Mozart: The Magic Flute (Highlights)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer), Karl Böhm (Conductor), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra), Lisa Otto (Performer), Antonia Fahberg (Performer), Cvetka Ahlin (Performer), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Performer), Evelyn Lear (Performer), Franz Crass (Performer), Friedrich Lenz (Performer), Fritz Wunderlich (Performer), Hildegard Hillebrecht (Performer), Raili Kostia (Performer), Roberta Peters (Performer), Rosl Schwaiger (Performer), Sieglinde Wagner (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Lisa Otto, Antonia Fahberg, Cvetka Ahlin, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Evelyn Lear, et al.
• Orchestra: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: Karl Böhm
• Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Audio CD (May 16, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B000001GDP
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,021 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #69 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Operettas

Track Listings

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

2. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Zu Hilfe! Zu Hilfe!

3. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja

4. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön

5. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: O zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn!...Zum Leiden bin ich auserkoren

6. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen

7. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: O Isis und Osiris

8. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Alles fühlt der Liebe Freuden

9. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen

10. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: In diesen heil'gen Hallen

11. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Seid uns zum zweitenman willkommen

12. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Ach, ich fühl's, es ist verschwunden

13. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: O Isis und Osiris

14. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen

15. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Pa-pa-gena! Pa-pa-geno!

16. Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), opera, K. 620: Die Strahlen der Sonne...Heil sei euch Geweihten!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Still probably the most magical recording ever of The Magic Flute, this starrily cast production featured the incomparable Fritz Wunderlich as Tamino, Evelyn Lear as a wonderfully sympathetic Pamina, Roberta Peters as a regal Queen of the Night (surprisingly good coloratura, if a little light at the top), Wagnerians James King and Martti Talvela as the two armed men (imagine that!), and of course, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, in one of his finest operatic outings, as an engagingly earnest Papageno. Behind it all, the marvelously astute Karl Böhm and the Berlin Philharmonic are in top form. The 1964 stereo is first rate. --Ted Libbey

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wunderlich is Phenomenal!, December 13, 1999

By 

"fineartfan" (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews

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

This is undoubtably the best recording of Die Zauberflote. I have multiple recordings of this opera and am convinced that Wunderlich is the best tenor ever to fill the role of Tamino. Personally, I think he's the best tenor, period. His voice is pure and free, even when reaching for the highest of notes. I've listened to the recording at least 200 times and yet I still weep when I hear Tamino's first aria, >>Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schon<<.

Karl Bohm does beautiful work with the overture. It is played with enough bass to give it power, without muting the lively tempo.

If Mozart wrote the Queen of the Night's arias as a challenge to future sopranos, then Roberta Peters' performance shows a soprano who was ready to give it her all. She succeeds wonderfully with >>O zittre nicht, mein lieber sohn!<<, though I don't think that her's is the best performance of the famous >>Der Holle Rache kocht in meinem herzen<<.

I liked this CD of highlights so much that I went and badgered my friend who works at a music store to find me the full opera recording with this cast!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Male voices top, female voices flop, May 25, 2007

By 

C. G. Kiem (Cochin, Indien) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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

To get the real feeling for the charme of "Die Zauberflöte", you need at least two recordings: This one under Böhm is magnificent for its male voices. Nobody can beat Wunderlich as Tamino, Fischer-Dieskau as Papageno, and Crass as Sarastro. The female voices, with the exception of Lisa Otto as Papagena, are not up to the mark, though. Evelyn Lear as Pamina is lacking in brilliance, especially in the duets when she has to stand comparison with her male counterparts. Roberta Peter's singing as Queen of the Night is somewhat extreme. You get used to it after some time, but her timbre is void of beauty and her coloratura shaky at times.

What can be made of the female roles becomes clear when you listen to Klemperer's recording on EMI (also from the early 1960s, like Böhm's). Gundula Janowitz is probably the most beautiful Pamina on disc and Lucia Popp is supreme as Queen of the Night. The three ladies with Schwarzkopf, Ludwig and Höffgen are lovely and sheer luxury. But then Klemperer was less lucky with his male voices: Nicolai Gedda as Tamino and Walter Berry as Papageno sing well but remain pale when compared with Wunderlich and Fischer-Dieskau. Gottlob Frick performs with a lot of warmth, but is clearly beyond his prime when it comes to technique.

So, to experience the full potential of this marvellous opera, there is no way out: You need both the Böhm and the Klemperer version! On its own, neither one is fully satisfactory - but still better than most recent productions!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Ever!, July 13, 1999

By A Customer

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

This is, without peer, the very best recording of Die Zauberflote there is! There has never been a better Tamino. Grab any recording you can of Fritz Wunderlich singing ANYTHING! This tenor rivals only Jussi!