![Die Zauberflote [2CD Set With Blu-Ray Audio]](https://images-fe.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81uNKdorasL._AC_UL160_SR160,160_.jpg)
This is a very satisfying account of 'Die Zauberflote', principally on account of Bohm's handling of the score. He inspires the Berlin Philharmonic to convey a Masonic 'gravitas' which is in keeping with the philosophy of Enlightenment Reason which lurks behind the pantomime elements of this unusual work. You will certainly find deliberate speeds here, which may not be to your taste if you like fleet,revisionist, original-instrument Mozart. Vocally it's the women in this recording that have had a bad press: but Evelyn Lear has some lovely tones in her voice even if there are occasions when Pamina's music presents her with challenges. If you want perfection in this part, go for Janowitz on the Klemperer recording (but be warned, that has no dialogue). Similarly you may feel that Klemperer's young Lucia Popp easily outclasses Roberta Peters as Queen of the Night. But Peters still has pin-point accuracy and presents Pamina's mother as an icy, calculating customer. It's all a matter of taste.
Klemperer's Sarastro on the other hand, Gottlob Frick (well-known for his brilliant Hagen in Solti's Gotterdammerung) is really having an off day, fluffing one of his lower notes in Act 1 seriously. Franz Crass on this recording, sounding younger than the average Sarastro, has all the notes and the firmness too.
Wunderlich's Tamino for Bohm has been praised to the skies and rightly so; Fischer-Dieskau's delightful Papageno is a winner as is his destined partner Lisa Otto as Papagena. Admittedly Bohm's Three Ladies are adequate rather than distinguished and it is a disappointment having female singers as the Three Boys (though they make a fair stab at it). Much depends on the kind of approach which suits you in this opera. For overall vision however this recording is still hard to beat. The sound is excellent and you are drawn into the semi-secret rituals of Mozart's late masterpiece in the German singspiel style.
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mike the wizard
Bohm's grand conception of Mozart's Masonic opera
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 August 2007Verified Purchase
K. N. Welch
Something Special
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 April 2012Verified Purchase
Jerry
Excellent for performance and sound quality.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 April 2018Verified Purchase
Amazon Customer
Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 February 2018Verified Purchase
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Love this opera
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 October 2017Verified Purchase
