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In a thread below, one of the inmates here extolled the virtues of the Magic Flute led by Böhm on DG, featuring Fritz Wunderlich as Tamino, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Papageno, Evelyn Lear as Pamina, Robert Peters as the Queen of the Night, and Franz Crass as Sarastro. Even though I am relatively put off by Böhm's conducting in general, I wanted to hear this recording, and I was pleased to see that I actually had a pristine copy on my shelf, one that I received when I scored a large collection of opera on LP for free.
The Magic Flute is one of my favorite works, and my first exposure to it was the wonderful Bergman film, which I saw when it first came out. Since then, I have seen it live in 4 or 5 different productions, including one in Vienna - the Volksoper, and not the Staatsoper, but heck, seeing die Zauberflöte in Vienna is a pretty cool deal.
This DG set has received a lot of acclaim, and I am really glad to have heard it, but I personally view it as an alternative, not a primary, choice, for a recording of the Magic Flute. My reasoning is:
First of all, the strengths - Wunderlich is a superior Tamino, no doubt, and Franz Crass has the vocal chops to be a first class Sarastro. I was worried that Fischer-Dieskau would overpower the role Papageno, but by and large he takes the size of his voice down about three notches, and you can also hear the honeyed, liquid tone of his high register, a regular feature of his voice until maybe the late 60s. Occasionally you do hear the steel fist in the velvet glove, but by and large he is a marvelous Papageno.
DG also hired a drama coach for the dialog, and the verbal acting is some of the best that I've heard. And there is undeniable luxury in casting James King and Martti Talvela as the Two Armed Men, even if this was recorded at the beginning of their careers.
Others may disagree, but for me Roberta Peters is at best neutral as the Queen of the Night. She vocalizes well, but doesn't create a strong character. Admittedly, the opportunity to do so is a small one, which means that every phrase has to count, but Peters doesn't get inside the character, and there is a vocal hole - the Queen of the Night must be a felt but unspoken presence, and one forgets about Peters when she is done singing.
I admire Hans Hotter greatly, but he comes across as relatively cavernous in this recording - listen to Fischer-Dieskau as the Speaker in the first Solti recording as a contrast.
Major negatives includes Lear's Pamina, which I can best describe as "splotchy" - not an attractive sound at well (she does act well in the dialogue). Even admirers of this set admit that she is a weakness.
Lenz doesn't do much with Monostatos, and the use of women in the roles of the Three Youths to my ears is a major flaw. The sound lacks contrast with the Three Ladies, for one, and to ears accustomed to the use of actual youths, just sounds wrong - matronly, and not young.
Last, Böhm's conducting, while fine in the faster parts, is overly slow and lacks pulse in the slower sections - for example, the orchestra accompaniment to Tamino's aria "Dies Bildnis" sags.
Again, a fine recording, one that I will listen to again, but my own preferred choice is Solti I, with the Vienna Phil, and featuring Stuart Barrows as Tamino - he is excellent- Hermann Prey's wonderfully sung and characterized Papageno, Pilar Lohengar's very fine Pamina, Talvela's excellent Sarastro, DFD's terrific Speaker, and Christina Deutekom's Queen of the Night - she does create a strong character, although I can see how some might object to her somewhat odd means of coloratura production, but she leaves a lasting impression. Gerhard Stolze creates an unbelievably intense and obsessed Monostatos, and Solti's conducting has nothing to do with the criticisms he often receives - balanced, supportive, and with appropriate tempos -under Solti the music flows. The Two Armed Men are Kollo and Sotin, which is also not so bad.
The sound on the Solti is better too - you can hear much more orchestral detail.
I have not hear every Magic Flute out there, nor even more than a small percentage, so as we say online, YMMV.
Follow Ups:
I agree with your review in virtually every detail. Take away Wunderlich and Crass, and it's a very, very ordinary performance. I've never really understood the "sacred cow" status that this recording has had over the years, nor have I ever understood why Bohm is considered by some to be a great Mozartean.
There's no perfect recording of this opera, but the one that you recommend (Solti I) comes pretty close.
Favorite is Furtwangler's 1953 performance and Klemperer's with an astonishing cast. Was listening to the latter a few nights ago and it is transporting-very richly recorded too.
Hmmm- like I said, YMMV -- but I have Klemperer's Flute, which I purchased on the recommendation from someone else extolling its virtues.
There are many things that Otto did that I like a lot - to me there are none better when it comes to the Missa Solemnis, the Brahms Requiem, and Bruckner's 6th - but his recording of Flute isn't one of them, for the following reasons:
1. Many of his tempos are just too damn slow.
2. His recording is completely without dialogue, which means that the linkage between numbers, and the opportunity to create deeper characters, is simply missing, and
3. He uses women for the 3 youths, which is just wrong.
But many like this recording a lot.
Hi:
Always thought the 'Missa' as great as anything in recorded music. I do like the slow tempo(His readings and the Furtwangler are close in time and spirit.) but the lack of dialogue is gross. Thanks for pointing out the use of woman. I will have to compare it with my Beecham set. I also do like the Levine 'live' performance once available from the Met.Thanks!
Like collecting music!
. . . by which I mean that a number of folks here on AA will put up a review (as you did) because of an inner compulsion stemming from strong feelings about a performance and/or recording, despite the fact that everyone may not necessarily agree about this or that detail - or even about the performance as a whole. That's just the best - there's a purity about the intent that shames the work of some "professional" reviewers. (I won't mention any names - oh what the heck - I mean people like Norman Lebrecht - LOL!) Thanks again!
His Queen of the Night sounds amazing to me, but that's all I dare say. I'm not familiar with the opera at all, really.
My only Mozart epiphany so far is Karajan's Cosi.
Like the Beecham very much also, lively and fast paced.He usually 'feminizes' Mozart but here.Never heard the Friscay also with FD who generally try to avoid in Mozart.
Now for something completely different, but surprisingly good!
A recent discovery by my opera-loving wife and I.
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