3. Arie. Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön

6. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Act 1. Freue dich und fasse Mut, schöner Jüngling!

7. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Act 1. No. 4. Rezitativ und Arie. O zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn! / Ist's denn au

8. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Act 1. No. 5. Quintett. Hm, hm, hm

9. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Act 1. Ha, ha, ha! - Pst, pst! / He, Sklaven!

10. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Act 1. No. 6. Terzett. Du feines Täubchen, nur herein!

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Act 2. No. 12. Quintett. Wie? Wie? Wie? Ihr an diesem Schreckensort?

2. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Act 2. Heil dir, Jüngling! dein standhaft männliches Betragen / Ah, da find ich ja

3. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Act 2. No. 13. Arie. Alles fühlt der Liebe Freuden / Zurück! - O weh! das ist die G

4. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Act 2. No. 14. Arie. Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen

5. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Act 2. Morden soll ich? / Herr, strafe meine Mutter nicht

6. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Act 2. No. 15. Arie. In diesen heil'gen Hallen

7. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Act 2. Hier seid ihr euch beide allein überlassen / Tamino! - Pst! / Ah! Was? Ist d

8. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Act 2. No. 16. Terzett. Seid uns zum zweitenmal wilkommen

9. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Act 2. Tamino, wollen wir nicht speisen? / Tamino! Du hier?

10. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Act 2. No. 17. Arie. Ach, ich fühl's, es ist verschwunden

See all 20 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This live Magic Flute is delightfully, lightly led by Claudio Abbado. Even the opera's darker moments---the scenes at the Temple, etc.---are treated nimbly; there's no hint of Otto Klemperer's approach to be found here. The Papageno is somewhat faceless, and while the Queen of the Night sings accurately and delivers her recitatives with real drama, she, too, is not up to the best on discs. But the recording sports the finest Tamino since Stuart Burrows and Fritz Wunderlich in Christophe Strehl, a tenor with both lyricism and plangency built in to his voice. Dorothea Röschmann is a simply glorious Pamina, strong of voice but sensitive and girlish as well, and René Pape's Sarastro sets a new standard. The Three Ladies don't always sing on key. Orchestra and Chorus are superb. Despite these criticisms, the three leads and Abbado are enough to make this a fine recommendation. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A sparkling 'Magic Flute' to compete with the best, June 13, 2006

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Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mozart: Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute) (Audio CD)

Claudio Abbado may be aging, but he has devoted his new 'Magic Flute' to youth--the leads are mostly rising opera stars, and the pit orchestra is the Mahler Chamber Orch., which is for up-and-coming orchestral players. The fact that Abbado favors period practices makes the score sound fresh and light--there is a marked absence of vibrato in the strings, a prominence of woodwinds, and faster-than-usual tempos (often near the speeds that real period recordings from Norrington, Gardiner, and Christie employ). However, the singers use the same amount of expressive vibrato that we are used to in the opera house. You'll hear some stage noises from these live (and lively) performances from Modena, Italy in Sept. 2005.

For me, the most exciting discovery here is the Tamino, tenor Christoph Strehl, who sounds as ardent as Fritz Wunderlich. Like Wunderlich, Strehl has a melting tone, robust delivery, and an elegant line. His 'Die Bildnis' aria comes off with ease--you'd never guess how treacherous it is for other tenors. Frankly, I haven't heard as good a Tamino since Wunderlich's death in the late Sixties.

The Three Ladies aren't always perfectly in tune, but this is a live performance, and one has to make allowances for how difficult Mozart's vocal writing is. Most German productions treat Papageno as a caricature, but Abbado is rather a sober sides, and Hanno Müller-Brachmann (a standout in Haydn's Creation on Naxos) doesn't go for laughs. I wish he had--Papageno is a fantastic character, after all--and not every aria goes as smoothly as it could, but Müller-Brachmann is certainly quite good.

The two best-known singers in the cast are Dorothea Roschmann as Pamina and Rene Pape as Sarastro. Some listeners may not take immediately to Roschmann's darker, more mature tone. Pamina is usually sung by a light lyric soprano, and Roschmann's voice is hardly girlish. I wish she showed more longing and tenderness, but she is never less than good. Pape may be the greatest non-Russian basso alive and potentially a great artist. His arias are totally secure and sung with affecting emotion. As with Strehl, you'd never guess that other basses have to struggle with Sarastro's music.

My second favorite singer here is Erika Mikósa, who owns the role of the Queen of the Night in Europe (this spring she was great at the Met, too). She is amazing in her ability to let us unerstand the words--usually a major failing among coloraturas--but also for beauty of tone and high-flying agility. Not since Lucia Popp in the Sixties has a voice fit the part so wel.

Despite the live setting, the voices are as perfectly recorded as in a studio, and DG gives the production lovely, natural sonics. The spoken dialogue is just enough to follow the story, which is good for us non-German speakers. I think most listeners will be delighted with Abbado's efforts. He had never conducted the work before this recording, saving it for his maturity. That was a wise decision. Although rather low-key throughout, his conducting is full of refinement and affection--on disc, his only rivals are Klemperer and Bohm in their classic sets. We've waited a long time for Die Zauberflote to return at this level of excellence.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Modern Star Zauberflote Album., February 7, 2007

By 

Abel "AMY" (Hong Kong) - See all my reviews

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

The classical recording of The Magic Flute dated back to Boehm/Wunderlich's time. That was almost half a century ago.

Some treacherously difficult arias in this opera made first-rate performance of it difficult.

Claudio Abbado, on the other hand, used a batch of relatively young soloists in this production, and to very good end judging from the overall performance.

I don't want to compare Strehl with Wunderlich, or Mueller-Brachmann with his teacher Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. That's not being fair.

Despite this, the evenness of the soloists' performance outshined that even of Boehm's star-studded cast, especially in the two leading female roles of Pamina and the Queen of Night. Roeschmann and Miklosa are both more secure in tone and more pleasing to the ears.

Rene Pape's Sarastro also shines.

If ever you want to pick some weaknesses in this recording, they come in a couple of ensembles, mainly between the Three Ladies and the Two Armoured Men. However, the quartet between Pamina and the Three Boys are very effective, and Roeschmann gave a very outstanding account with the three youngsters in that ensemble.

I have heard some Taminos since Wunderlich's time, and would not go to the length of comparing Christoph Strehl with Fritz, suffice it that among contemporary Taminos, Strehl's portrayal really stands out. He may not be as lyrical as Fritz, but he does handle the role with apparent vocal ease, some thing clearly could not be taken for granted.

I do not find Roeschmann's tone too mature. This soprano is really coming of age vocally. It is time she consider taking on some even more taxing roles for operatic sopranos. Miklosa hasn't recorded much apart from this role of Queen of Night. I hope she is not those 'one-role' singers.

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars REALLY MAGICAL, June 13, 2006

By 

Stevemark "Stevemark" (Modena, Italy) - See all my reviews

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

I live in Modena, Italy, and I was lucky to see this "Zauberflote" live, at the Teatro Comunale, when it was on stage, last september. During those evenings, the album was recorded. It was an extraordinary experience, really a big show, and I'm happy to re-live again and again, in this album. Don't miss it, especially if you love Claudio Abbado and his magical touch.