Mozart: Die Zauberflote

Mozart (Artist), Klemperer (Artist), Janowitz (Artist), Gedda (Artist), Popp (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 17, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 3
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B002N4DZ26
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #200,639 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great but by no means perfect, October 25, 2010

By 

Ralph Moore "Ralph operaphile" (Bishop's Stortford, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

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

If you peruse the many reviews for this celebrated recording, you will deduce that by and large most people acknowledge this a great account but with certain caveats - hence my reduction of one star for what is still a seminal set. Opinions differ about most key aspects, but virtually everyone agrees that the young, pure, thrilling voice of Lucia Popp is near ideal as the Queen of the Night, even if Klemperer's steady beat restrains her from sounding as hectic and off-the-wall as the best modern interpreters, such as Diana Damrau. Most enjoy Gundula Janowitz's similarly ethereal-toned Pamina though others call her "cool"; I find her poise and pathos make her as ideal in her role as Popp is in hers. Berry's bluff, rich-voiced Papageno is clearly an asset, though once more, Klemperer's reverential approach eschews the emphasis on comedy and in word-pointing he must yield to Fischer-Dieskau for Böhm - one of this singer's most successful assumptions and, unlike his forays into Verdi or Wagner, entirely within his gifts. Klemperer has an extraordinarily starry array of supporting voices which include many who were, or became, leading singers in their own right. The sound is superb, even for 1964 and the playing and singing of the Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus exemplary.

We get into more controversial territory with the remaining issues: first, Klemperer' direction. He clearly adores the piece and although he is by no means always exceptionally slow, he is weighty; the vertical far outweighs the horizontal hear and God's voice speaks through the clouds. That's how Gottlob Frick should sound, but in truth by this later stage of his career he labours and groans under Klemperer's measured beat, even if his authority and warmth are not in doubt. The other bugbear for me is Gedda's Tamino; he cannot hold a candle to Wunderlich for Böhm, often sounding throttled and bumpy. Others praise the beauty of his singing; it is true that, as so often with this singer, he is good in parts, but very unsteady at other times and his tone is essentially bleaty. He is especially unsatisfactory in that sublime passage just before Tamino plays his flute, "Wir wandeln durch des Tones Macht" - gritty and unsteady; just listen to the beauty of Wunderlich's line for a comparison. I do like Gedda in some things but we do not find him here in finest voice.

So Böhm wins for his male singers and sense of fun; Klemperer for the supremacy of his women artists and for the combination of majesty and affection he brings to the music. There is nothing monolithic, for instance about his handling of Papageno's magic bell music and "Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen"; it is quite charming - but he is also able to invest the stern Bachian fugue of the armed men with a transcendent quality. Even in Mozart's most deceptively simple melodies, Klemperer touches sublimity. I love the warmth and directness of Böhm's set and could never part with Wunderlich as Tamino, nor am I as bothered as much as some by the inadequacies of Roberta Peters and Evelyn Lear for Böhm - so it's both sets for me. If you want a modern version with dialogue - missing here, but included in Böhm's recording - I suggest a super-bargain outsider: the 1991 version conducted by Mackerras on Brilliant with some first-rate singers in a lively performance.

5.0 out of 5 stars Gundula Janowitz is reason enough ......., November 2, 2011

By 

Robert Taylor (Sydney Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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

The superlative singing of the creamy voiced soprano Janowitz is reason enough, but with the rest of the cast and Klemperer conducting, it is a dream production which produces outstanding performances, in EMI premium sound that glows and sparkles. I just love this opera. I alternate between this recording, Abbado's modern live production with the Mahler Orchestra and Jacob's period instrument marvel with little known but fabulous singers. Each is a marvel but this possibly trumps all. You know when there is a piece of music that will reduce you to tears, and you're not one to do this readily. Well Janowitz does this for me, in the same way as Pavarotti and Freni do it in their duet in the La Boheme recording with Karajan. Get this, it is cheap and will convert you to opera, let alone to the performers.