Customer Reviews

Mozart's Magic Flute Story [VHS]

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

 

 

This video is really disappointing to me. I know a lot about Mozart, and Die Zauberflote in general. IF someone HAD to make an abridged version of Die Zauberflote (don't ask me why!) they could have done a better job than this. Most of the great scenes are cut out, and the story is changed a bit! Cutting out two thirds of the opening scene ("Zu Hilfe! Zu Hilfe!") is a terrible idea, cutting out half of, "Der Holle Rache" is even WORSE, destroying the part where the Queen, Monastatos, and the Three Ladies are destroyed just as bad- Note: Cutting out the finale causes something like this to happen: "The Queen told Pamina to kill Sarastro. Sarastro says, 'That's okay,' Papageno finds a mate, and they live happily ever after." What happened to the Queen? Ugh! Also, the sound quality is terrible. The costumes are ugly, and the staging, with staircases leading nowherte on either side of the stage, just doesen't work. Put it all together and it spells disaster.

I purchased this video to supplement a composer lesson about Mozart. The video is an abridged version of the Mozart opera, The Magic Flute. I was disappointed by the poor video quality and poor production values. One of the reasons I purchased an abridged version is that the full opera would be much to lengthy for elementary school audiences and I thought I would be able to show this in its entirity due to its abbreviated length, but the video is so poor, it failed to capture even my interest as an ADULT with two music degrees (one in vocal music performance, no less). I DO NOT recommend this video. It is useful to be shown in short excerpts only. It is definitely not worth using the precious little funds you may already receive for equipment/supplies.

I found this version at the library and decided to check it out. I was amazed at how bad it was. For one thing, they changed the story around which was bothersome. The singing is really bad, and I think the thing that that bothered me the most is the strange costumes (Tamino looks like an elf!) I also hated all the strange creatures that come out, instead of animals coming out when Tamino plays his flute, they have people prancing out on stage dressed as who knows what. The whole thing was just horrible, costumes, the set, everything...and a lot of times when the commentator is explaining a certain part, it'll be playing a whole different aria (or the wrong part of the aria.) The whole thing is so chopped up, and the DVD is more blurry and grainy than I've ever seen anything on DVD before. I wouldn't buy it or even waste yout time getting it from the library. You're better off buying a REAL production on DVD of the Magic Flute for your kids, such as the one at the Met with Kathleen Battle.

My four year old daughter loves this VERY short version of Mozart's classic opera. The running length is just over 40 minutes, the great arias are kept in, the story is not compromised ... perfect for kids.

I was terribly disappointed with this DVD. The singing and staging is barely adequate, the picture, sound quality, and sound direction are all second rate. Some of the arias were cut off prematurely and the transitions into the next scene were poorly done. If your intention is to introduce young people to the story, buy one of the highly recommended DVD's and do your own commentary.

This product advertises that it is for children, but the commentator talks through most of the excerpts, and my children (3 different classes) found it boring.

It was not what i thought it would be. I was looking for something from "Classical Kids". That is my mistake.

I can see what the other reviewers are saying about this DVDs weaknesses, but I am giving it 5 starts because my two kids (4-almost-5 and 2-almost-3) really love it. The first time they watched it I had to keep pausing it to answer questions but they really found it very gripping. My son was on the edge of his seat and it had just the right amount of intrigue to keep him excited but not scared. Now that they've been introduced to it I'm going to follow up by getting the fairy tale book version by Kyra Teis and a full length DVD.

After reading the reviews here, I rented a copy from Netflix. My 4 year old son was entranced, despite the opera being in German. When he started walking around the house singing the Queen of the Night's aria, I ordered our own copy.

While I agree that it is not the best it could be, my son loves opera and wants to learn more. That, to me, is one of the best justifications for buying it. He loves the other Classical Kids CDs as well.

This was sold as a recommendation for children. It was performed in German(?). While it did have a English narrator a child couldn't follow it.